Christopher Shays: “this amendment would designate $10 million of economic support funds for the Community Action Program, also known as…”

“this amendment would designate $10 million of economic support funds for the Community Action Program, also known as CAP, in Iraq. That is what this amendment does. I would like to say, Mr. Chairman, that a real hero in this House is Mr. Kolbe who has made sure that these programs have flourished. In my 11 trips to Iraq, I am absolutely convinced the best thing we have done in all of our expenditures on the economic side of the table has been to support these CAP agencies. There were five NGOs, nongovernment organizations. There are still four left. They stand potentially to lose money in June or July and not have the carry-over into the next fiscal year. What this amendment ensures, with Mr. Kolbe's help, is that that money will be extended so that we can keep them in place. When we talk about keeping them in place, for instance, one of these nongovernment organizations, and it is typical, has about 130 employees who are all Iraqis throughout Iraq and only seven who are not Iraqis, one or two Europeans, one or two eastern Europeans, and one or two Americans; and when you add up the others we are talking about over 600 Iraqis. And what are they doing? They are rebuilding schools, they are repairing water and sewer lines, building health clinics, helping what takes place in the schools. Just a host of other infrastructure and development projects.…”