Bill Clinton: “I am an original cosponsor to the Bayh- Nelson amendment to this Supplemental Appropriations bill. This amendment would…”

“I am an original cosponsor to the Bayh- Nelson amendment to this Supplemental Appropriations bill. This amendment would authorize the President to lend $10 billion in reconstruction funds to the Iraqi Governing Council or its recognized successor. These funds could be converted to grants provided that 90 percent of Iraq's pre-liberation bilateral debts are absolved, including loan forgiveness for any funds obligated as loans. It also provides the sense of the Senate that it is the strong preference of the United States that all countries forgive their pre-liberation bilateral debts owed by the Saddam regime and provide robust levels of reconstruction aid to post-liberation Iraq at the October 23 Madrid Donors Conference. The American people are being asked to contribute over $20 billion of their taxpayer dollars for the reconstruction of Iraq. Before the war against Iraq, the administration was vague about how much security and reconstruction funding would be needed in Iraq. Instead, Congress was told by administration officials, as my colleague Senator Dorgan has pointed out, that we could expect Iraqi oil revenues to pay for Iraqi reconstruction or that other nations would join us in shouldering the burden of rebuilding Iraq. Now the administration argues that it needs over $20 billion for Iraq's reconstruction. The administration argues that this money must be given as grants and not loans.…”