WASHINGTON – According to the latest report from the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction, there have been some security improvements and some progress in the rebuilding of Iraq, but measurable success in the reconstruction effort continues to be spotty. Key areas, such as the oil sector and manufacturing, remain behind the curve. The report released today pegs the total amount spent on reconstruction at more than $100 billion, with more than $45 billion coming from the United States

U.S. Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ), a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and Senate Budget Committee, today questioned why the president opposes critical appropriations bills at home at the same time the administration is so willing to sink billions of dollars into a an uneven reconstruction effort in Iraq. Sen. Menendez released the following statement:

“American taxpayers are looking at this $45 billion of their hard-earned money and wondering why it isn’t getting better overall results in Iraq and why it isn’t being invested our own families here at home in. Long after the fall of Baghdad, four in ten Iraqis still don’t have a job, essential services are lacking and a country awash in oil isn’t benefiting enough from oil production.

“At the same time this administration is pouring tens of billions into rebuilding Iraq, President Bush is all too eager to veto investments in children’s health, cancer research and early education for Americans. When an administration chooses to make a strong investment in Halliburton rather than children’s health, it would seem they don’t share the values of American families.”                 

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