The Watchdog accompanied his wife to her class reunion of Harvard Business School alumni and, after two days of reticence, found himself over dinner once again immersed in controversy.
He was sitting near two business leaders, one who works with a company involved in mineral extraction and the other the CEO and principle stock holder in one of our nation’s foremost exporters in his field.
They were condemning the Foreign Corrupt Practice Act of 1977 that prohibits “Issuers, domestic concerns, and any person from making use of interstate commerce corruptly, in furtherance of an offer or payment of anything of value to a foreign official, foreign political party, or candidate for political office, for the purpose of influencing any act of that foreign official in violation of the duty of that official, or to secure any improper advantage in order to obtain or retain business.”
They exchanged example after example of thwarted worldwide dealings because the U S. law placed restrictions upon them that the host country does not, thus preventing them from competing effectively with firms from other nations.
To them it was unthinkable that American citizens and firms should be so handicapped, costing America profitable foreign markets.
And they have a point. Furthermore, an example was given how the US law banning kick backs to government officials ended up costing the health and the lives of tens of thousands.
But the Watchdog is no stranger to foreign investments and their tribulations. And lest he sit quietly in apparent agreement and thus be complicit, he felt morally compelled to pose two question:
1) Just because others bribe officials, is it proper for the USA to lend respectability to the practice by doing the same?
2) Should not their associations lobby our government to alter the law since they believe it is so against the nation’s best interest?
The first suggestion evoked pity that the Watchdog was “naïve.” It was explained that “Business is war” and necessary for us to compete and safeguard American jobs
The second was treated with disdain. It was explained to the Watchdog that every American government official was on the take and worthless.
The Watchdog was not oblivious to their concerns. Unbeknownst to them, his son Richard has been victimized by the same problems in his dealings in Eastern Europe. On the other hand, Richard has been able to do business without conflict with the law in some circumstances and, by doing so, has helped further American principles by setting a good example. Nevertheless, the cost in opportunities lost has been horrendous.
Also unknown to them was that Watchdog’s belief and experience as a political activist that over time attitudes and laws can be changed. It seemed odd to him that leaders of industry such as these, absolute power houses with all of their prestige and affluence, would not through organizations be able to modify the law. (Whether the law should be changed is another matter.)
Due to the blasting of dance music which made it hard to converse (why do they hold reunions and then make it almost impossible to talk?), the Watchdog was not able to fully articulate the big moral question for business persons: Is success measured by how much additional money one makes or, after a certain accumulation of wealth, by how much good one performs?
Their answer probably would have been what is good for their business is good for the USA. (Charlie Wilson of General Motors actually said: “What is good for the USA is good for General Motors, and vice versa.”)
The Watchdog recognizes much validity in their contentions. Through raising questions, he felt he had performed his duties. It was time to go back to the hotel.
But the issues weighed on his mind and prevented him from enjoying a good night of sleep.
The Foreign Corrupt Practice Act is becoming an issue because Rupert and James Murdoch and their company, News Corp, are under investigation for violating the law by bribing police in the U.K. to tape phones of hundreds of people including government officials, the royal family, a kidnap victim, families of killed soldiers and others. I was the first to call for an investigation, which was quickly joined by members of Congress when the scandal heated up and finally an FBI investigation was agreed to by the Department of Justice. There are indications that the same practices as well as hacking into email accounts have been part of their “business plan” in the United States. Murdoch has given $1 million to the Chamber of Commerce for a campaign to end the FCPA.
Here’s the letter I sent to both the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Security and Exchange Commission and the press release about it. We’ve also sent a letter asking that the investigation include the donation to the Chamber of Commerce as an effort to obstruct and undermine the FCPA investigation.
EDITOR: Please check “Letters to the Editor” posting for the links.
KZ