Watson Coleman: “I would like to discuss today the gross misconduct of the Australian Wheat Board in its dealings with Saddam Hussein…”

“I would like to discuss today the gross misconduct of the Australian Wheat Board in its dealings with Saddam Hussein under the U.N. Oil for Food Program and to introduce legislation regarding the potential impact AWB's actions may have had U.S. farmers. Last week, a commission in Australia led by former Supreme Court Justice Terence Cole released a detailed report documenting extensive corruption, fraud, and deceit on the part of the Australian Wheat Board, commonly called AWB. The report showed that AWB paid more than $221 million in under-the-table kickbacks to the Hussein regime to secure exclusive, illegal access to the Iraqi wheat market. I applaud Sir Terence Cole and his commission for the thorough and comprehensive manner in which they have dealt with this issue. As chairman of the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, I conducted an investigation for almost 3 years into abuses of the U.N. Oil-for-Food Program.”