Oil-For-Food: Facts

OVERSIGHT OF FUNDS BY THE COALITION PROVISIONAL AUTHORITY

Several Congressman including Representatives Waxman (D-CA) and Dingell (D-MI) and Senator Grassley (R-IA) have raised the issue of the CPA’s inadequate oversight of reconstruction funds. The mismanagement extends to both U.S. funds and the $8.8 billion rolled-over from the UN Oil-for-Food Program to the Development Fund for Iraq, administered by the CPA. A recent article in Newsweek gives an overview of the issue and details a case against a U.S. contractor brought by two whistleblowers accusing the company of defrauding the government. Until recently, the Justice Department had refrained from taking a stance on whether the federal fraud law applied to contracts administered by the CPA. It recently concluded that the law does apply, and this may open the door to similar cases against contractors in the future.

The following are documents relevant to this issue:

• Oversight of Funds Provided to Iraqi Ministries through the National Budget Process (pdf)
• Letter from Reps. Waxman and Lantos to Chair of House Government Reform Committee (pdf)
• Letter to President Bush by Rep. Waxman and Rep. Dingell about pricing irregularities in Halliburton's no-bid contract. (pdf)
• Executive Summary of Audit Report Cited By Reps. Waxman and Dingell (pdf)
• Michael Hirsh, "Follow the Money," Newsweek, April 4, 2005