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Dems seek to strip Cheney's options
Sen. Lautenberg to offer amendment to Iraq spending bill forcing VP to give up Halliburton stake.
October 16, 2003: 3:09 PM EDT
By Mark Gongloff, CNN/Money Staff Writer

NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Senate Democrats plan to introduce legislation Thursday to strip Vice President Dick Cheney of his financial interests in Halliburton Co., the oilfield services company with a $7 billion government contract to repair Iraq's oilfields.

Sen. Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J., plans to introduce an amendment to the pending $87 billion spending bill that would require Cheney to give up stock options and deferred compensation he receives from Halliburton, the company Cheney ran from 1995 to 2000.

Lautenberg communications director Alex Formuzis said the Senate could vote on the amendment Thursday night or Friday morning, and he expected a vast majority of the 48 Democrats in the Senate to support the amendment.

Vice President Cheney's office had no immediate comment. Halliburton said only that Cheney had no involvement with the company and "no financial interest in the future success of Halliburton."

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Cheney still receives about $150,000 a year in deferred compensation from Halliburton, but he is guaranteed that money even if Halliburton goes bankrupt. He also has promised to donate all of his stock options to charity if they become valuable. The options currently are held in a trust for those charities.

According to Lautenberg's research, Cheney holds 100,000 Halliburton shares at an option price of $54.50 per share, 33,333 shares at $28.125, and 300,000 shares at $39.50 -- all prices above Wednesday's closing price for Halliburton of $24.03.

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Shares of Halliburton (HAL: up $0.24 to $24.27, Research, Estimates) rose slightly in afternoon trading Thursday.

Halliburton's contract to repair Iraq's oilfields has been a subject of much controversy this year. Most recently, Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., accused the company of overbilling the government for its work. In past months, Waxman and other Democrats have criticized the government for giving Halliburton the contract without a competitive bidding process.

So far, Halliburton, the world's largest oilfield services company, has been paid about $1.4 billion under the contract, of a possible $7 billion total, Reuters reported Thursday. Halliburton also has generated about $1.6 billion in revenue from a separate contract for logistical support, Reuters said.

Cheney, Halliburton and the U.S. Army, which issued Halliburton's contract, have denied the company enjoyed any favoritism in winning the government job.  Top of page




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