I 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 180 

To require the identification of companies that conduct business operations 

in Sudan, to prohibit United States Government contracts with such 

companies, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 4, 2007 

Ms. LEE introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on Financial Services, and in addition to the Committee on Oversight and 

Government Reform, for a period to be subsequently determined by the 

Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within 

the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To require the identification of companies that conduct business operations in Sudan, to prohibit United States Government contracts with such companies, and for other 

purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Darfur Accountability 

5 and Divestment Act of 2007’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 


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1 (1) In the 108th Congress, the House of Rep2 resentatives adopted House Concurrent Resolution 

3 467 on July 22, 2004, by a unanimous vote of 422– 

4 0, which— 

5 (A) declares that the atrocities unfolding 

6 in the Darfur region of Sudan, are genocide; 

7 (B) declares that the Government of 

8 Sudan has violated the Convention on the Pre9 vention and Punishment of the Crime of Geno10 cide; 

11 (C) urges the Administration to seriously 

12 consider multilateral intervention to stop geno13 cide in Darfur should the United Nations Secu14 rity Council fail to act; and 

15 (D) calls on the Administration to impose 

16 targeted sanctions, including visa bans and the 

17 freezing of assets of the Sudanese National 

18 Congress and affiliated business and individuals 

19 directly responsible for the atrocities in Darfur. 

20 (2) In the 109th Congress, the House of Rep21 resentatives passed H.R. 3127, the Darfur Peace 

22 and Accountability Act of 2006, on April 5, 2006, 

23 by a vote of 416–3, which— 

24 (A) appeals to the international commu25 nity, including the United Nations, the EuroVerDate Aug 31 2005 07:13 Jan 11, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H180.IH H180

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1 pean Union, and the North Atlantic Treaty Or2 ganization (NATO), to immediately mobilize 

3 sufficient political, military, and financial re4 sources to support and expand the African 

5 Union Mission in Sudan (AMIS); 

6 (B) blocks assets and restricts travel of 

7 any individual the President determines is re8 sponsible for acts of genocide, war crimes, or 

9 crimes against humanity in the Darfur region 

10 of Sudan; and 

11 (C) offers United States support for the 

12 International Criminal Court’s efforts to pros13 ecute those responsible for acts of genocide in 

14 Darfur. 

15 (3) On September 9, 2004, former Secretary of 

16 State Colin Powell stated before the Committee on 

17 Foreign Relations of the Senate that genocide was 

18 being committed in the Darfur region of Sudan and 

19 that the Government of Sudan and the government20 supported Janjaweed militias bear responsibility for 

21 the genocide. 

22 (4) On September 21, 2004, President George 

23 W. Bush affirmed the Secretary of State’s finding in 

24 an address before the United Nations General As25 sembly, stating that the world is witnessing terrible 


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1 suffering and horrible crimes in the Darfur region of 

2 Sudan, crimes the Government of the United States 

3 has concluded are genocide. 

4 (5) Although the Government of the United 

5 States currently bans United States companies from 

6 conducting business operations in Sudan, millions of 

7 Americans are inadvertently supporting the Govern8 ment of Sudan by investing in foreign companies 

9 that conduct business operations in Sudan that dis10 proportionately benefit the Sudanese regime in 

11 Khartoum. 

12 (6) Illinois, New Jersey, Oregon, and Maine 

13 have passed legislation mandating divestment of 

14 State funds from companies that conduct business 

15 operations in Sudan. California, Massachusetts, 

16 Rhode Island, North Carolina, Kansas, Wisconsin, 

17 Indiana, Georgia, Maryland, New York, Iowa, and 

18 Texas have considered or are considering legislation 

19 to divest State funds from companies that conduct 

20 business operations in Sudan. Connecticut, Ohio, 

21 and Vermont have passed non-binding divestment 

22 legislation with respect to Sudan. Arizona, Lou23 isiana, Missouri, and Pennsylvania have adopted 

24 screening processes for investments in companies 


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1 that conduct business operations in countries that 

2 are sponsors of terrorism, including Sudan. 

3 (7) Providence, Rhode Island and New Haven, 

4 Connecticut have passed legislation mandating di5 vestment of city funds from companies that conduct 

6 business operations in Sudan. 

7 (8) Amherst, Boston University, Brandeis, 

8 Brown, Columbia, Dartmouth, Harvard, Middlebury, 

9 Oberlin, Princeton, the Reconstructionist Rabbinical 

10 College, Samford, Simmons, Smith, Stanford, Trin11 ity, the University of California, the University of 

12 Maryland, the University of Pennsylvania, the Uni13 versity of Southern California, the University of 

14 Vermont, the University of Washington, Williams, 

15 and Yale have divested their funds from, or placed 

16 restrictions on investment of their funds in, certain 

17 companies that conduct business operations in 

18 Sudan. 

19 (9) No American should have to worry that his 

20 or her investments or pension money was earned in 

21 support of genocide. 

