Patrick Leahy: “we learned this past week of the latest example of the colossal waste, fraud and abuse in the administration's…”

“we learned this past week of the latest example of the colossal waste, fraud and abuse in the administration's reconstruction program in Iraq. Documented in the Special Inspector General's report released last Friday is the fiasco of the Basra Children's Hospital, yet another casualty on the long list of U.S.-financed infrastructure projects in Iraq to face cost overruns, mismanagement, delays and potential cancellation. Back in 2003, Congress allocated $50 million for the construction of a 94-bed state-of-the-art children's cancer treatment hospital in southern Iraq. Despite repeated calls from humanitarian organizations and experts at the United States Agency for International Development to instead work with the Iraqis to rebuild their primary health system, the Bush administration promoted this high-profile, glitzy project championed by the White House. Nearly 3 years later, due to gross mismanagement, the hospital is only 35 percent complete, out of money and teetering on the verge of collapse. The cost overruns are so significant that the project will cost between $120 and $160 million to complete and is not expected to be finished until December 2007, over a year later than planned. Meanwhile, Iraqis continue to suffer from low quality and poor access to basic health services.…”