Ann Kirkpatrick - for Arizona

Kirkpatrick Slams Bush Admin. After Iraq Gov’t Projects Budget Windfall Due to High Oil Prices

Prescott, AZ - Former State Representative Ann Kirkpatrick, the Democratic frontrunner in the race to represent Arizona's 1st Congressional District, today issued the following statement on reports that the Iraqi government is amassing a projected four-year budget surplus of up to $80 billion while U.S. taxpayers shoulder the reconstruction burden:

"It is appalling that the Bush Administration continues to ask our troops, their families, and the American people to sacrifice while demanding nothing from Iraq's leaders," said Kirkpatrick. "The Iraqi government is reaping the benefit of high oil prices, yet refuses to do their part in rebuilding their own nation."

"President Bush and Congress need to get their priorities straight," continued Kirkpatrick. "Washington cannot continue to put the lives of our troops in danger while sending billions of taxpayer dollars to a foreign nation as Arizona's infrastructure and economy need critical investment."

"I'm running for Congress to change Washington so that it will begin serving the people of Arizona once again," concluded Kirkpatrick.

BACKGROUND

The Government Accountability Office announced Tuesday that Iraq had a $29 billion budget surplus between 2005 and 2007, and is expected to have a surplus approaching $50 billion this year due to high oil prices.

The Iraqi government has spent just $3.9 billion on the rebuilding of their oil, electricity, and water networks and on security since 2005, whereas the United States has invested more than $23 billion in those projects and approximately $48 billion total on Iraqi reconstruction since the 2003 invasion.

This comes on the heels of last week's Associated Press review of a national bridge inventory, which revealed that of 16 bridges in Arizona labeled structurally deficient, only two have had the repairs they needed.

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Former State Representative Ann Kirkpatrick is a former legislator, county prosecutor, small business owner, mother, and a community leader who served as President of the Northern Arizona United Way. Born in McNary, Kirkpatrick is a native of rural Arizona and has lived and worked in this state all her life.

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