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WASHINGTON (AFP) 55 minutes ago – Halliburton’s decision to move its base from Texas to Dubai sparked a political firestorm as Senator Hillary Clinton and other top Democrats expressed outrage at the oil services giant.
Halliburton, headed by Dick Cheney from 1995 to 2000 before he became vice president, said it was relocating to the United Arab Emirates to capitalize on the Gulf region’s booming energy market.
“Does this mean they are going to quit paying taxes in America?” asked Clinton, a US presidential candidate.
“They get a lot of government contracts, is this going to affect the investigations that are going on? Because we have a lot of evidence of misuse of government contracts and how they have cheated the American soldier and cheated the American taxpayer,” Clinton, speaking in New York, said of Halliburton.
The firm and its former KBR subsidiary, which is being spun off, have endured several contracting controversies and investigations since Halliburton was awarded a no-bid 2.4 billion dollar contract to supply the US military on the eve of the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003.
“It’s an example of corporate greed at its worst,” said Democratic Senator Patrick Leahy, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. “At the same time they’ll be avoiding US taxes, I’m sure they won’t stop insisting on taking their profits in cold hard US cash.”
Halliburton spokeswoman Melissa Norcross said, however, that Halliburton would still remain incorporated in the United States and that there would be no layoffs as a result of its move.
Democratic Senator Byron Dorgan said he would seek a congressional review of Halliburton’s announcement. “I want to know, is Halliburton trying to run away from bad publicity on their contracts? Or are they trying to set up a corporate presence in Dubai so that they can avoid the restrictions that currently exist on doing business with prohibited countries like Iran?”
"But I will not let myself be reduced to silence."
