U.S. Embassy in Iraq.

Summary

Concerns about the U.S. Embassy in Iraq have surfaced regarding the quality of construction and reported assertions of trafficking-like labor practices by First Kuwaiti General Trade and Contracting Company, the primary builder of the U.S. embassy in Baghdad.

The Bush Administration's FY2008 budget request includes $65 million for base funding for operations in Iraq. In addition, the Administration requested $823.9 million for mission operations in an FY2007 supplemental request and another $1.9 million for mission operations in an FY2008 emergency request. On May 24, 2007, Congress passed a compromise supplemental appropriation (H.R. 2206), which the President signed into law (P.L. 110-28) on May 25. The enacted law included $750 million for State Department operations in Iraq.

A previous emergency supplemental appropriation (H.R. 1268/P.L. 109-13), signed into law on May 11, 2005, included $592 million for embassy construction--all that is needed for construction of the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, according to the Department of State. Completion of the embassy is expected by the end of the 2007 summer. This report will be updated as information becomes available.

Background

From July 17, 1979, when Saddam Hussein first came to power in Iraq, until just prior to the beginning of Operation Desert Storm in January 1991, the United States had full diplomatic relations with Saddam Hussein's government. On January 12, 1991, four days before Operation Desert Storm, the United States closed its embassy doors in Baghdad. At the time of its closing, the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad maintained a staff of approximately 50 and an annual budget of $3.5 million. From 1991 until 2004, the United States did not have diplomatic relations with Iraq.

With Saddam Hussein removed from power and the United States and its partners militarily occupying the …