[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 133 (Wednesday, December 6, 2006)]
[Senate]
[Pages S11316-S11317]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         AUSTRALIAN WHEAT BOARD

  Mr. COLEMAN. Mr. President, I would like to discuss today the gross 
misconduct of the Australian Wheat Board in its dealings with Saddam 
Hussein under the U.N. Oil for Food Program and to introduce 
legislation regarding the potential impact AWB's actions may have had 
U.S. farmers.
  Last week, a commission in Australia led by former Supreme Court 
Justice Terence Cole released a detailed report documenting extensive 
corruption, fraud, and deceit on the part of the Australian Wheat 
Board, commonly called AWB. The report showed that AWB paid more than 
$221 million in under-the-table kickbacks to the Hussein regime to 
secure exclusive, illegal access to the Iraqi wheat market. I applaud 
Sir Terence Cole and his commission for the thorough and comprehensive 
manner in which they have dealt with this issue.
  As chairman of the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, I 
conducted an investigation for almost 3 years into abuses of the U.N. 
Oil-for-Food Program. During my investigation, I held numerous hearings 
and issued several detailed reports that exposed significant graft 
associated with the program.
  In particular, my subcommittee exposed corruption involving public 
officials from the United Kingdom, Russia, France and the United 
Nations, along with corrupt transactions by companies in the United 
States, United Kingdom, and elsewhere around the world.
  However, when my subcommittee considered investigating the AWB, we 
faced insurmountable legal challenges that prevented us from initiating 
the kind of exhaustive review that this case required. Unlike other 
foreign entities that voluntarily cooperated with the subcommittee's 
efforts, AWB declined to cooperate with the subcommittee by providing 
documents or witnesses. Given that AWB is a foreign entity, the 
subcommittee could not compel its cooperation through subpoenas.

  Moreover, the U.N.'s investigators at the Independent Inquiry 
Committee issued a report in October 2004, which suggested that it 
would examine AWB's transactions along with the other deals executed 
under the program. Unlike the subcommittee's efforts, that inquiry 
would have complete access to U.N. files and unfettered access to 
documents from relevant Iraqi ministries and would likely have access 
to the files and banking records of AWB.

[[Page S11317]]

  Instead of launching a duplicative investigation with no ability to 
compel the AWB to cooperate, I encouraged the Australian Government and 
the AWB to cooperate with the IIC and the Cole inquiry whose findings 
have just been released.
  The Cole report has left me with a few lingering questions to which I 
plan to find some answers. My subcommittee is continuing its review of 
the Cole report to determine whether U.S. affiliates of the AWB should 
be held accountable here in the United States.
  But the most important question to ask in the wake of the Cole 
report's findings is whether American wheat farmers have suffered as a 
result of the fraud and abuse on the part of the monopolistic AWB. I am 
introducing legislation today to address that question, and if we find 
proof of harm, to make our farmers whole.
  I would like to introduce today the Australian Wheat Board 
Accountability Act of 2006. The purpose of this legislation is just 
that: to hold the Australian Wheat Board accountable for their illegal, 
deceitful, trade-distorting actions. The bill directs the Office of 
U.S. Trade Representative to use its authority to investigate and 
combat these practices.
  This legislation is a simple bill with two distinct elements. First, 
the bill directs USTR to investigate whether U.S. wheat farmers have 
suffered economic damage due to the actions of the Australian Wheat 
Board. Second, if we find harm, we seek compensation.

  I have spoken many times on this floor about the great experiences I 
have had meeting with farmers of my State. I just finished traveling to 
all 87 counties in Minnesota this year, and I will be the first to tell 
this body that some of the most enriching visits I had took place with 
farmers. Those who make a living by working the land, Mr. President. 
Those who produce the food and fiber of our Nation and have done so for 
generations. Those who contribute so much to the social fabric we hold 
so dear.
  And they don't ask for much in return. They didn't ask me to come to 
the floor today or to introduce this legislation. All they ask is that 
when it comes to trade, everyone ought to play by the same rules. They 
want a level playing field because they know they can compete with 
anyone in a fair global market.
  The fact is the Australian Wheat Board hasn't been playing by the 
rules. The Cole report has proven that the AWB unfairly monopolized 
wheat exports to Iraq under the Oil for Food Program. By paying Saddam 
and his henchmen millions in illegal kickbacks, they may have distorted 
the wheat market to the detriment of the honest, hard-working farmers 
across Minnesota and the United States while they reaped the benefits 
of a corrupt regime for their own ill-gotten gain.
  I intend to find out if AWB's criminal actions hurt the bottom lines 
of our farmers, and that is what part one of this legislation does.
  Part two of this legislation is about compensation. Under this bill, 
if it is found that our wheat farmers have suffered economic damage, 
USTR will seek appropriate compensation to make our farmers whole. If 
we cannot come to a negotiated settlement, we will impose duties on 
certain Australian goods until we collect a sum equivalent to the 
financial loss brought on by the AWB. Either way, I want any 
possibility of financial loss looked at, and if proven, I want 
compensation for our farmers.
  Mr. President, I realize this is the final week of the 109th Congress 
and that this legislation probably doesn't make the priority list for 
passage this week. You can bet I will be back here again when we 
reconvene in January offering this bill in the 110th Congress. We owe 
it to our farmers to further investigate AWB's actions, and this 
legislation will make that happen.

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