Iraq: Recent Developments in Reconstruction Assistance

Publication Date: August 2006

Publisher: Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service

Author(s):

Research Area: Government

Type:

Coverage: Iraq

Abstract:

Large-scale assistance programs are being undertaken by the United States following the war with Iraq. To fund such programs, in April 2003, Congress approved a $2.48 billion Iraq Relief and Reconstruction Fund (IRRF) in the FY2003 Supplemental Appropriation. In November 2003, the FY2004 Supplemental Appropriation provided an additional $18.4 billion for the IRRF. The FY2005 Emergency Supplemental, signed into law in May 2005, provided $5.7 billion in a new Iraqi Security Forces Fund (ISFF) for the training and equipping of Iraqi security forces. The FY2006 Emergency Supplemental, signed in June 2006, provides $3 billion for the ISFF and $1.6 billion for stabilization assistance.

In February 2006, the Administration requested nearly $772 million for Iraq in its FY2007 foreign operations budget, including nearly $479 in ESF for traditional development aid programs. On June 9, the House approved H.R. 5522, providing only $305.8 million in ESF. On July 15, the Senate Appropriations Committee reported its version of the bill, meeting the overall Administration request figure.

Contributions pledged by other donors at the October 2003 Madrid donor conference and in subsequent meetings have amounted to roughly $14.6 billion in grants and loans, of which about $3.5 billion has been disbursed.

On June 28, 2004, the entity implementing assistance programs, the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA), dissolved, and sovereignty was returned to Iraq. U.N. 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. Of the roughly $34 billion in appropriated funds from all accounts directed at reconstruction purposes, about 33% is targeted at infrastructure projects -- roads, sanitation, electric power, oil production, etc. About 40% is used to train and equip Iraqi security forces. A range of programs -- accounting for roughly 27% of appropriations -- 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 nearly $21 billion appropriated to the Iraq Relief and Reconstruction Fund in the FY2003 and 2004 supplementals, $19.7 billion had been obligated and $15.5 billion spent by midAugust 2006.

The report will be updated as events warrant. For discussion of the Iraq political situation, see CRS Report RL31339, Iraq: Post-Saddam Governance and Security, by Kenneth Katzman.