Iraq: Recent Developments in Reconstruction Assistance

Large-scale reconstruction assistance programs are being undertaken by the United States following the war with Iraq. To fund such programs, Congress approved on April 12, 2003, a 2.48 billion Iraq Relief and Reconstruction Fund IRRF in the FY2003 Supplemental Appropriation. On November 6, 2003, the President signed into law P.L. 108-106, the FY2004 Emergency Supplemental Appropriation, providing 18.4 billion for Iraq reconstruction. P.L. 109-13, the FY2005 Emergency Supplemental signed into law on May 11, 2005, provides 5.7 billion for the training and equipping of Iraqi security forces. Funds would be controlled by the Secretary of Defense in a new Iraqi Security Forces Fund rather than provided through the State Department-managed IRRF, as is currently the case. Contributions pledged at the October 24, 2003 Madrid donor conference by other donors amounted to roughly 3.6 billion in grant aid and as much as 13.3 billion in possible loans. On June 28, 2004, the entity implementing assistance programs, the Coalition Provisional Authority CPA, dissolved, and sovereignty was returned to Iraq. Security Council Resolution 1546 of June 8, 2004, returned control of assets held in the Development Fund for Iraq to the government of Iraq. U.S. assistance is now provided through the U.S. embassy. Many reconstruction efforts on the ground are underway, but security concerns have slowed progress considerably. Most reconstruction funding is targeted at infrastructure projects roads, sanitation, electric power, oil production, etc. Aid is also used to train and equip Iraqi security forces. A range of programs are in place to offer expert advice to the Iraqi government, establish business centers, rehabilitate schools and health clinics, provide school books and vaccinations, etc. Of the 18.4 billion appropriated by Congress in October 2003, 12.8 billion had been obligated and 4.8 billion spent by early May 2005.