Political Quotes

“news reports last week revealed that the Bechtel Corporation would be receiving an extra $350 million in Iraq reconstruction work over and above the $680 million contract they were awarded by the U.S. Agency for International Development earlier this year. Meanwhile, it was also reported that the Halliburton company has been awarded contracts totaling $1.7 billion in connection with the war in Iraq. Despite repeated promises by the administration to recompete Halliburton's contract, most recently in July, this has still not occurred. This is especially relevant today because the papers today reveal that the administration intends to seek more than $60 billion in additional taxpayer funding to cover the mounting costs in Iraq, and that is, of course, on top of the $79 billion wartime supplemental funding the President signed into law last April. I come to the floor this afternoon because as this new debate begins, it should be noted that not once have U.S. taxpayers been given a true accounting of expenditures in Iraq.”