Jim Kolbe: “Mr. Chairman, the amendment would seek to strike $256 million from the provision that allows Iraq to import petroleum…”

“Mr. Chairman, the amendment would seek to strike $256 million from the provision that allows Iraq to import petroleum products. Now that, on the surface, seems very odd. This is an oil-exporting country, and a lot of people are going to say why in the world would we be importing oil at all. That is the first question, regardless of the price that is being charged by Halliburton or any of the other contractors there. So the first issue that has to be dealt with is why are we importing oil, and the second question is why is the cost as high as it is once it is delivered at the gas pump, so to speak, in Iraq. The reason that we have a petroleum shortage in Iraq and that we are importing oil is fourfold: one, Saddam Hussein had completely neglected the infrastructure with chronic underinvestment over the last 30 years, and this has resulted in a tremendous amount of underproduction, which leaves the infrastructure even more susceptible to sabotage and to devastation.”