[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 150 (2004), Part 11]
[Senate]
[Pages 15295-15296]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                          HALLIBURTON CONTRACT

  Mr. LAUTENBERG. Mr. President, I rise to discuss unanswered questions 
regarding the no-bid contract that the administration awarded 
Halliburton last year to operate Iraq's oil infrastructure.
  As my colleagues know, I have been outspoken in my criticism of this 
no-bid contract awarded by the Bush administration to the company that 
the Vice President led for 5 years as CEO. This one contract alone has 
cost the U.S. taxpayers $2.2 billion. That is $2.2 billion in public 
funds that were given to a company through a contract on which no other 
companies were allowed to bid.
  Recognizing this condition, we had a unanimous vote one night in the 
Senate, when it was decided that we would no longer ever, in connection 
with the Iraq war, issue any no-bid contracts. We forced that out into 
the open, even though it was the intention of the Republican majority 
to keep it from being discontinued, the no-bid contract business.
  To make matters worse, the Vice President maintains a continuing 
financial relationship with Halliburton, even as the company reaps the 
benefit of multibillion-dollar contracts from the Bush-Cheney 
administration. I believe it is ethically inappropriate, but the Vice 
President's response to criticism has been to dismiss the concerns with 
questionable statements.
  For example, on September 14, 2003, the Vice President was asked 
about his relationship with Halliburton and the no-bid contract on 
``Meet the Press.'' Vice President Cheney told Tim Russert:

       I've severed all of my ties with the company, gotten rid of 
     all of my financial interest. I have no financial interest in 
     Halliburton of any kind and haven't had, now, for over three 
     years.

  The problem with that statement is that when he said it, he held over 
400,000 Halliburton stock options and continues to receive deferred 
salary from the company.
  But that is not all the Vice President said that day. Look at his 
other statement on this placard:

       [A]s Vice President, I have absolutely no influence of, 
     involvement of, knowledge of in any way, shape or form of 
     contracts led by the [Army] Corps of Engineers or anybody 
     else in the Federal Government.

  September 14, 2003.
  Mr. REID. Will the Senator yield for a unanimous consent request?
  Mr. LAUTENBERG. I will.
  Mr. REID. We have 5 extra minutes. Mr. President, I yield that time 
to the Senator from New Jersey, Mr. Lautenberg.
  Mr. LAUTENBERG. Mr. President, I appreciate that very much because 
they want to shut down the debate on Halliburton, whose receivables 
were $161 million larger than the Pentagon wanted to pay because they 
knew there were overcharges, but they do not want to let that debate 
happen here. I thank the Senator from Nevada for those extra 5 minutes.
  For months, the Vice President's allies pointed to this statement 
saying that he made it clear that he stays out of all issues relating 
to Halliburton's contracts. But now an e-mail from March 2003 has 
become public, and it seriously challenges Vice President Cheney's 
claim of a hands-off policy. In fact, the e-mail message suggests that 
the Vice President's office had an active role in Halliburton's no-bid 
contract.
  Look at this e-mail:

       Feith--

  Feith was Under Secretary of the Department of Defense.

       Feith approved, contingent on informing the WH tomorrow. We 
     anticipate no issues since action has been coordinated with 
     the VP's office. Expect PA press release and Congressional 
     coordination tomorrow AM and declass action to us early in 
     PM. . . .

