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To date, eight Requests for Proposals (RFPs) have been issued since January 31st. Only one contract has been awarded -- to the International Resources Group for personnel support. That contract was awarded on February 21st for $7,089,966 for a 12-month period.
This is for personnel support that includes funding for USAID's Asia and Near East Bureau staffing needs related to Iraq, as well as a potential USAID project office in Iraq.
The other seven contracts have not yet been awarded; we expect decisions to be made on these by the end of March. Four of these proposals were issued on February 12: seaport administration, airport administration, capital construction, and theater logistical support.
The public health RFP was issued on March 3rd; primary and secondary education and local governance RFPs were issued on March 4th.
This is not an exhaustive list of reconstruction projects and does not represent the full universe of reconstruction work, as other governments may undertake projects as well.
Non-American firms are not "excluded" from the U.S. government's procurement
process. However, in the case of these eight proposals, we had a sufficient
number of American firms to compete. This does not preclude an American
prime contractor from choosing non-American subcontractors -- which
is often the case. For an example, the Kabul-Kandahar-Herat highway
project in Afghanistan has used non U.S. and local subcontractors.
No American tax dollars will be expended if we do not go to war, with the exception of possible minor mobilization costs that the contractors may incur. The costs might include a one- or two-person assessment team but would be a very insignificant part of the overall award.
The overall costs for reconstruction of Iraq will be determined by a supplemental funding/appropriation request to the Congress made by the White House.
We have talked with various UN agencies and the U.S. Government is prepared to respond to international appeals as they are issued.
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