Pocket veto on Sudan divestment bill by White House?
By Wasil Ali
December 28, 2007 (WASHINGTON) — US president George Bush has yet to sign a bill overwhelmingly endorsed by the Congress to support divestment activities in Sudan.
The White House dilemma is deepened given the high political price that may ensue if the bill is blocked.
The US House of Representatives voted unanimously in favor of a Senate version of “Sudan Accountability and Divestment Act of 2007″ on December 18th.
The bill aims at providing protection from lawsuits to State and local divestment efforts in Sudan to sanction it over the Darfur crisis labeled genocide by the US administration.
The bill also allows asset managers to divest from foreign companies operating in Sudan without being deemed in violation of their fiduciary duty. Also no government agency shall grant federal contracts to companies believed to be conducting business in Sudan unless they certify otherwise.
The Sudan Accountability and Divestment Act of 2007 specifically targets the main sources of revenue of Khartoum; oil, power production, mining and military equipment. It will only impact foreign companies since most American businesses are prohibited from dealing with Sudan under executive order issued in 1997 by former president Bill Clinton.
The legislation was sent to Bush last Friday along with other bills which were all signed with the exception of two including the divestment bill.
The US administration has been intensively lobbying Congressmen to kill the bill citing concerns over limiting the president’s constitutional powers to conduct foreign policy.
A letter sent to the Senate Democratic and Republican leaders by the US Justice department on October 26 suggested that courts might be involved in knocking down a provision of the Sudan Accountability and Divestment Act that would give congressional authorization for state and local governments’ divestment schemes.
The US State department sent a similar letter making same arguments on constitutional and foreign policy grounds rather than legal.
State Department, deputy spokesman Tom Casey speaking hours before the bill was passed hinted that White House may be taking actions to curtail the impact of the legislation if it passes.
“We’ll continue to talk with members of Congress about as the House considers it. Certainly, I wouldn’t try and speak on behalf of the White House in terms of what actions would be taken in terms of implementation of such legislation if it does pass, but obviously we’ll be working with Congress on it as it moves forward” Casey said.
The US constitution enables the president to veto the bill and send it back with his objections. The US Congress needs two thirds of votes to override the presidential veto and enact it into a law.
“I don’t believe President Bush can afford to veto this bill,” said Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn., Senate sponsor of the legislation. “A veto would be an endorsement of genocide.”
If President Bush neither vetoes nor signs the bill within 10 days, excluding Sundays, it automatically becomes a law. The only exception to that is when the Congress adjourns before the ten days have passed and the President has not yet signed the bill. This practice is called “pocket veto” and it cannot be overridden by the US Congress.
The ten day period for the Sudan divestment bill will expire at midnight January 2nd.
This tactic for killing a bill can be used only when Congress is not in session. Bush used the unique “pocket veto” provision today to reject a defense bill.
The House last week adjourned until Jan. 15; the Senate returns a week later but has been holding brief, often seconds-long pro forma sessions every two or three days to prevent Bush from making appointments that otherwise would need Senate approval.
But analysts speaking to Sudan Tribune said that any attempts by Bush to block the bill may be politcally costly to Republicans ahead of 2008 elections.
Last week dozens of faith-based and human rights organizations urged President Bush to sign the bill including Save Darfur, National Association of Evangelicals, National Council of Churches and American Jewish Committee.
“Our organizations represent millions of Americans who are deeply concerned about the genocide in Darfur and take action to make these concerns heard” the Darfur groups said in a letter to Bush.
“We urge you not only to sign this bill into law but also to use the signing as an opportunity to increase the pressure on Sudan to comply with international efforts to end the genocide” the letter said.
International experts estimate 200,000 people have died in the conflict, which Washington calls genocide, a term European governments are reluctant to use. The Sudan government says 9,000 people have been killed.
(ST)