Jim Saxton: “just as the previous speaker, I rise on behalf of one of my constituents, Hill International, a company which has fought…”

“just as the previous speaker, I rise on behalf of one of my constituents, Hill International, a company which has fought for over a decade to collect a debt from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. It is an unpaid debt which has been unfairly withheld. In the early 1980s, a subsidiary of Hill International, Gibbs & Hill, successfully completed a desalinization plant in Yanbu City, Saudi Arabia, yet were never paid the $55 million due them for the work. Despite all the work put in by Members of Congress to encourage the settlement of this claim, and despite repeated promises that the claim would be paid, the kingdom of Saudi Arabia has yet to pay this overdue bill. I also find it troubling that our own administration has been unable or unwilling to actively assist the U.S. company against a foreign government. Where is the State Department in this fight? Fifty-five million dollars may seem like spare change to the Saudis, but it means something to Hill International, just as it would any hardworking company of the United States. I rise to say that I will not rest until the debt is paid.”