[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 180 Introduced in House (IH)]







110th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 180

   To require the identification of companies that conduct business 
  operations in Sudan, to prohibit United States Government contracts 
              with such companies, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            January 4, 2007

   Ms. Lee introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
 Committee on Financial Services, and in addition to the Committee on 
   Oversight and Government Reform, for a period to be subsequently 
   determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such 
 provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To require the identification of companies that conduct business 
  operations in Sudan, to prohibit United States Government contracts 
              with such companies, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Darfur Accountability and Divestment 
Act of 2007''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) In the 108th Congress, the House of Representatives 
        adopted House Concurrent Resolution 467 on July 22, 2004, by a 
        unanimous vote of 422-0, which--
                    (A) declares that the atrocities unfolding in the 
                Darfur region of Sudan, are genocide;
                    (B) declares that the Government of Sudan has 
                violated the Convention on the Prevention and 
                Punishment of the Crime of Genocide;
                    (C) urges the Administration to seriously consider 
                multilateral intervention to stop genocide in Darfur 
                should the United Nations Security Council fail to act; 
                and
                    (D) calls on the Administration to impose targeted 
                sanctions, including visa bans and the freezing of 
                assets of the Sudanese National Congress and affiliated 
                business and individuals directly responsible for the 
                atrocities in Darfur.
            (2) In the 109th Congress, the House of Representatives 
        passed H.R. 3127, the Darfur Peace and Accountability Act of 
        2006, on April 5, 2006, by a vote of 416-3, which--
                    (A) appeals to the international community, 
                including the United Nations, the European Union, and 
                the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), to 
                immediately mobilize sufficient political, military, 
                and financial resources to support and expand the 
                African Union Mission in Sudan (AMIS);
                    (B) blocks assets and restricts travel of any 
                individual the President determines is responsible for 
                acts of genocide, war crimes, or crimes against 
                humanity in the Darfur region of Sudan; and
                    (C) offers United States support for the 
                International Criminal Court's efforts to prosecute 
                those responsible for acts of genocide in Darfur.
            (3) On September 9, 2004, former Secretary of State Colin 
        Powell stated before the Committee on Foreign Relations of the 
        Senate that genocide was being committed in the Darfur region 
        of Sudan and that the Government of Sudan and the government-
        supported Janjaweed militias bear responsibility for the 
        genocide.
            (4) On September 21, 2004, President George W. Bush 
        affirmed the Secretary of State's finding in an address before 
        the United Nations General Assembly, stating that the world is 
        witnessing terrible suffering and horrible crimes in the Darfur 
        region of Sudan, crimes the Government of the United States has 
        concluded are genocide.
            (5) Although the Government of the United States currently 
        bans United States companies from conducting business 
        operations in Sudan, millions of Americans are inadvertently 
        supporting the Government of Sudan by investing in foreign 
        companies that conduct business operations in Sudan that 
        disproportionately benefit the Sudanese regime in Khartoum.
            (6) Illinois, New Jersey, Oregon, and Maine have passed 
        legislation mandating divestment of State funds from companies 
        that conduct business operations in Sudan. California, 
        Massachusetts, Rhode Island, North Carolina, Kansas, Wisconsin, 
        Indiana, Georgia, Maryland, New York, Iowa, and Texas have 
        considered or are considering legislation to divest State funds 
        from companies that conduct business operations in Sudan. 
        Connecticut, Ohio, and Vermont have passed non-binding 
        divestment legislation with respect to Sudan. Arizona, 
        Louisiana, Missouri, and Pennsylvania have adopted screening 
        processes for investments in companies that conduct business 
        operations in countries that are sponsors of terrorism, 
        including Sudan.
            (7) Providence, Rhode Island and New Haven, Connecticut 
        have passed legislation mandating divestment of city funds from 
        companies that conduct business operations in Sudan.
            (8) Amherst, Boston University, Brandeis, Brown, Columbia, 
        Dartmouth, Harvard, Middlebury, Oberlin, Princeton, the 
        Reconstructionist Rabbinical College, Samford, Simmons, Smith, 
        Stanford, Trinity, the University of California, the University 
        of Maryland, the University of Pennsylvania, the University of 
        Southern California, the University of Vermont, the University 
        of Washington, Williams, and Yale have divested their funds 
        from, or placed restrictions on investment of their funds in, 
        certain companies that conduct business operations in Sudan.
            (9) No American should have to worry that his or her 
        investments or pension money was earned in support of genocide.
            (10) Divestment has proven effective in similar situations, 
        as in 1986, when State pension funds and university endowments 
        were divested from companies that conducted business operations 
        in South Africa, which was critical to ending apartheid in that 
        country, and by 1994, when the first free elections in South 
        Africa took place, a substantial number of States, counties, 
        cities, universities and colleges in the United States had 
        adopted partial or total divestment policies.
            (11) The only type of pressure shown to be effective 
        against Sudan is economic pressure against the Government of 
        Sudan, such as the imposition of sanctions and divestment. 
        Sudan has cooperated with the United States on counterterrorism 
        efforts due to United States sanctions imposed on Sudan in 1997 
        and Sudan agreed to negotiations with the Sudan People's 
        Liberation Army of South Sudan that resulted in the 
        Comprehensive Peace Agreement of 2005 due in part to a 
        successful divestment campaign against Talisman Energy, 
        Incorporated of Canada.
            (12) Congress acknowledges that divestment should be used 
        sparingly and under extraordinary circumstances. This Act is 
        based on unique circumstances, specifically, the reprehensible 
        and abhorrent genocide occurring in Sudan.
            (13) The business operations of companies in countries that 
        perpetrate grave abuses of human rights, especially the 
        uniquely monstrous crime of genocide, are of material financial 
        concern to United States investors even when these operations 
        represent a small fraction of a company's total business.
            (14) State and city pension funds have routinely but 
        unsuccessfully sought to acquire and utilize data from the 
        Federal Government on companies for investment decisions.
            (15) The deteriorating security situation in the Darfur 
        region of Sudan indicates that the people of Darfur cannot wait 
        long for security to be reestablished.

