By CQ Staff

The U.S. Embassy complex under construction in Baghdad remains plagued by faulty fire systems and “major deficiencies in the infrastructure,” according to information released by House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Henry A. Waxman , D-Calif.

He revealed the details in a Friday letter to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice , in which he also said he would subpoena Deputy Secretary John Negroponte if the department does not provide documents related to the embassy’s construction.

Waxman cited a Feb. 13 State Department inspection report that claimed “there still remain deficiencies, both critical and non-critical, in most buildings” at the embassy complex and “major deficiencies in the infrastructure.”

Separate draft inspections by Hughes Associates also identified problems with fire alarms, water supply and sprinkler systems, according to Waxman.

Waxman said the reports raise serious questions about whether the embassy should be certified habitable and safe. “Additional questions are raised by evidence implicating key figures in the construction and certification of the Embassy in fraudulent and corrupt acts,” he wrote.

The State Department did not immediately return calls seeking comment. A Feb. 15 letter to Waxman from Assistant Secretary of State for Legislative Affairs Jeffrey T. Bergner cited “significant logistical difficulties in retrieving materials from Baghdad, where the bulk of such documents are located.”

Waxman’s panel is conducting an ongoing investigation into alleged malfeasance in the construction of the U.S. Embassy in Iraq.

“It appears that the State Department is concealing from Congress basic information about the status of the Embassy project and the activities of the officials and contractors involved,” Waxman wrote. “This continued intransigence is inappropriate.”