110 HRES 164 IH: Encouraging the Federal Government and U.S. House of Representatives 2007-02-14 text/xml EN Pursuant to Title 17 Section 105 of the United States Code, this file is not subject to copyright protection and is in the public domain.

IV 110th CONGRESS 1st Session H. RES. 164 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES February 14, 2007 Mr. Tancredo submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services RESOLUTION Encouraging the Federal Government and State and municipal governments, universities, companies, and other institutions in the United States, and all Americans to divest from companies that do business with Sudan.

Whereas 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— (1)declares that the atrocities unfolding in the Darfur region of Sudan are genocide; (2)declares that the Government of Sudan has violated the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide; (3)urges the Administration to seriously consider multilateral intervention to stop genocide in Darfur should the United Nations Security Council fail to act; and (4)calls on the Administration to impose targeted sanctions, including visa bans and the freezing of assets of the Sudanese National Congress and affiliated businesses and individuals directly responsible for the atrocities in Darfur; Whereas 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— (1)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); (2)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 (3)offers United States support for the International Criminal Court’s efforts to prosecute those responsible for acts of genocide in Darfur; Whereas 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; Whereas 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; Whereas, 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; Whereas the States of Illinois, New Jersey, Oregon, and Maine have passed legislation mandating divestment of State funds from companies that conduct business operations in Sudan; Whereas Providence, Rhode Island, New Haven, Connecticut, and other cities have passed legislation mandating divestment of city funds from companies that conduct business operations in Sudan; Whereas 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 Colorado, 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; Whereas 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; and Whereas 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: Now, therefore, be it

That the House of Representatives— (1)encourages the Federal Government and State and municipal governments to divest from companies that do business with Sudan; (2)encourages universities, companies, and other institutions in the United States to divest from companies that do business with Sudan; and (3)encourages all Americans to divest from companies that do business with Sudan.