SEC. 3. STATEMENT OF POLICY.

    Congress recognizes and supports--
            (1) States and cities that have divested or are in the 
        process of divesting State and city funds from companies that 
        conduct business operations in Sudan; and
            (2) United States colleges and universities that have 
        divested their funds from, or placed restrictions on 
        investments of their funds in, companies that conduct business 
        operations in Sudan.

SEC. 4. IDENTIFICATION OF COMPANIES CONDUCTING BUSINESS OPERATIONS IN 
              SUDAN.

    (a) Identification.--The Securities and Exchange Commission, acting 
through the Division of Corporation Finance, shall require all 
companies trading in securities that are registered under section 12 of 
the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (15 U.S.C. 78l) which, either 
directly or through a parent or subsidiary company, including partly-
owned subsidiaries, conduct business operations in Sudan to disclose 
the nature of their business operations in Sudan, including--
            (1) the existence and nature of business relationships and 
        investments with national, regional, and local governments;
            (2) business activities with government or government-
        controlled entities;
            (3) business operations relating to the sale of military 
        equipment or inherently ``dual-use'' technology, such as 
        civilian radar systems;
            (4) business operations relating to natural resource 
        extraction, including oil-related activities and mining of 
        minerals; and
            (5) safeguards to ensure business operations do not become 
        indirectly involved in the terrorist-sponsoring or genocidal 
        policies of the Government of Sudan.
    (b) Investigation by Government Accountability Office.--The 
Comptroller General of the Government Accountability Office shall 
investigate the existence and extent of all Federal Retirement Thrift 
Investment Board investments in companies identified pursuant to 
subsection (a).
    (c) Reports.--
            (1) SEC report.--Not later than 90 days after the date of 
        the enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, the 
        Securities and Exchange Commission shall prepare and submit to 
        Congress a report that contains the names of the companies and 
        a description of their business operations identified under 
        subsection (a).
            (2) GAO report.--Not later than 180 days after the date of 
        the enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, the 
        Comptroller General of the Government Accountability Office 
        shall prepare and submit to Congress a report that contains the 
        names of the companies and a description of the amount of 
        Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board investments in such 
        companies identified under subsection (b).
    (d) Publication on Websites.--
            (1) SEC website.--The Securities and Exchange Commission 
        shall maintain a list of the names of the companies identified 
        under subsection (a) on the website of the Securities and 
        Exchange Commission.
            (2) GAO website.--The Comptroller General of the Government 
        Accountability Office shall maintain a list of the names of the 
        companies identified under subsection (b) on the website of the 
        Government Accountability Office.