22 (10) Divestment has proven effective in similar 

23 situations, as in 1986, when State pension funds 

24 and university endowments were divested from com25 panies that conducted business operations in South 


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1 Africa, which was critical to ending apartheid in that 

2 country, and by 1994, when the first free elections 

3 in South Africa took place, a substantial number of 

4 States, counties, cities, universities and colleges in 

5 the United States had adopted partial or total di6 vestment policies. 

7 (11) The only type of pressure shown to be ef8 fective against Sudan is economic pressure against 

9 the Government of Sudan, such as the imposition of 

10 sanctions and divestment. Sudan has cooperated 

11 with the United States on counterterrorism efforts 

12 due to United States sanctions imposed on Sudan in 

13 1997 and Sudan agreed to negotiations with the 

14 Sudan People’s Liberation Army of South Sudan 

15 that resulted in the Comprehensive Peace Agreement 

16 of 2005 due in part to a successful divestment cam17 paign against Talisman Energy, Incorporated of 

18 Canada. 

19 (12) Congress acknowledges that divestment 

20 should be used sparingly and under extraordinary 

21 circumstances. This Act is based on unique cir22 cumstances, specifically, the reprehensible and ab23 horrent genocide occurring in Sudan. 

24 (13) The business operations of companies in 

25 countries that perpetrate grave abuses of human 


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1 rights, especially the uniquely monstrous crime of 

2 genocide, are of material financial concern to United 

3 States investors even when these operations rep4 resent a small fraction of a company’s total busi5 ness. 

6 (14) State and city pension funds have rou7 tinely but unsuccessfully sought to acquire and uti8 lize data from the Federal Government on compa9 nies for investment decisions. 

10 (15) The deteriorating security situation in the 

11 Darfur region of Sudan indicates that the people of 

12 Darfur cannot wait long for security to be reestab13 lished. 

14 SEC. 3. STATEMENT OF POLICY. 

15 Congress recognizes and supports— 

16 (1) States and cities that have divested or are 

17 in the process of divesting State and city funds from 

18 companies that conduct business operations in 

19 Sudan; and 

20 (2) United States colleges and universities that 

21 have divested their funds from, or placed restrictions 

22 on investments of their funds in, companies that 

23 conduct business operations in Sudan. 


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1 SEC. 4. IDENTIFICATION OF COMPANIES CONDUCTING 

2 BUSINESS OPERATIONS IN SUDAN. 

3 (a) IDENTIFICATION.—The Securities and Exchange 

4 Commission, acting through the Division of Corporation 

5 Finance, shall require all companies trading in securities 

6 that are registered under section 12 of the Securities Ex7 change Act of 1934 (15 U.S.C. 78l) which, either directly 

8 or through a parent or subsidiary company, including 

9 partly-owned subsidiaries, conduct business operations in 

10 Sudan to disclose the nature of their business operations 

11 in Sudan, including— 

12 (1) the existence and nature of business rela13 tionships and investments with national, regional, 

14 and local governments; 

15 (2) business activities with government or gov16 ernment-controlled entities; 

17 (3) business operations relating to the sale of 

18 military equipment or inherently ‘‘dual-use’’ tech19 nology, such as civilian radar systems; 

20 (4) business operations relating to natural re21 source extraction, including oil-related activities and 

22 mining of minerals; and 

23 (5) safeguards to ensure business operations do 

24 not become indirectly involved in the terrorist-spon25 soring or genocidal policies of the Government of 

26 Sudan. 


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1 (b) INVESTIGATION BY GOVERNMENT ACCOUNT2 ABILITY OFFICE.—The Comptroller General of the Gov3 ernment Accountability Office shall investigate the exist4 ence and extent of all Federal Retirement Thrift Invest5 ment Board investments in companies identified pursuant 

6 to subsection (a). 

7 (c) REPORTS.— 

8 (1) SEC REPORT.—Not later than 90 days 

9 after the date of the enactment of this Act, and an10 nually thereafter, the Securities and Exchange Com11 mission shall prepare and submit to Congress a re12 port that contains the names of the companies and 

13 a description of their business operations identified 

14 under subsection (a). 

15 (2) GAO REPORT.—Not later than 180 days 

16 after the date of the enactment of this Act, and an17 nually thereafter, the Comptroller General of the 

18 Government Accountability Office shall prepare and 

19 submit to Congress a report that contains the names 

20 of the companies and a description of the amount of 

21 Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board invest22 ments in such companies identified under subsection 

23 (b). 

