Post by benson on Feb 1, 2017 14:15:41 GMT
With everything going on in the world today, you might find it perplexing that scrapping an anti-corruption law is at the top of the congressional to-do list in Washington.
But Congress will seek to do just that this week by voting to roll back rules to implement the landmark bipartisan Cardin-Lugar anti-corruption law known as section 1504 of the Dodd-Frank Act. Passed in 2010, it requires oil and mining companies listed on U.S. stock exchanges to publish the payments they make to the United States and governments around the world for access to natural resources.
This rule is a hallmark of U.S. global leadership in fighting corruption in poor countries. It covers the vast majority of the world’s largest oil, gas and mining companies, including ExxonMobil, Chevron, BP and Shell, as well as leading state-owned companies from China and Brazil. All foreign companies listed on U.S. stock exchanges must comply with the Cardin-Lugar rule.
Since our law passed, more than 30 countries have followed the United States’ lead and passed similar laws. All 28 EU states, Canada and Norway are implementing laws modeled on ours, ensuring a level playing field. Even state-backed companies from China, Russia, India and Brazil must comply. So far, so good. Reports have been published by BP and Shell and even by Russia’s state-owned companies, Gazprom and Rosneft.
There is absolutely no benefit to nullifying this common sense rule. If your objective is to make it easier for corrupt elites to steal money, or if you like terrorism and unstable kleptocracies, however, overturning this rule is for you.
In the years since this law was passed, we estimate that oil company payments to governments of some of the world’s poorest countries surpassed $1.5 trillion. This money should have helped governments pay for schools, roads, hospitals and other critical measures to fight poverty without needing a dime of U.S. foreign aid.
But citizens eager to follow the money have had to wait until 2019 thanks to delays in implementing Cardin-Lugar caused by lawsuits from laggards in the oil industry. At a time when aid dollars are shrinking, transparency is essential to prevent the looting of much needed revenues by corrupt officials. And if the rule is rolled-back, these payments will remain a secret, possibly forever, fueling corruption, waste, and keeping poor countries dependent on U.S. foreign aid.
In a recent Wall Street Journal op-ed, House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) declared his intention to dismantle the bipartisan the Cardin-Lugar anti-corruption rule, incorrectly suggesting that it was imposed by “the federal bureaucracy.” The op-ed fails to mention that this rule was actually mandated Congress—not bureaucrats.
thehill.com/blogs/pundits-blog/lawmaker-news/317211-is-this-how-congress-fights-corruption
"There is absolutely no benefit to nullifying this common sense rule. If your objective is to make it easier for corrupt elites to steal money, or if you like terrorism and unstable kleptocracies, however, overturning this rule is for you."
But Congress will seek to do just that this week by voting to roll back rules to implement the landmark bipartisan Cardin-Lugar anti-corruption law known as section 1504 of the Dodd-Frank Act. Passed in 2010, it requires oil and mining companies listed on U.S. stock exchanges to publish the payments they make to the United States and governments around the world for access to natural resources.
This rule is a hallmark of U.S. global leadership in fighting corruption in poor countries. It covers the vast majority of the world’s largest oil, gas and mining companies, including ExxonMobil, Chevron, BP and Shell, as well as leading state-owned companies from China and Brazil. All foreign companies listed on U.S. stock exchanges must comply with the Cardin-Lugar rule.
Since our law passed, more than 30 countries have followed the United States’ lead and passed similar laws. All 28 EU states, Canada and Norway are implementing laws modeled on ours, ensuring a level playing field. Even state-backed companies from China, Russia, India and Brazil must comply. So far, so good. Reports have been published by BP and Shell and even by Russia’s state-owned companies, Gazprom and Rosneft.
There is absolutely no benefit to nullifying this common sense rule. If your objective is to make it easier for corrupt elites to steal money, or if you like terrorism and unstable kleptocracies, however, overturning this rule is for you.
In the years since this law was passed, we estimate that oil company payments to governments of some of the world’s poorest countries surpassed $1.5 trillion. This money should have helped governments pay for schools, roads, hospitals and other critical measures to fight poverty without needing a dime of U.S. foreign aid.
But citizens eager to follow the money have had to wait until 2019 thanks to delays in implementing Cardin-Lugar caused by lawsuits from laggards in the oil industry. At a time when aid dollars are shrinking, transparency is essential to prevent the looting of much needed revenues by corrupt officials. And if the rule is rolled-back, these payments will remain a secret, possibly forever, fueling corruption, waste, and keeping poor countries dependent on U.S. foreign aid.
In a recent Wall Street Journal op-ed, House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) declared his intention to dismantle the bipartisan the Cardin-Lugar anti-corruption rule, incorrectly suggesting that it was imposed by “the federal bureaucracy.” The op-ed fails to mention that this rule was actually mandated Congress—not bureaucrats.
thehill.com/blogs/pundits-blog/lawmaker-news/317211-is-this-how-congress-fights-corruption
"There is absolutely no benefit to nullifying this common sense rule. If your objective is to make it easier for corrupt elites to steal money, or if you like terrorism and unstable kleptocracies, however, overturning this rule is for you."