[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 831 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







110th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 831

To authorize States and local governments to prohibit the investment of 
State assets in any company that has a qualifying business relationship 
                              with Sudan.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             March 8, 2007

 Mr. Durbin (for himself, Mr. Cornyn, Mr. Specter, Mr. Lieberman, and 
  Mr. Obama) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
    referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To authorize States and local governments to prohibit the investment of 
State assets in any company that has a qualifying business relationship 
                              with Sudan.

    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 ``Sudan Divestment Authorization Act 
of 2007''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress makes the following findings:
            (1) On July 22, 2004, the Senate and the House of 
        Representatives passed concurrent resolutions declaring that 
        ``the atrocities unfolding in Darfur, Sudan, are genocide''.
            (2) On June 30, 2005, President Bush affirmed that ``the 
        violence in Darfur region is clearly genocide [and t]he human 
        cost is beyond calculation''.
            (3) The Darfur Peace and Accountability Act of 2006, which 
        was signed into law on October 13, 2006, reaffirms that ``the 
        genocide unfolding in the Darfur region of Sudan is 
        characterized by acts of terrorism and atrocities directed 
        against civilians, including mass murder, rape, and sexual 
        violence committed by the Janjaweed and associated militias 
        with the complicity and support of the National Congress Party-
        led faction of the Government of Sudan''.
            (4) Several States and governmental entities, through 
        legislation and other means, have expressed their desire, or 
        are considering measures--
                    (A) to divest any equity in, or to refuse to 
                provide debt capital to, certain companies that operate 
                in Sudan; and
                    (B) to disassociate themselves and the 
                beneficiaries of their public pension and endowment 
                funds from directly or indirectly supporting the Darfur 
                genocide.
            (5) Efforts of States and other governmental entities to 
        divest their pension funds and other investments of companies 
        that operate in Sudan build upon the legal and historical 
        legacy of the anti-apartheid movement in the United States, a 
        movement which contributed to the end of apartheid in South 
        Africa and the holding of free elections in that country in 
        1994.
            (6) Although divestment measures should be employed 
        judiciously and sparingly, declarations of genocide by Congress 
        and the President justify such action.

SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS.

    It is the sense of Congress that--
            (1) States and other governmental entities should be 
        permitted to provide for the divestment of certain State assets 
        within their jurisdictions as an expression of opposition to 
        the genocidal actions and policies of the Government of Sudan; 
        and
            (2) a divestment measure authorized under section 5 does 
        not violate the United States Constitution because such a 
        measure--
                    (A) is not preempted under the Supremacy Clause;
                    (B) does not constitute an undue burden on foreign 
                or interstate commerce under the Commerce Clause; and
                    (C) does not intrude on, or interfere with, the 
                conduct of foreign affairs of the United States.

SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Assets.--The term ``assets'' means any public pension, 
        retirement, annuity, or endowment fund, or similar instrument, 
        managed by a State.
            (2) Company.--The term ``company'' means any natural 
        person, legal person, sole proprietorship, organization, 
        association, corporation, partnership, firm, joint venture, 
        franchisor, franchisee, financial institution, utility, public 
        franchise, trust, enterprise, limited partnership, limited 
        liability partnership, limited liability company, or other 
        business entity or association, including all wholly-owned 
        subsidiaries, majority-owned subsidiaries, parent companies, or 
        affiliates of such business entities or associations.
            (3) Company with a qualifying business relationship with 
        sudan.--The term ``company with a qualifying business 
        relationship with Sudan''--
                    (A) means any company--
                            (i) that is wholly or partially managed or 
                        controlled, either directly or indirectly, by 
                        the Government of Sudan or any of its agencies, 
                        including political units and subdivisions;
                            (ii) that is established or organized under 
                        the laws of the Government of Sudan;
                            (iii) whose domicile or principal place of 
                        business is in Sudan;
                            (iv) that is engaged in business operations 
                        that provide revenue to the Government of 
                        Sudan;
                            (v) that owns, maintains, sells, leases, or 
                        controls property, assets, equipment, 
                        facilities, personnel, or any other apparatus 
                        of business or commerce in Sudan, including 
                        ownership or possession of real or personal 
                        property located in Sudan;
                            (vi) that transacts commercial business, 
                        including the provision or obtaining of goods 
                        or services, in Sudan;
                            (vii) that has distribution agreements 
                        with, issues credits or loans to, or purchases 
                        bonds of commercial paper issued by--
                                    (I) the Government of Sudan; or
                                    (II) any company whose domicile or 
                                principal place of business is in 
                                Sudan;
                            (viii) that invests in--
                                    (I) the Government of Sudan; or
                                    (II) any company whose domicile or 
                                principal place of business is in 
                                Sudan; or
                            (ix) that is fined, penalized, or 
                        sanctioned by the Office of Foreign Assets 
                        Control of the Department of the Treasury for 
                        violating any Federal rule or restriction 
                        relating to Sudan after the date of the 
                        enactment of this Act; and
                    (B) does not include--
                            (i) nongovernmental organizations (except 
                        agencies of Sudan), which--
                                    (I) have consultative status with 
                                the United Nations Economic and Social 
                                Council; or
                                    (II) have been accredited by a 
                                department or specialized agency of the 
                                United Nations;
                            (ii) companies that operate in Sudan under 
                        a permit or other authority of the United 
                        States;
                            (iii) companies whose business activities 
                        in Sudan are strictly limited to the provision 
                        of goods and services that are--
                                    (I) intended to relieve human 
                                suffering;
                                    (II) intended to promote welfare, 
                                health, religious, or spiritual 
                                activities;
                                    (III) used for educational 
                                purposes;
                                    (IV) used for humanitarian 
                                purposes; or
                                    (V) used for journalistic 
                                activities.
            (4) Government of sudan.--The term ``Government of 
        Sudan''--
                    (A) means--
                            (i) the government in Khartoum, Sudan, 
                        which is led by the National Congress Party 
                        (formerly known as the National Islamic Front); 
                        or
                            (ii) any successor government formed on or 
                        after the date of the enactment of this Act, 
                        including the Government of National Unity, 
                        established in 2005 as a result of the 
                        Comprehensive Peace Agreement for Sudan; and
                    (B) does not include the regional Government of 
                Southern Sudan.
            (5) State.--The term ``State'' means each of the several 
        States of the United States, the District of Columbia, the 
        Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Guam, American 
        Samoa, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, 
        and any department, agency, public university or college, 
        county, city, village, or township of such governmental entity.

SEC. 5. AUTHORIZATION FOR CERTAIN STATE AND LOCAL DIVESTMENT MEASURES.

    (a) In General.--Notwithstanding any other provision of law, any 
State may adopt measures to prohibit any investment of State assets in 
the Government of Sudan or in any company with a qualifying business 
relationship with Sudan, during any period in which the Government of 
Sudan, or the officials of such government are subject to sanctions 
authorized under--
            (1) the Sudan Peace Act (Public Law 107-245);
            (2) the Comprehensive Peace in Sudan Act of 2004 (Public 
        Law 108-497);
            (3) the USA PATRIOT Improvement and Reauthorization Act of 
        2005 (Public Law 109-177);
            (4) the Darfur Peace and Accountability Act of 2006 (Public 
        Law 109-344); or
            (5) any other Federal law or executive order.
    (b) Applicability.--Subsection (a) shall apply to measures adopted 
by a State before, on, or after the date of the enactment of this Act.
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