Bill on Sudanese disinvestment gets Senate support
SALEM, Ore., July 20, 2005 (AP) — Oregon would rid itself of any investments that benefit the repressive Sudanese government, under a bill that won approval this week from the state Senate.
The bill now heads to the House, where its prospects are unclear, even though it has received votes of confidence from both Republicans and Democrats as a needed response to years of killing, torture, rape and destruction sponsored by the Sudanese government.
The bill sends a “clear, unequivocal message of condemnation” against such atrocities, said Sen. Margaret Carter, D-Portland, who carried the bill to a 28-0 vote.
A handful of state legislatures have already passed, or are considering, similar measures.
If signed into law, the bill would require the state treasurer and the Oregon Investment Council to screen the state’s investments and eliminate any with ties to Sudan’s government. The state’s investment portfolio totals more than $61 billion. It is not clear how much of the portfolio is invested in companies that do business in Sudan.
A 1997 executive order signed by President Clinton imposed a trade embargo on the African nation. But the restrictions are ignored by such nations as China and Russia, which may filter money earned in Sudan into Oregon and the rest of the country, said Rep. Brian Boquist, R-Dallas, one of the state bill’s sponsors.
Starting Sept. 1, state investment managers could not make new loans or investments in Sudan, contribute to developing technology involving Sudanese energy resources, or do business with the nation’s banks.
Then, between Sept. 1 and Feb. 15, 2006, the state Treasury Department would make “every reasonable effort” to evaluate the state’s investments in companies that do business in Sudan and report their findings to the investment fund’s trustees.
The current version of the bill does concern some agencies that would have to enforce it.
The bill may lead the state to break existing contracts, incurring costly financial penalties, and force the Treasury Department to change investments on a “very, very short time frame,” said Kate Richardson, the department’s chief of staff.