  They are saying go ahead, fellows, don't worry about anything, this 
is cleared with the Vice President's office, perhaps even including the 
knowledge that maybe there would be some overcharges, but so what. What 
about profiteering during the war? We have lost over 800 people in 
Iraq, but the fact that the taxpayers are being cheated in the process, 
well, that is kind of normal business, and they don't want that aired 
on this floor of the Senate.
  This e-mail tells a very different tale than what the Vice President 
has been saying. The date of this e-mail is a mere 3 days before 
Halliburton was given the no-bid contract. The e-mail says that Under 
Secretary of Defense for Policy, Douglas Feith, approved, giving the 
no-bid contract to Halliburton contingent upon the White House giving 
the green light. Browning then says that he or she ``anticipates no 
issues'' because the awarding of the contract has been ``coordinated 
with the Vice President's office.''
  This is damning information. Despite the signs of misconduct, the 
Senate has done nothing to investigate this matter. I have written to 
Attorney General Ashcroft asking for a special counsel to be appointed, 
similar to that action taken in the Valerie Plame case. Several laws 
may have been broken in the awarding of the Halliburton contract, 
including the Competition in Contracting Act and criminal conspiracy. I 
have also asked the chairman of the Governmental Affairs Committee to 
issue subpoenas to the Pentagon and the Vice President's office 
regarding communication between those two offices on Halliburton 
contracts.
  In my view, the credibility of this institution is at stake, not that 
anybody seems to care. Here we are seeing the top level of the 
executive branch arranging sweetheart billion-dollar procurement deals 
for the former employer of the Vice President, an employer with whom 
the Vice President has a continuing financial interest. Are we not even 
going to look into it? I guess, based on what I have seen this morning, 
it does not seem we are going to be permitted to do so, but we are 
going to continue to bring this to the public. They deserve to know, 
even if our colleagues on the other side are not interested in hearing 
it.
  The Vice President has a financial interest in Halliburton, and it 
is, indeed, significant. The Vice President holds 433,000 unexercised 
Halliburton stock options, and even though most of the exercised prices 
are above the current market price, the majority of the options extend 
to 2009.
  In addition to the stock options, Vice President Cheney continues to 
receive deferred salary from Halliburton, and it is a significant sum. 
In fact, the Vice President's salary rivals his Government pay. He is 
looking at salaries that are very competitive to his Government salary. 
The Government salary is $186,000, going to $198,000 over a period of 
time, and the Halliburton salary is $205,000. It starts out almost 
$20,000 higher, and then it sinks to $30,000 in the middle but creeps 
back to where it is a $20,000 differential. Not much when we are 
talking about the kind of moneys Halliburton has paid the Vice 
President.
  With these revelations concerning the Vice President's involvement in

[[Page 15296]]

the no-bid contract, it is time for this Senate to act. In the last 
administration, someone would sneeze and it would be investigated 
around here. Remember Whitewater? That was a $203,000 investment 15 
years before President Clinton took office. Not only was there nothing 
to the charges, but it had nothing to do with Government conduct. Yet 
here we are talking about $2.2 billion in taxpayer funds that were 
possibly illegally awarded, and we have done nothing to investigate it.
  I urge my colleagues to uphold our constitutional duties and 
investigate this critical issue.
  What does it say to the public at large if you want to overcharge the 
Government and you have the right connections, perhaps you can do it or 
perhaps you can arrange it. The fact is, people out there are sweating 
to make a living, sweating to pay their bills, sweating to educate 
their kids, and sweating to pay the prices that prescription drugs now 
cost. But when we have an item such as a $160 million overcharge, in 
wartime, that is called profiteering, and in the war I served in a long 
time ago, World War II, profiteering would hold you out for scorn 
across this country. It never would be tolerated. It would be brought 
to the courts, it would be brought to the Congress, and it would be 
shut down promptly.
  Halliburton's $85,000 maintenance plan: Needed an oil change but 
bought a new truck; $85,000 was spent because they did not want to take 
the time out to change the oil in the truck. So they went ahead and 
bought a new one. What the heck, the taxpayers are paying for it, and 
no one is going to get excited here. It is obvious, as we see this 
morning and every day.
  It is with regret that I bring this to our attention, but I think it 
must be done. I am not doing this for political reasons; I am doing 
this because the citizens of the United States are entitled to a fair 
break. I will tell you, if it were in the local hardware store, or 
something such as that, and they were overcharging you and not telling 
you the price in advance, we would hear about it in our offices. But, 
no, after all, this is only a $2.5 billion contract; what is there to 
get excited about?
  I thank my colleagues for the attention they have given me this 
morning, and I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Thomas). The clerk will call the roll.
  The assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. DASCHLE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  I ask the minority leader, is he using leader time?
  Mr. DASCHLE. I will be using my leader time.

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