Oil-for-Food Probe to Reach White House

A House subcommittee investigating Iraq’s oil-for-food program expanded its probe to the Bush administration Tuesday, agreeing to subpoena documents on the U.S. postwar management of oil revenue and, if necessary, audits of contracts for reconstruction projects, including one given to Halliburton Co.

Democrats on the House Government Reform subcommittee on national security said there should be a full investigation into the Bush administration’s refusal to release audits of Halliburton’s $1.5-billion, noncompetitive contract to repair oil production facilities. The Houston-based oil services company was formerly headed by Vice President Dick Cheney.

Democrats said Congress needed to know what happened to oil revenue while the United States managed it from May 2003 to June 2004. Since then, the interim Iraqi government has taken over.

The oil-for-food program was created to help the Iraqi people cope with U.N. sanctions imposed after former President Saddam Hussein’s 1990 invasion of Kuwait. The program allowed the Iraqi government to sell oil primarily to buy humanitarian goods. The U.S. has estimated that Hussein’s regime skimmed billions from the program.