Big Oil CEO says ending tax breaks “un-American.”

By Amy Harder
National Journal

Who knew a congressional hearing on oil and gas tax breaks could be so patriotic?

Two Senate Democrats made sure it would be after ConocoPhillips CEO James Mulva released a news release Wednesday that derided Democratic legislation repealing oil and gas tax breaks as "un-American."

"Do you think anyone who advocates cutting these subsidies [is] un-American, yes or no?" Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., demanded of Mulva at a politically charged Senate hearing Thursday.

"Senator, maybe you could hear me out," Mulva pleaded. "Make no mistake, were these proposals enacted that we're talked about today… they would place the U.S.-based oil companies at a disadvantage."

Not happy with Mulva's answers, Schumer turned to the other four top executives at the hearing from BP, Shell, Chevron, and Exxon Mobil.

"Do you others consider it un-American? Raise your hand."

Not surprisingly, none of them raised their hands.

Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W. Va, also pressed the oil industry CEOs, telling them that they are "out of touch" with the average American worker. You can watch the testimony here:

Later, Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kan., offered an example he found to be un-American. He cited a small refinery in Billings, Mont., that's partly owned by Exxon and partly owned by Citgo, a state-owned Venezuelan company. Roberts said he spoke with an employee at that refinery who said repealing the tax breaks would hurt only the American-owned part, not the part owned by a nation led by the virulently anti-American Hugo Chavez. "Excuse Mr. Chairman, but I call that sort of un-American," Roberts said.

(Read: Four ways the oil industry saves billions in tax breaks)

Schumer — along with Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J., author of the "un-American" legislation — kept grilling Mulva about the release.

"Do you make those accusations lightly or did you really question our patriotism?" Menendez demanded of Mulva.

"It was not intended to be personally directed at you," Mulva responded. "It was merely utilized in a way that we felt the tax proposals under consideration were inconsistent with the treatment of all taxpayers in a similar way." That was as close as Mulva came to an apology, which was what Menendez was looking for.

(Photos: House members seeking Senate seats)

"The bottom line is you're unwilling to apologize for your company's statement," Menendez shot back at Mulva. "So I will continue to take offense to that."

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