Aug 8, 2008 7:26 pm US/Central
Coleman: Rescind Iraqi Reconstruction Money
WASHINGTON (AP) ―
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"It is past time for the Iraqis to take more responsibility for their own reconstruction," said Coleman. "With the Iraqis sitting on a massive budget surplus, we need to return American tax dollars to the U.S. Treasury." (File)
Norm Coleman
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"Months ago, Al Franken called for a change in our Iraq policy to force the Iraqi government to start using its own resources to fund reconstruction," Barr said, while Coleman voted against changing course in Iraq. "He's not fooling anyone." (File)
Al Franken For Senate
Sen. Norm Coleman said Friday he'll push to rescind $1 billion in U.S. funding for Iraqi reconstruction, responding to a report that Iraq could finish the year with as much as a $79 billion cumulative budget surplus.
Coleman, a Minnesota Republican facing a tough re-election, said he'll introduce legislation to rescind $1 billion that Congress had appropriated in an emergency supplemental war bill.
"It is past time for the Iraqis to take more responsibility for their own reconstruction," said Coleman. "With the Iraqis sitting on a massive budget surplus, we need to return American tax dollars to the U.S. Treasury."
He said that Iraq has the money to pay for its own reconstruction, adding, "the United States should not be an ATM for the Iraqi government."
The State Department had no immediate comment on Coleman's proposal.
This week, the U.S. Government Accountability Office predicted Iraq could finish the year with the surplus due to the influx of oil revenues. That prompted other senators to call for Iraq to pay for more of its own reconstruction.
Sen. Carl Levin, a Michigan Democrat who requested the GAO report along with Republican Sen. John Warner of Virginia, said this week that it was "inexcusable for U.S. taxpayers to continue to foot the bill for projects the Iraqis are fully capable of funding themselves."
Levin, the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, is seeking a provision in the defense authorization bill that would preclude spending U.S. funds on large-scale infrastructure projects in Iraq, defined as a those that exceed $2 million.
The Iraq war is a key issue in Coleman's re-election campaign. His opponent, Democrat Al Franken, argues it's time to bring the troops home; while Coleman opposes setting a timetable to withdraw U.S. troops. On Friday, Franken spokesman Andy Barr said that Coleman held no hearings on Iraqi reconstruction when he was chairman of the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations.
"Months ago, Al Franken called for a change in our Iraq policy to force the Iraqi government to start using its own resources to fund reconstruction," Barr said, while Coleman voted against changing course in Iraq. "He's not fooling anyone."
Coleman campaign spokesman Luke Friedrich responded: "The senator's decision to introduce this legislation reflects his long-standing belief that the Iraqis need to pay for a far greater share of their reconstruction costs."
Friedrich also said it was not the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations' responsibility to oversee Iraqi reconstruction.
"Congress created a separate entity, the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction, which was championed by Norm Coleman, to do oversight in Iraq," he said. Friedrich noted that Coleman was one of several senators who fought to keep the investigative office running in 2006.
(© 2009 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
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