SCR191

WHEREAS, on July 23, 2004, the United States Congress declared that "atrocities unfolding in Darfur, Sudan, are genocide"; and

WHEREAS, on September 9, 2004, Secretary of State Colin L. Powell told the United States Senate Foreign Relations Committee that "genocide has occurred and may still be occurring in Darfur" and "the Government of Sudan and Janjaweed bear responsibility"; and

WHEREAS, on September 21, 2004, addressing the United Nations General Assembly, President George W. Bush affirmed the Secretary of State's findings and stated, "at this hour, the world is witnessing terrible suffering and horrible crimes in the Darfur region of Sudan, crimes my government has concluded are genocide"; and

WHEREAS, on December 7, 2004, the United States Congress noted that the genocidal policy in Darfur has led to reports of "systematic rape of thousands of women and girls, the abduction of women and children, and the destruction of hundreds of ethnically African villages, including the poisoning of their wells and the plunder of their crops and cattle upon which the people of such villages sustain themselves"; and

WHEREAS, the United States Congress also found that "the Government of Sudan has restricted access by humanitarian and human rights workers to the Darfur area through intimidation by military and security forces, and through bureaucratic and administrative obstruction, in an attempt to inflict the most devastating harm on those individuals displaced from their villages and homes without any means of sustenance and shelter"; and

WHEREAS, on September 25, 2006, the United States Congress reaffirmed 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"; and

WHEREAS, on September 26, 2006, the United States House of Representatives stated that "an estimated 300,000 to 400,000 people have been killed by the Government of Sudan and its Janjaweed allies since the [Darfur] crisis began in 2003, more than 2,000,000 people have been displaced from their homes, and more than 250,000 people from Darfur remain in refugee camps in Chad"; and

WHEREAS, the Darfur crisis represents the first time the United States government has labeled ongoing atrocities a genocide, imposing sanctions against the government of Sudan since 1997; and

WHEREAS, since 1993, the United States Secretary of State has determined that the government of Sudan has repeatedly provided support for acts of international terrorism, thereby restricting United States assistance, defense exports and sales, and financial and other transactions with the government of Sudan; and

WHEREAS, according to the former Chair of the United States Securities and Exchange Commission, "the fact that a foreign company is doing material business with a country, government, or entity on [the United States Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control's] sanctions list is, in the SEC staff's view, substantially likely to be significant to a reasonable investor's decision about whether to invest in a company"; and

WHEREAS, a 2006 United States House of Representatives report states that "a company's association with sponsors of terrorism and human rights abuses, no matter how large or small, can have a materially adverse result on a public company's operations, financial condition, earnings, and stock prices, all of which can negatively affect the value of an investment"; and

WHEREAS, in response to the financial risk posed by investment companies doing business with a terrorist-sponsoring state, the Securities and Exchange Commission established its Office of Global Security Risk to provide for enhanced disclosure of material information regarding such companies; and

WHEREAS, the current Sudan divestment movement encompasses nearly one hundred universities, cities, states, and private pension plans, with companies facing widespread divestment presenting further material risk to remaining investors; and

WHEREAS, it is the responsibility of the State to decide where, how, and by whom financial resources in its control should be invested, taking into account numerous pertinent factors; and

WHEREAS, it is the desire of the Legislature, with respect to investment resources in its control and to the extent reasonable, with due consideration for, among other things, return on investment, on behalf of itself and its investment beneficiaries not to support businesses, governments, or counties that support the practice of genocide; and

WHEREAS, the divestment of public funds from certain companies is a measure that should be employed sparingly and judiciously, and a congressional and presidential declaration of genocide satisfies this high threshold; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Twenty-fourth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2007, the House of Representatives concurring, that the Employees' Retirement System is requested to refrain or divest from participation in ownership or capital-providing capacity with entities that provide significant practical support for genocide, including certain non-United States companies presently doing business in Sudan; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this policy should remain in effect insofar as it continues to be consistent with, and does not unduly interfere with, the foreign policy of the United States as determined by the Federal Government; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Board of Trustees of the Employees' Retirement System and the Administrator of the Employees' Retirement System.

	OFFERED BY:	_____________________________

Report Title:

ERS; Divestiture

THE SENATE	S.C.R. NO.	191
TWENTY-FOURTH LEGISLATURE, 2007
STATE OF HAWAII