24 (d) PUBLICATION ON WEBSITES.— 


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1 (1) SEC WEBSITE.—The Securities and Ex2 change Commission shall maintain a list of the 

3 names of the companies identified under subsection 

4 (a) on the website of the Securities and Exchange 

5 Commission. 

6 (2) GAO WEBSITE.—The Comptroller General 

7 of the Government Accountability Office shall main8 tain a list of the names of the companies identified 

9 under subsection (b) on the website of the Govern10 ment Accountability Office. 

11 SEC. 5. PROHIBITION ON UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT 

12 CONTRACTS. 

13 (a) PROHIBITION.—Notwithstanding any other provi14 sion of law, the Government of the United States shall 

15 not enter into or renew a contract for the procurement 

16 of goods or services with any company identified under 

17 section 4(a). 

18 (b) EXCEPTION.—The prohibition in subsection (a) 

19 shall not apply with respect to a company identified under 

20 section 4(a) whose business operations in Sudan are lim21 ited to activities or transactions relating to— 

22 (1) southern Sudan, southern Kordofan/Nuba 

23 Mountains State, Blue Nile State, or Abyei; 

24 (2) the implementation of the Darfur Peace 

25 Agreement of May 5, 2006; 


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1 (3) the provision of military equipment to be 

2 used by nongovernmental organizations in the 

3 Darfur region of Sudan, the African Union Mission 

4 in Sudan (AMIS), or the United Nations; or 

5 (4) the provision of humanitarian assistance 

6 that is of immediate and substantial benefit to— 

7 (A) the majority of people of the Darfur 

8 region of Sudan; or 

9 (B) the majority of people of eastern 

10 Sudan, including the Red Sea, Kassala, and 

11 Gedaref States. 

12 (c) WAIVER.—The President may waive the prohibi13 tion in subsection (a) on a case-by-case basis if the Presi14 dent determines and certifies in writing to Congress that 

15 it is important to the national security interests of the 

16 United States to do so. 

17 SEC. 6. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION. 

18 Nothing in this Act or any other provision of law shall 

19 be construed to preempt any State law that prohibits in20 vestment of State funds, including State pension funds, 

21 in or relating to Sudan. 

22 SEC. 7. DEFINITIONS. 

23 In this Act: 

24 (1) BUSINESS OPERATIONS.—The term ‘‘busi25 ness operations’’ means maintaining, selling, or leasVerDate Aug 31 2005 07:13 Jan 11, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H180.IH H180

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1 ing equipment, facilities, personnel, or any other ap2 paratus of business or commerce, including the own3 ership or possession of real or personal property. 

4 (2) COMPANY.—The term ‘‘company’’— 

5 (A) means a sole proprietorship, organiza6 tion, association, corporation, partnership, ven7 ture, or other entity, its subsidiary or affiliate 

8 that exists for profit-making purposes or to oth9 erwise secure economic advantage; and 

10 (B) includes a company owned or con11 trolled, either directly or indirectly, by the gov12 ernment of a foreign country, that is estab13 lished or organized under the laws of, or has its 

14 principal place of business in, such foreign 

15 country. 

16 (3) GOVERNMENT OF SUDAN.—The term ‘‘Gov17 ernment of Sudan’’ means the Government of Sudan 

18 located in Khartoum or its instrumentalities. 

19 (4) INVESTMENT.—The term ‘‘investment’’ 

20 means the purchase, ownership, or control of stock 

21 of a company, association, or corporation, the capital 

22 stock of a mutual water company or corporation, 

23 bonds issued by the government or a political sub24 division of a foreign country, corporate bonds or 

25 other debt instruments issued by a company, or the 


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1 commitment of funds or other assets to a company, 

2 including a loan or extension of credit to that com3 pany. 

4 (5) MILITARY EQUIPMENT.—The term ‘‘mili5 tary equipment’’ means weapons, arms, or military 

6 defense supplies. 

7 (6) OIL-RELATED ACTIVITIES.—The term ‘‘oil8 related activities’’ includes the export of oil, extract9 ing or producing oil, exploration for oil, or the con10 struction or maintenance of a pipeline, refinery, or 

11 other oil field infrastructure. 

12 (7) SUDAN.—The term ‘‘Sudan’’ means the Re13 public of Sudan, a territory under the administra14 tion or control of the Government of Sudan, includ15 ing the Darfur region, or an individual, company, or 

16 public agency located in Khartoum, northern Sudan, 

17 or the Nile River Valley that supports the Republic 

18 of the Sudan. 

Æ 


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