Darfur Accountability and Divestment Act

DARFUR ACCOUNTABILITY AND DIVESTMENT ACT -- (House of Representatives - July 30, 2007)

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Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, the United States has many tools in its national security arsenal. And one that is too often overlooked and under-utilized--despite the fact that it works--is economic leverage.

Today, it is long past time that the United States--and the international community--exert maximum pressure on the Sudanese government to stop the suffering in Darfur, where an estimated 200,000 to 400,000 civilians have been slaughtered and 2.5 million more have been driven from their homes.

The United Nations has identified the situation in Darfur as the worst humanitarian and human rights crisis in the world today. The United States has labeled the killings there as genocide.

We must not turn a blind eye to this horrific human suffering, which shocks our collective conscience. Thus, the United States must lead the international community in turning up the pressure on the Sudanese government through an effective divestment campaign similar to the one employed against South Africa three decades ago.

The Darfur Accountability and Divestment Act--introduced by a leader on this important issue, Congresswoman Lee--seeks to utilize targeted divestment to exert further pressure on the Bashir government in Khartoum.

This legislation requires the Treasury Secretary to establish a list of companies whose business activities in Sudan directly support the genocidal practices of the Bashir regime in Khartoum. The measure also authorizes State and local governments which choose to divest their pension fund holdings from companies on the list, and it contains ``safe harbor'' provisions for managers of mutual funds and corporate pension managers who choose to do the same even though their charters may mandate that they seek to maximize gains.

Furthermore, the bill would ban U.S. Government procurement contracts with companies on the Treasury list and authorizes the prohibition of these types of contracts at the State and local level.

The fact is, while the United States currently prohibits companies from conducting business operations in Sudan, millions of Americans are inadvertently supporting Bashir's government by investing in foreign companies that conduct business operations there.

According to the Sudan Divestment Task Force, the Khartoum regime ``relies heavily on foreign investment to fund its military and the brutal militias seeking to eliminate the non-Arab population of Darfur.'' In fact, it is estimated that as much as 70 to 80 percent of oil revenue in Sudan is funneled directly into the military.

Given our experience in South Africa, we know that increasing economic pressure through targeted divestment can work. We have been talking with the Bashir government for years now--with little effect. It is time to leverage our dollars in an attempt to stop the suffering in Darfur.

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