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“SAUDI GOVERNMENT ATTEMPTING TO CHEAT AMERICAN COMPANY FOR JOB WELL DONE” mentioning the U.S. Dept of State was published in the House of Representatives section on pages H10642 on Oct. 12, 1998.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
SAUDI GOVERNMENT ATTEMPTING TO CHEAT AMERICAN COMPANY FOR JOB WELL DONE
(Mr. SMITH of New Jersey asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, 14 years after the successful completion of the Yanuba Power and Desalination plant in Saudi Arabia, New Jersey-based Hill International is still fighting for payment for the work done by its former subsidiary Gibbs and Hill.
As many of my colleagues know, historically, U.S. firms have had difficulty collecting payment from the Saudi government for work done in Saudi Arabia.
It got so bad that, in 1993, Congress ordered the Department of Defense to investigate the claims and report on all outstanding billings. Of all the claims identified by former Secretary of Defense Les Aspin, only one, the Gibbs and Hill claim, remains unpaid.
Mr. Speaker, nobody in Saudi Arabia claims that the work done by Gibbs and Hill was inadequate nor was it incomplete. In fact, the Saudi government points with pride to the plant. They just do not want to pay for it.
Mr. Speaker, both the House and the Senate have passed my legislation requiring the Department of State, Commerce, and Defense to aggressively pursue a resolution with the Saudi government and report back to Congress. Recently, Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs, Ambassador Martin Indyk, assured me and the full Committee on International Relations he will aggressively press this. The time has long come to pay this bill.
In 1993 the Saudis promised Secretary Aspen that they would ``spare no efforts in resolving these additional claims in a fair and expeditious manner.'' Many here in Congress have worked hard to get the Saudis to make good on their promise. As Chairman of the Subcommittee on International Operations and Human Rights, I have raised the issue of unpaid bills to every appropriate member of the Clinton Administration at the State Department and DOD. I've spoken with our Ambassador in Saudi Arabia, Wyche Fowler. And my colleagues and I have pushed this issue directly with Saudi officials, including Saudi Ambassador Prince Bandar.
Yet, the bill still goes unpaid.
I hope that will be enough. It is time the Saudis get the message, not just from Congress, but from the Clinton Administration as well, We will not sit idle as the Saudi government tries to cheat an American company for a job well done.
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