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Summary:
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. 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 February 14, 2005, the President sent a supplemental appropriations request to Congress that would, among other items, provide an additional $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. The House approved the measure on March 16. 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 embassy of the United States under Ambassador John Negroponte. 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. However, of the $18.4 billion appropriated by Congress in October 2003, only $11.8 billion had been obligated and $4.0 billion spent by mid-March 2005. Congress approved on September 29 an Administration-proposed re-allocation of $3.5 billion in previously appropriated reconstruction funds to give greater emphasis to security, employment generation, and debt relief. The report will be updated as events warrant. For discussion of the Iraq political situation, see CRS Report RL31339, Iraq: U.S. Regime Change Efforts and PostSaddam Governance.
