[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 71 (Thursday, May 1, 2008)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3727-S3728]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




           REGARDING NEED FOR IRAQ RECONSTRUCTION ASSISTANCE

  Ms. CANTWELL. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate 
proceed to the immediate consideration of Calendar No. 709, S. Res. 
494.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the resolution by title.
  The assistant legislative clerk read as follows:

       A resolution (S. Res. 494) expressing the sense of the 
     Senate on the need for Iraq's neighbors and other 
     international partners to fulfill their pledges to provide 
     reconstruction assistance to Iraq.

  There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the 
resolution, which had been reported from the Committee on Foreign 
Relations, without amendment, and with an amendment to the preamble, as 
follows:
  (Omit the part struck through and insert the part printed in italic.)

                              S. Res. 494

       Whereas a sustained flow of international economic 
     reconstruction assistance to the Government of Iraq and 
     provincial and regional authorities in Iraq is essential to 
     the restoration of basic services in Iraq, job creation, and 
     the future stabilization of that country;

[[Page S3728]]

       Whereas reconstruction assistance should be administered in 
     a transparent, accountable, and equitable manner in order to 
     help alleviate sectarian grievances and facilitate national 
     political reconciliation;
       Whereas the United States has already spent approximately 
     [$29,000,000,000 on reconstruction assistance and Congress 
     has authorized the expenditure of an additional 
     $16,500,000,000] $18,500,000,000 on reconstruction assistance 
     and Congress has authorized the expenditure of 
     $24,000,000,000 for reconstruction assistance;
       Whereas, on December 18, 2007, the Government 
     Accountability Office (GAO) reported that, as of October 
     2007, international donors had pledged a total of 
     approximately $16,400,000,000 in support of Iraq's 
     reconstruction since 2003, of which roughly $13,600,000,000 
     was pledged at an October 2003 donor conference in Madrid, 
     Spain;
       Whereas the GAO reported that international donors have 
     provided only approximately $7,000,000,000 for reconstruction 
     assistance, or less than half of the original pledged amount;
       Whereas the conclusion reached by the Iraq Study Group 
     (ISG) in December 2006 that ``[i]nternational support for 
     Iraqi reconstruction has been tepid'' remains true and 
     reinforces the ISG's subsequent recommendation that ``[a]n 
     essential part of reconstruction efforts in Iraq should be 
     greater involvement by and with international partners, who 
     should do more than just contribute money. . . . [t]hey 
     should also actively participate in the design and 
     construction of projects'';
       Whereas Iraq's regional neighbors, in particular, carry a 
     special imperative to bolster reconstruction assistance 
     efforts to Iraq, given the vital importance of a peaceful and 
     secure Iraq to their security interests and overall regional 
     stability; and
       Whereas those countries have prospered in recent years due 
     to the rising price of their oil exports and enjoy expanded 
     government revenue from which funds could be allocated for 
     reconstruction assistance to Iraq: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That it is the sense of the Senate that--
       (1) Iraq's neighbors and other key international partners 
     should fully carry through on previous pledges of 
     reconstruction assistance to the Government of Iraq, working 
     to mitigate and circumvent, where necessary, potential 
     obstacles to the effective implementation of those pledges; 
     and
       (2) the United States should consider a recommendation 
     proposed by the Iraq Study Group to merge reconstruction 
     assistance funds provided by the United States with funds 
     from international donors and Iraqi participants to help 
     ensure that assistance projects in Iraq are carried out in 
     the most rapid and efficient manner possible.

  Ms. CANTWELL. Mr. President, I further ask that the amendment which 
is at the desk be agreed to; the resolution, as amended, be agreed to; 
the amendment to the preamble be agreed to; the preamble, as amended, 
be agreed to; the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table, with no 
intervening action or debate, and that any statements relating to this 
matter be printed in the Record.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The amendment (No. 4653) was agreed to, as follows:

  On page 3, beginning on line 9, strike ``to merge reconstruction 
assistance funds provided by the United States with funds'' and insert 
``to coordinate United States reconstruction assistance funds, in 
whatever form they are provided, with funds''.
  The resolution (S. Res. 494), as amended, was agreed to.
  The amendment to the preamble was agreed to.
  The preamble, as amended, was agreed to.
  The resolution, as amended, with its preamble, as amended, reads as 
follows:

                              S. Res. 494

       Whereas a sustained flow of international economic 
     reconstruction assistance to the Government of Iraq and 
     provincial and regional authorities in Iraq is essential to 
     the restoration of basic services in Iraq, job creation, and 
     the future stabilization of that country;
       Whereas reconstruction assistance should be administered in 
     a transparent, accountable, and equitable manner in order to 
     help alleviate sectarian grievances and facilitate national 
     political reconciliation;
       Whereas the United States has already spent approximately 
     $18,500,000,000 on reconstruction assistance and Congress has 
     authorized the expenditure of $24,000,000,000 for 
     reconstruction assistance;
       Whereas, on December 18, 2007, the Government 
     Accountability Office (GAO) reported that, as of October 
     2007, international donors had pledged a total of 
     approximately $16,400,000,000 in support of Iraq's 
     reconstruction since 2003, of which roughly $13,600,000,000 
     was pledged at an October 2003 donor conference in Madrid, 
     Spain;
       Whereas the GAO reported that international donors have 
     provided only approximately $7,000,000,000 for reconstruction 
     assistance, or less than half of the original pledged amount;
       Whereas the conclusion reached by the Iraq Study Group 
     (ISG) in December 2006 that ``[i]nternational support for 
     Iraqi reconstruction has been tepid'' remains true and 
     reinforces the ISG's subsequent recommendation that ``[a]n 
     essential part of reconstruction efforts in Iraq should be 
     greater involvement by and with international partners, who 
     should do more than just contribute money. . . . [t]hey 
     should also actively participate in the design and 
     construction of projects'';
       Whereas Iraq's regional neighbors, in particular, carry a 
     special imperative to bolster reconstruction assistance 
     efforts to Iraq, given the vital importance of a peaceful and 
     secure Iraq to their security interests and overall regional 
     stability; and
       Whereas those countries have prospered in recent years due 
     to the rising price of their oil exports and enjoy expanded 
     government revenue from which funds could be allocated for 
     reconstruction assistance to Iraq: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That it is the sense of the Senate that--
       (1) Iraq's neighbors and other key international partners 
     should fully carry through on previous pledges of 
     reconstruction assistance to the Government of Iraq, working 
     to mitigate and circumvent, where necessary, potential 
     obstacles to the effective implementation of those pledges; 
     and
       (2) the United States should consider a recommendation 
     proposed by the Iraq Study Group to coordinate United States 
     reconstruction assistance funds, in whatever form they are 
     provided, with funds from international donors and Iraqi 
     participants to help ensure that assistance projects in Iraq 
     are carried out in the most rapid and efficient manner 
     possible.

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