Move to make Iraq repay funds rejected: US House panel okays $87bn request
WASHINGTON, Oct 9: Republicans in the US House of Representatives on Thursday rebuffed attempts to make Iraq repay funds for its reconstruction as they pushed President George Bush’s 87 billion dollars spending request for Iraq through a key committee.
The House Appropriations Committee approved the bill 37-14 after defeating a sweeping Democratic amendment that would have cut back funding for Iraqi rebuilding, required Iraq to pay back some of the money, and trimmed tax rates on the highest US incomes to pay for military operations and reconstruction in Iraq.
The full House and Senate are expected next week to consider the emergency spending bill, which has been a lightning rod for Democratic criticism of Bush’s handling of Iraq.
Bush gained an important win as the committee approved the spending bill mostly as he wanted it, despite a push led by conservative Republicans and embraced by many Democrats to make Iraq use its future oil revenue to repay some or all of the money to overhaul its infrastructure.
Lawmakers added millions of dollars of measures to support for US troops in the region, to compensate for what they said was inadequate planning by the Defence Department for the postwar occupation of Iraq.
Committee members also tacked on extras not related to Iraq and Afghanistan, including 245 million dollars for Liberia.
Many lawmakers criticized the 87 billion dollar request as bloated. Some accused the White House of not providing a thorough accounting of the tens of billions of dollars already provided this year.
There has also been disappointment at the administration’s failure to convince other countries to contribute to the reconstruction effort.
In a bid to ensure better accounting of Iraq expenditures, the committee demanded a quarterly spending review by the General Accounting Office, the Congress investigative arm.
“We have one hell of a time getting basic information,” from the administration, the top Democrat on the Committee, David Obey, said.
Obey hammered “the self-appointed geniuses in the White House” for the invasion and what he described as a haphazard, poorly-planned postwar occupation.
He criticized the administration’s “political naivete” in trying to make Iraq a model of democracy in the heart of the Middle East.
The Democrat leader in the House, Nancy Pelosi, vowed to pursue criticism of the administration, even though the bill is expected to be easily passed.
“This 87 billion dollars is a bailout for their failed policy in Iraq,” she said.
Lawmakers noted that the request faces widespread taxpayer opposition at a time of soaring budget deficits.
“I’ve never received as much mail in the history that I’ve been here,” said Pennsylvania Democrat John Murtha, who nevertheless voted for the spending request.
Despite the criticism, Bush will have little trouble getting the money. Senate should pass the measure by the end of October.
“Our country has to finish what it has started. We have no choice,” said Representative Zach Wamp, a Republican.
“Whether you like what we did or not, this is the United States of America and we must prevail in the Middle East. We can bring about hope freedom and opportunity, but not if we flinch or not if we hesitate,” he added.
The vote was passed as Bush stepped up a new campaign to convince the public that the Iraq war was justified.
“I was not about to stand by and wait and trust in the sanity and restraint of Saddam Hussein,” the president said in a speech.
He called it “one of the swiftest and most humane military campaigns in history”. —Reuters / AFP
