AMERICA COMING TOGETHER
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 22, 2004
The Truth About Dick Cheney and Halliburton
It is widely known that before becoming Vice President, Dick Cheney was the CEO of Halliburton, an oil-services company that also provides military support and construction services, from 1995 to 2000. As the House Committee on Government Reform hears fresh testimony today on Halliburton waste and misuse of taxpayer money in Iraq, remember this about Halliburton and its relationship with Dick Cheney.
Cheney Approved Enron Style Accounting as Halliburton CEO
"When Cheney was at the helm of the oil exploration giant, the company changed the way it calculated its profits. Starting in 1998, Halliburton began counting as revenue money it had not yet collected from clients, because the charges were still in dispute. The company's current chief says Cheney, as CEO, knew about the change. The change allowed Halliburton to add $89 million in revenues to its books." [Source: ABCNews.com, 7/19/02]
Cheney opened Tehran office as Halliburton CEO.
"Since 1995, U.S. companies and individuals have been banned from conducting commerce with Iran, but the sanctions allow 'independent foreign subsidiaries' of U.S. companies to do so. The investigation could be embarrassing for Vice President Dick Cheney, who was Halliburton's chief executive from 1995 until 2000, when he resigned to join the Republican ticket. Halliburton's Cayman Islands subsidiary opened a Tehran office in early 2000, before Mr. Cheney left the company." [Source: Wall Street Journal, 7/20/04]
Justice Department Investigating Halliburton-Iran Links. On the same day, the US Justice Department announced a criminal investigation into Halliburton's business dealings in Iraq. US law prohibits US companies from doing business with terrorist states such as Iran. While Cheney was CEO, however, Halliburton used a subsidiary in the Cayman Islands to attempt to avoid the law. [Source: Wall Street Journal, 7/20/04]
Under Cheney, Halliburton did Business with Terrorist Sponsors Iran, Iraq, and Libya. As the New Yorker reported, "The United States had concluded that Iraq, Libya, and Iran supported terrorism and had imposed strict sanctions on them. Yet during Cheney's tenure at Halliburton the company did business in all three countries. In the case of Iraq, Halliburton legally evaded U.S. sanctions by conducting its oil-service business through foreign subsidiaries [of a partner firm]. With Iran and Libya, Halliburton used its own subsidiaries." [Source: New Yorker, 2/16/04]
Cheney's Office "Coordinated" No-Bid Contracts
Army Email: Cheney's Office "Coordinated" Halliburton Award. Three days before a Halliburton subsidiary was awarded a $7 billion no-bid contract to fight oil fires in Iraq, "an Army Corps of Engineers official wrote an e-mail saying the award had been 'coordinated' with the office of Vice President Cheney, Halliburton's former chief executive." [Source: Washington Post, 7/2/04]
Halliburton awarded over $17 billion total in Iraq contracts, more than any other company. "Work in Iraq is parceled out among a handful of companies, Halliburton has by far the largest share--$17 billion from the U.S. and British governments." [Source: Time, 6/1/04]
Corrupt Halliburton Deals Cost Taxpayers Millions of Dollars
The "sailboat fuel" rip-off. "A dozen current and former truck drivers for a Halliburton Inc. subsidiary said they were directed to drive empty flatbed trucks crisscrossing Iraq more than 100 times this year, putting themselves and military escorts at risk for no apparent purpose." [Source: Knight Ridder, 6/6/04]
The food rip-off. "The U.S. military said Monday it was suspending $159.5 million in meal charges submitted by a unit of Halliburton as it continued to audit bills for feeding soldiers in Iraq and Kuwait. The Defense Contract Audit Agency said it was suspending the amount after incomplete files and bills were found to have been submitted by subcontractors to Halliburton's KBR unit, the military's biggest contractor in Iraq." [Source: Houston Chronicle, 5/18/04]
The gas rip-off. Congressional investigation concludes Halliburton increased costs for gas by 90%. "...the decision to give Halliburton the contract to import millions of gallons of gasoline from Kuwait into Iraq... increased the costs to the government by $167 million, an increase of over 90%." [Source: House Committee on Government Reform, Minority Staff, 7/21/04]
Dick Cheney Lies About His Continuing Ties to Halliburton
Cheney Claims no "Continuing Interest." Dick Cheney claimed that by the time he was sworn in, "I will have eliminated any possibility that I have a continuing financial interest in Halliburton stock or share price. . . . I will do whatever I have to do to guarantee that there's no conflict." Then in 2003 Cheney said, "I have no financial interest in Halliburton of any kind and haven't had now, for over three years." [Source: Boston Globe, 9/19/03]
Yet last year, Halliburton pays Cheney $178,437. "Vice President Dick Cheney received $178,437 in deferred pay last year from Halliburton, the Texas oil-field services company he once headed that has received billion-dollar government contracts in Iraq." [Source: CNN, 4/13/04]
And Congress Found that he is Receiving a "Continuing Interest." Last year the Congressional Research Service, Congress' research arm, concluded that under federal ethics rules Cheney's annual payments classify as a "continuing financial interest in [Halliburton], which makes them potential conflicts of interest." [Source: Washington Post, 9/26/03]
"Halliburton is a fine company, and I'm pleased that I was associated with the company." [Source: Dick Cheney, USA Today, 8/8/02]
http://actforvictory.org/act.php/truth/articles/the_truth_about_dick_cheney_and_halliburton/
Informant: V
