Deborah Koff Ross: “H. Res. 97 demands accountability for how the money is being spent in Iraq. We all support our brave men and women in…”

“H. Res. 97 demands accountability for how the money is being spent in Iraq. We all support our brave men and women in uniform. We all support our troops. We are all Americans first and foremost, but just as when a small town in America receives a grant they must be held accountable for how that grant money is spent, so should the Iraqi government. Again, Washington Post, Monday, April 30, by Dana Hedgpeth, entitled U.S. Rebuilding in Iraq Is Missing Key Goals, Report Finds. "Before the U.S.-led invasion, Iraq's power system produced 4,500 megawatts a day with an aging infrastructure in which 85 percent of power plants were at least 20 years old, the report said. Reconstruction officials initially hoped to increase daily output to 6,750 megawatts by the summer of 2004, a target later lowered to 6,000 megawatts. But in the most recent quarter, Iraq generated only 3,832 megawatts a day." What does that mean? The story goes on to say, "The shortage was particularly acute in Baghdad. Before the war, the city received an average of 16 to 24 hours of power a day. Last spring, Baghdad averaged 8 hours of electricity a day." That was last spring. "This year, during the last week of March, the city received only 6.5 hours of electricity a day."”