[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 17 (Monday, January 29, 2007)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E197-E198]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       HONORING BOBBY L. MAXWELL

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. RAHM EMANUEL

                              of illinois

                    in the house of representatives

                        Monday, January 29, 2007

  Mr. EMANUEL. Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor Bobby L. Maxwell. 
Mr. Maxwell may not be familiar to you or to most of America, but on 
January 23rd, he accomplished something that the Bush Administration 
has failed to do for the last six years: hold oil companies 
accountable.
  During recent consideration of H.R. 6, the Creating Long-term Energy 
Alternatives for the Nation or CLEAN Act, our Democratic majority 
called attention to the fact that the Minerals Management Service (MMS) 
at the Department of the Interior has failed to collect millions of 
dollars of royalties from oil and gas companies drilling in public 
waters. The Administration has largely ignored this problem and 
possible negligence by top officials at Interior, but last week's 
federal court decision that the Kerr-McGee Corporation has underpaid 
the government by approximately $7.5 million should serve as a wake up 
call on both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue.
  Unlike the Director of the Minerals Management Service and others at 
Interior, Bobby Maxwell did not turn a blind eye to the problem of oil 
companies underpaying or refusing to pay royalties for the use of 
public lands. Mr. Maxwell used to serve as a top auditor at MMS, but 
while he was doing his job investigating royalty underpayment by Kerr-
McGee and others, senior Interior Department officials ordered him to 
drop his case. Additionally, Mr. Maxwell lost his job due to a 
``reorganization'' shortly thereafter.
  Bobby Maxwell did not give up, though. He knew that Kerr-McGee and 
others were cheating the Federal government and the American taxpayers 
out of millions of dollars, so he became a whistleblower. Despite 
having lost his job, Mr. Maxwell continued to stand up to the oil 
companies by bringing suit under the False Claims Act.
  The jury found what Mr. Maxwell and many of us already knew: Kerr-
McGee had indeed failed to pay the Federal government approximately 
$7.5 million they owed for oil production from publicly owned coastal 
waters. I regret that Mr. Maxwell had to lose his job to expose the 
greed of this company and the failures at MMS, but his story is a 
positive one. Both he and the Federal government will benefit from his 
diligence and service. Kerr-McGee will have to pay significant 
penalties as a result of underpayment and false statements in their 
royalty reports. Additionally, Mr. Maxwell is not alone--three other 
auditors from MMS have filed whistleblowing cases against companies 
that the Interior Department blocked them from investigating.
  Madam Speaker, Mr. Maxwell and these other dedicated public servants 
deserve our recognition and gratitude. They have stood up and declared 
that the public's trust and money both deserve our attention, respect, 
and protection. I ask my colleagues to join me in thanking Mr. Maxwell 
and congratulating him on a job well done. Let us follow his example by 
continuing to put accountability ahead of corporate profits.

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