Patrick Leahy: “the administration's justification materials for the $20 billion in reconstruction funds for Iraq, which we received…”

“the administration's justification materials for the $20 billion in reconstruction funds for Iraq, which we received just last week, contains broad categories of projects with no supporting details about how the administration arrived at the expected costs of those projects. For example, they want $400 million for two prisons, at a cost of $50,000 per bed. How is that possible? Are we going to ship the cement over there? They budget $150 million for a tertiary care, pediatric hospital, with no details about how they arrived at that number and no explanation of why this is the best use of these funds in Iraq, versus far less costly public health clinics and immunization programs. They want to spend $100 million for seven housing communities. Housing is short in Iraq, but should American taxpayers really pay $100 million? We simply do not have nearly enough information to justify these exorbitant expenditures. My amendment says that before funds are allocated for capital projects like prisons, hospitals, railroads, and government buildings, the Coalition Provisional Authority must submit a report to the Committees on Appropriations describing the estimated cost on which the request for funds for the project is based. The amendment also says, that in order to control costs, to the maximum extent practicable, Iraqis with the necessary qualifications should be consulted and utilized in the design and implementation of reconstruction projects.”