(SitNews - Ketchikan, Alaska) - Yesterday Senator Hollis French (D-Anchorage) sent a letter to Resources Chair Senator Cathy Giessel requesting that she use her statutory authority to swear in the oil industry witnesses who were scheduled to appear before the Resources Committee today (Wednesday, April 9, 2014).

French’s letter said in part, “There is no issue of greater importance to the economic future of the state than this one. Alaska has struggled since statehood to set a fair oil tax. Our obligation as elected representatives should be to elicit the most reliable and trustworthy information that exists on the topic and to make it available to our constituents.”

The investigation surrounding the grounding of Royal Dutch/Shell’s Arctic drilling rig, the Kulluk, had a role in French’s decision to make the request. Through a series of problems the Kulluk went aground. Questions arose about whether Shell took the risky move of a mid-winter tow to avoid paying millions in state property taxes. A Shell executive told the press that tax considerations had nothing to do with the move. The same executive later admitted under oath that Alaska tax laws influenced the move.

“The parallels between the Kulluk case and this hearing are strong. We are trying to determine whether tax considerations are prompting investment decisions on the North Slope. We have a recent example here in Alaska that demonstrates the power of an oath to produce the truth. There were millions at stake in the Kulluk case, but there are billions involved in SB 21 and the repeal effort. Testimony under oath is the gold standard. We should make use of it,” stated Senator French.

Today, Senate Resources Committee Chair Cathy Giessel addressed the letter from Senator French, a member of the Senate Resources Committee, requesting that she invoke authority under AS 24.25.060, putting citizens under oath who were presenting information to the Resources Committee today.

By placing citizens under oath, penalties for perjury would be in place, should their testimony be construed as being false by someone. The conviction for perjury carries imprisonment for not less than one year, but not more than 5 years.

“This is an interesting request but is unprecedented and inappropriate,” said Senator Giessel. “First, to spring an ‘under oath’ process to invited citizen speakers, at the last minute, is not only unfair, but unprofessional.”

Over the past 15 years, people who testified to standing committees in the Legislature have only been put under oath less than a handful of times and only when the committee was investigating grave misconduct. One such case is when the Joint Judiciary Committee in May 1997 was investigating “blatant misuse of the State’s confidential criminal records computer system.” The oath was only administered, according to the committee’s co-chair at the time, Senator Robin Taylor, to “prevent the potential compromise of any further prosecution.”

During further research, it was noted that not once during his four years serving as Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee did Senator French ever put anyone under oath.

This evening during a Floor Speech, Senator French told members of the Alaska State Senate he thinks oil is the most important thing the state has.

“I say he is wrong. The most important thing we have is our citizens, the great people of the state of Alaska. Treating them like criminals when we are simply seeking information is reprehensible and could stifle the precious flow of information we need to make the most educated decisions about our future,” said Senator Giessel.

Senator Giessel said that she consulted other committee members, none of whom supported this “criminal justice” approach. Today’s committee hearing was neither a deposition, nor a trial. The people asked to speak today shared trend lines of work on the North Slope, based on the economic climate and work completed on locations during the past winter work season.

“I am honoring the views of my committee and did not administer an oath to citizens providing information to the committee today,” said Senator Giessel.

Edited by Mary Kauffman, SitNews

Source of News: 

Office of Senator Hollis French
www.ak.leg.gov

Office of Senator Cathy Giessel
www.ak.leg.gov

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