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In a
52 to 47 vote, the Senate approved a resolution already passed
by the House of Representatives that wipes from the books a rule
requiring companies such as Exxon Mobil and Chevron Corp to
publicly state the taxes and other fees they pay to foreign
governments.
Republican President Donald Trump is expected to sign it
shortly.
Exxon and other major energy corporations have fought for years
to prevent the rule, required by the 2010 Dodd-Frank Wall Street
reform law, from seeing the light of day.
After a series of legal battles, the Securities and Exchange
Commission in June 2016 completed the regulation, which
supporters say can help expose questionable financial ties U.S.
companies may have with foreign governments.
Democrats in the Senate had raised concerns during debate late
on Wednesday that Exxon's chief executive during those legal
fights was Rex Tillerson, recently confirmed as Secretary of
State, the country's top diplomatic post.
Tillerson, who has done extensive business in Russia, had raised
Democrats' hackles at his confirmation hearing by saying he did
not know Exxon had lobbied against U.S. sanctions on Russia.
"It should be lost on no one that in less than 48 hours, the
Republican-controlled Senate has confirmed the former head of
ExxonMobil to serve as our Secretary of State, and repealed a
key anti-corruption rule that ExxonMobil and the American
Petroleum Institute have erroneously fought for years," said
Senator Ben Cardin of Maryland, the senior Democrat on the
foreign relations committee.
Cardin had written the Dodd-Frank section on the payments with
former Senator Richard Lugar, a Republican.
(Editing by Bernadette Baum)
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