Statement of Senator Russ Feingold On the Recent Inspector General for Iraq Report on Lagging Reconstruction Efforts January 27, 2006 “In his just-released report, the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction (SIGIR) highlights the massive tab for the American taxpayer due to the Administration’s negligence, poor planning, and lack of vision in U.S. stabilization and reconstruction operations in Iraq. The report concludes that massive unforeseen security costs, administrative overhead, and waste have crippled original reconstruction strategies and have prevented the completion of up to half of the work originally called for in critical sectors such as water, power, and electricity. The report makes clear that we are paying a heavy price for the Administration’s decision to lead us into war without a plan to manage the aftermath of the military operation.” Senator Feingold authored the legislation that created the position of Inspector General for Iraq (now known as “SIGIR”) through an amendment that he offered to a 2003 supplemental spending bill. Thanks to that legislation, the SIGIR has been overseeing the spending of some $18 billion of US taxpayer money for reconstruction efforts in Iraq. In 2005, along with Senator Susan Collins (R-ME), Feingold was successful in preventing the SIGIR’s office from being shut down before much of the reconstruction funding had been spent.

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