Chris Smith: “14 years after the successful completion of the Yanuba Power and Desalination plant in Saudi Arabia, New Jersey-based…”

“14 years after the successful completion of the Yanuba Power and Desalination plant in Saudi Arabia, New Jersey-based Hill International is still fighting for payment for the work done by its former subsidiary Gibbs and Hill. As many of my colleagues know, historically, U.S. firms have had difficulty collecting payment from the Saudi government for work done in Saudi Arabia. It got so bad that, in 1993, Congress ordered the Department of Defense to investigate the claims and report on all outstanding billings. Of all the claims identified by former Secretary of Defense Les Aspin, only one, the Gibbs and Hill claim, remains unpaid. Mr. Speaker, nobody in Saudi Arabia claims that the work done by Gibbs and Hill was inadequate nor was it incomplete. In fact, the Saudi government points with pride to the plant. They just do not want to pay for it. Mr. Speaker, both the House and the Senate have passed my legislation requiring the Department of State, Commerce, and Defense to aggressively pursue a resolution with the Saudi government and report back to Congress. Recently, Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs, Ambassador Martin Indyk, assured me and the full Committee on International Relations he will aggressively press this. The time has long come to pay this bill.”