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Congressman to hold Wal-Mart forum Saturday, Sep 17, 2005 By Alison Vekshin Stephens Washington Bureau WASHINGTON -- A U.S. House Democrat has scheduled a forum in his home state of Ohio on Monday where he plans to examine Wal-Mart business practices. Rep. Sherrod Brown said the event in Cleveland will explore the Bentonville-based retailer's business model and its impact on local taxpayers. While it has been described as a hearing, Brown said the forum is not an official congressional meeting. "I just want the public to be more aware of Wal-Mart's practices," said Brown, a member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee. "Companies like Wal-Mart are not good public citizens so much of the time," Brown said. Lee Culpepper, Wal-Mart's vice president for federal government affairs, dismissed the forum. "This is more of the same from those who are opposed to Wal-Mart," Culpepper said. "There's no attempt in this staged press event to engage in a meaningful dialogue about our company." The event will feature testimony from an Ohio economist, union officials and two Cleveland grocery store workers, among others. Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones, D-Ohio, also will attend. Ohio state Sen. Robert Hagan, a Democrat who has authored legislation to examine the extent to which Wal-Mart shifts its business costs to taxpayers, also will be at the hearing. Wal-Mart representatives were not invited to speak. "Wal-Mart is certainly free to come," Brown said. "They have no trouble telling their own stories." Brown said he believed Wal-Mart is contributing to the state's rising Medicaid cost because it provides inadequate health-care coverage to its employees, forcing them on the federal-state health-care system. "It's pretty amazing to me that a company as big as this, a company that has made many people billionaires, doesn't pull its weight by paying health-care costs and taxpayers do," he said. Wal-Mart provides health care to almost a million people and makes it available to all of its employees, Culpepper said. -- 30 -- |
