-----Go get em' Hill!!!!
Clinton denounces Halliburton's moveDemocratic presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton on Monday denounced oil giant Halliburton's planned relocation to Dubai.
"I think it raises a lot of very big concerns and we're going to be looking into it in Washington," the New York senator said at a news conference in the Bronx. "I think it's disgraceful that American companies are more than happy to try to get no-bid contracts like Halliburton has, and then turn around and say, 'You know, we're not going to stay.'"
On Saturday, Halliburton CEO Dave Lesar announced that the conglomerate's headquarters would move from Houston to Dubai, a booming city in the United Arab Emirates known for its liberal tax and residency laws. Lesar said the company's business was now largely based in the Middle East and Asia.
Halliburton, which was headed by Vice President
Dick Cheney from 1995-2000, received several lucrative no-bid government contracts to manage the reconstruction of
Iraq following the U.S.-led invasion there. Last month, federal investigators alleged Halliburton was responsible for $2.7 billion of the $10 billion in contractor waste and overcharging in Iraq.
In 2006, Halliburton earned profits of $2.3 billion on revenues of $22.6 billion.
"We have a lot of evidence about their misuse of government contracts and how they have cheated the American soldier, cheated the American taxpayer, they have taken money and not provided the services," said Clinton, a member of the
Senate Armed Services Committee. "So, does moving overseas mean that we won't be able to pursue these investigations?"
Halliburton spokeswoman Melissa Norcross said the company did not expect to receive any tax benefits from the Dubai move and that it would comply with U.S. government oversight.
"With the addition of a corporate headquarters office in Dubai, we join the ranks of many major corporations with multiple centers of senior management," Norcross said.
Author