Vermont Senator Patrick Leahy is raising questions about a project being promoted by First Lady Laura Bush. Laura Bush is pushing a $100 million children’s medical center that would be built in the southern Iraqi city of Basra. Congress approved $50 million for the project in November as part of $87 billion for U.S. military operations and aid in Iraq.
But some lawmakers, including Leahy, are questioning the project. Leahy is the ranking Democrat on the Senate Foreign Operations Subcommittee. He’s asking whether the money would be better spent on basic public health measures instead of a modern facility.