Opening Statement of

Chairman Bill Delahunt

At a Joint Hearing of the

Subcommittee on International Organizations,

Human Rights, and Oversight

And the

Subcommittee on the Middle East and South Asia

“Can Iraq Pay for its Own Reconstruction?”

March 27, 2007

This joint hearing of the Subcommittee on International Organizations, Human Rights, and Oversight, and the Subcommittee on the Middle East and South Asia, will come to order.

Before the invasion of Iraq, Army Chief of Staff Eric Shinseki predicted that hundreds of thousands of troops would be needed to pacify the country. Then-Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz dismissed Shinseki’s estimate as “wildly off the mark.” Well, we now know that General Shinseki was right. And it was Wolfowitz who was wildly off the mark.

That’s not the only time Wolfowitz was “wildly off the mark.” Exactly four years ago today, Wolfowitz told Congress that – regarding the cost of rebuilding Iraq after the American invasion – “There's a lot of money to pay for this. It doesn't have to be U.S. taxpayer money…We are dealing with a country that can really finance its own reconstruction, and relatively soon.”

To the contrary, the US has spent almost 20 billion dollars of the American people’s money in reconstructing Iraq. Not to mention hundreds of billions fighting an insurgency that the Administration was unprepared for. Furthermore, it forgave an additional 4 billion dollars in Iraqi debt to the US that the Reagan and Bush Administrations loaned to Saddam Hussein during his war of aggression against Iran.

Now we hear the President requesting the Congress to appropriate almost another 4 billion dollars for Iraqi reconstruction. I think it’s important to note that most other countries that have given assistance to Iraq have insisted that their aid be provided in the form of loans, not grants. But not the US. All of our assistance is being given as grants. In fact, when Congress voted in 2003 to require that this assistance be provided as a loan -- and I would note that both Mr. Rohrabacher and Mr. Pence agreed with that proposal -- President Bush threatened to veto the bill. So the then-Republican-Congressional leadership stripped it out

And now we are being asked to give – not loan – an additional 4 billion. While our national debt is in excess of 8.8 trillion dollars. And we’re running enormous budget and trade deficits. And the White House is proposing 66 billion dollars in cuts to Medicare.

I am unable to comprehend the rationale for why the Administration insists on providing this assistance in the form of grants instead of loans. Particularly when I hear that the Iraqi government has almost 12 billion dollars on hand.

Now, I recognize that we have a moral obligation to the Iraqi people to help repair the damage resulting from our invasion and occupation of their country. And the President said in January that the Iraqis will commit 10 billion dollars of their own money for reconstruction. But if the Iraqis have the resources to finally fulfill Wolfowitz’s prediction and pay for their own reconstruction, why aren’t they using all of their available money? And why is the Administration committing more American taxpayer dollars as grants to pay for what the Iraqis could pay for? Americans need help too.

That is what we hope to begin to address with this hearing today. And with that, I will turn to my friend and colleague from California, the Ranking Member of my Subcommittee, for any opening comments that he wishes to make.