Democrats Smell Excess in Billions for Rebuilding
Separate Vote on Rebuilding Sought

By: William Neikirk

Sen. Tim Johnson (D-SD) took the floor of the Senate last week to question a $9 million request by President Bush to overhaul Iraq's postal service by establishing ZIP codes, one small item in an $87 billion measure.

"How has Iraq made it for these thousands of years without Americans helping them develop a ZIP code?" he asked. "It is amazing... What a generous thing for this administration to do for other people on the other side of the planet, on our dime, borrowing money to do it."

Johnson's complaint is part of a growing chorus of congressional criticism over the $20.3 billion in reconstruction costs included in the President's plan. Democrats have discovered a political gold mine in the details and are now agitating for a separate vote on the reconstruction part of the bill when it reaches the Senate floor.

The President's request has created some political nervousness among GOP lawmakers on Capitol Hill as Democrats step up their criticism. Both parties predict that ultimately Congress will approve the measure, but Republicans fear that Democratic criticism of alleged excesses in the reconstruction package will resound throughout the 2004 election campaign.

$50,000 a Bed

Johnson and his colleagues focused on other items of controversy, such as the cost of building prisons at $50,000 a bed and enrolling 100 families in a witness protection program at a cost of $100 million.

"That is $1 million a family", said Sen. Kent Conrad (D-ND). "That is a pretty good deal."

Democrats are unlikely to get a separate vote on the many rebuilding projects in the measure, said Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL), but that is not apt to stop the party from questioning the costs of reconstruction, especially when so many domestic programs are being trimmed.

For instance, Durbin said he is concerned that the federal government is willing to help Iraq but can't come up with money to fund two pressing Illinois priorities: a statewide communications system for law-enforcement agencies and fire departments to bolster security in case of a terrorist attack and the growing needs of the educational system under Bush's No Child Left Behind program.

A spokesman for Sen. Ted Stevens (R-AK), chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, said Stevens is opposed to a separate vote on the reconstruction money and plans to begin on Tuesday the legislative process for the $87 billion package, which also includes funds for Afghanistan and other military operations.

'A Lot of Rumblings'

Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld led a team of administration officials to Capitol Hill last week to defend the bill, including the reconstruction costs, as being essential to Iraq's economy and its security.

"If we fail to invest in the Iraqi police, the Iraqi border patrol, the Iraqi civil defense, and the Iraqi army, they are not going to be able to provide for their security, and they are going to continue to be dependent on foreign troops - ours and the coalition's", Rumsfeld said.

Sen. Ben Nelson (D-NE) said breaking the package into two bills would allow Congress to pass the military request quickly and then take more time to examine the numerous reconstruction projects. Nonetheless, his spokesman, David DiMartino, said the prospect for getting a separate vote "looks bleak".

Jay Carson, a spokesman for Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle (D-SD), said his boss is exploring ways to seek a separate vote so that each item in the $20.3 billion reconstruction package can be questioned. "There are a lot of rumblings on the Republican side as well", he said.

Many Republicans are questioning the need to finance the reconstruction tab with taxpayer money. Rep. Zach Wamp (R-TN) said he wants the money to be lent to Iraq and paid later with oil revenues, and other conservatives have adopted the same stance.

In a letter to the online edition of National Review, a conservative magazine, Rep. Tom Feeney (R-FL) and economist Stephen Moore also favored loans rather than cash assistance to Iraq, adding that it would be preferable if the World Bank or the International Monetary Fund lent the money instead of the U.S.

"The opposition to this plan is heightened by problems here at home: the slow recession recovery, still-too-high unemployment, and an already record $400 billion of federal deficit spending", they wrote.

In an interview, Feeney said: "I don't deny the need for any of the things the Democrats are complaining about. My bottom line is should we find a way to set up the Iraqi system so that we can successfully build the country and then have the beneficiaries of that building repay the American taxpayers. That is not unreasonable to ask."

Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) also favors a loan. "I think the Iraqis themselves should be paying for many of the improvements that this bill would pay for", she said Friday.

Piling on Debt

But Paul Bremer, the U.S. administrator in Baghdad, said in congressional testimony last week and in a briefing Friday that Iraq already owes $200 billion and that adding it would create a burdensome debt service in the future.

The more details of the reconstruction package are being made public, the more the criticism rises. Some of the items Johnson questioned in his floor speech included $164 million for developing a curriculum to train the Iraqi military, $400 million for two new 4,000-bed prisons, and $150 million "to begin work on a $500 million to $700 million children's hospital with all the latest technology".

Johnson criticized building prison beds at "$50,000 a pop" and said: "We all want to help the children of Iraq, but I have got to tell you, I have children in South Dakota, particularly on my Indian reservations, who have access to virtually no health care at all."

Durbin said that of the $20.3 billion, about $5 billion that would go for upgrading police forces in Iraq should not be questioned. "That leaves about $15 billion for reconstruction", he said. "I think that's the area of debate."

Many of the proposals for rebuilding the electricity system, schools, and hospitals appear to have merit, Durbin said, but he added that "some of this strikes me as going way beyond the basics".

On Friday, Sens. Collins and Ron Wyden (D-OR) said they would offer an amendment to the bill to require competitive bidding in most cases on Iraqi construction contracts.