SEC. 5. PROHIBITION ON UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT CONTRACTS.

    (a) Prohibition.--Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the 
Government of the United States shall not enter into or renew a 
contract for the procurement of goods or services with any company 
identified under section 4(a).
    (b) Exception.--The prohibition in subsection (a) shall not apply 
with respect to a company identified under section 4(a) whose business 
operations in Sudan are limited to activities or transactions relating 
to--
            (1) southern Sudan, southern Kordofan/Nuba Mountains State, 
        Blue Nile State, or Abyei;
            (2) the implementation of the Darfur Peace Agreement of May 
        5, 2006;
            (3) the provision of military equipment to be used by 
        nongovernmental organizations in the Darfur region of Sudan, 
        the African Union Mission in Sudan (AMIS), or the United 
        Nations; or
            (4) the provision of humanitarian assistance that is of 
        immediate and substantial benefit to--
                    (A) the majority of people of the Darfur region of 
                Sudan; or
                    (B) the majority of people of eastern Sudan, 
                including the Red Sea, Kassala, and Gedaref States.
    (c) Waiver.--The President may waive the prohibition in subsection 
(a) on a case-by-case basis if the President determines and certifies 
in writing to Congress that it is important to the national security 
interests of the United States to do so.

SEC. 6. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.

    Nothing in this Act or any other provision of law shall be 
construed to preempt any State law that prohibits investment of State 
funds, including State pension funds, in or relating to Sudan.

SEC. 7. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Business operations.--The term ``business operations'' 
        means maintaining, selling, or leasing equipment, facilities, 
        personnel, or any other apparatus of business or commerce, 
        including the ownership or possession of real or personal 
        property.
            (2) Company.--The term ``company''--
                    (A) means a sole proprietorship, organization, 
                association, corporation, partnership, venture, or 
                other entity, its subsidiary or affiliate that exists 
                for profit-making purposes or to otherwise secure 
                economic advantage; and
                    (B) includes a company owned or controlled, either 
                directly or indirectly, by the government of a foreign 
                country, that is established or organized under the 
                laws of, or has its principal place of business in, 
                such foreign country.
            (3) Government of sudan.--The term ``Government of Sudan'' 
        means the Government of Sudan located in Khartoum or its 
        instrumentalities.
            (4) Investment.--The term ``investment'' means the 
        purchase, ownership, or control of stock of a company, 
        association, or corporation, the capital stock of a mutual 
        water company or corporation, bonds issued by the government or 
        a political subdivision of a foreign country, corporate bonds 
        or other debt instruments issued by a company, or the 
        commitment of funds or other assets to a company, including a 
        loan or extension of credit to that company.
            (5) Military equipment.--The term ``military equipment'' 
        means weapons, arms, or military defense supplies.
            (6) Oil-related activities.--The term ``oil-related 
        activities'' includes the export of oil, extracting or 
        producing oil, exploration for oil, or the construction or 
        maintenance of a pipeline, refinery, or other oil field 
        infrastructure.
            (7) Sudan.--The term ``Sudan'' means the Republic of Sudan, 
        a territory under the administration or control of the 
        Government of Sudan, including the Darfur region, or an 
        individual, company, or public agency located in Khartoum, 
        northern Sudan, or the Nile River Valley that supports the 
        Republic of the Sudan.
                                 <all>