II 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 831 

To authorize States and local governments to prohibit the investment of 

State assets in any company that has a qualifying business relationship 

with Sudan. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 8, 2007 

Mr. DURBIN (for himself, Mr. CORNYN, Mr. SPECTER, Mr. LIEBERMAN, and 

Mr. OBAMA) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs 

A BILL 

To authorize States and local governments to prohibit the 

investment of State assets in any company that has 

a qualifying business relationship with Sudan. 

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 ‘‘Sudan Divestment Au5 thorization Act of 2007’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress makes the following findings: 

8 (1) On July 22, 2004, the Senate and the 

9 House of Representatives passed concurrent resoluVerDate Aug 31 2005 21:39 Mar 10, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S831.IS S831

ycherry on PROD1PC64 with BILLS
2 

•S 831 IS

1 tions declaring that ‘‘the atrocities unfolding in 

2 Darfur, Sudan, are genocide’’. 

3 (2) On June 30, 2005, President Bush affirmed 

4 that ‘‘the violence in Darfur region is clearly geno5 cide [and t]he human cost is beyond calculation’’. 

6 (3) The Darfur Peace and Accountability Act of 

7 2006, which was signed into law on October 13, 

8 2006, reaffirms that ‘‘the genocide unfolding in the 

9 Darfur region of Sudan is characterized by acts of 

10 terrorism and atrocities directed against civilians, in11 cluding mass murder, rape, and sexual violence com12 mitted by the Janjaweed and associated militias with 

13 the complicity and support of the National Congress 

14 Party-led faction of the Government of Sudan’’. 

15 (4) Several States and governmental entities, 

16 through legislation and other means, have expressed 

17 their desire, or are considering measures— 

18 (A) to divest any equity in, or to refuse to 

19 provide debt capital to, certain companies that 

20 operate in Sudan; and 

21 (B) to disassociate themselves and the 

22 beneficiaries of their public pension and endow23 ment funds from directly or indirectly sup24 porting the Darfur genocide. 


ycherry on PROD1PC64 with BILLS
3 

•S 831 IS

1 (5) Efforts of States and other governmental 

2 entities to divest their pension funds and other in3 vestments of companies that operate in Sudan build 

4 upon the legal and historical legacy of the anti5 apartheid movement in the United States, a move6 ment which contributed to the end of apartheid in 

7 South Africa and the holding of free elections in 

8 that country in 1994. 

9 (6) Although divestment measures should be 

10 employed judiciously and sparingly, declarations of 

11 genocide by Congress and the President justify such 

12 action. 

13 SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

14 It is the sense of Congress that— 

15 (1) States and other governmental entities 

16 should be permitted to provide for the divestment of 

17 certain State assets within their jurisdictions as an 

18 expression of opposition to the genocidal actions and 

19 policies of the Government of Sudan; and 

20 (2) a divestment measure authorized under sec21 tion 5 does not violate the United States Constitu22 tion because such a measure— 

23 (A) is not preempted under the Supremacy 

24 Clause; 


ycherry on PROD1PC64 with BILLS
4 

•S 831 IS

1 (B) does not constitute an undue burden 

2 on foreign or interstate commerce under the 

3 Commerce Clause; and 

4 (C) does not intrude on, or interfere with, 

5 the conduct of foreign affairs of the United 

6 States. 

7 SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS. 

8 In this Act: 

9 (1) ASSETS.—The term ‘‘assets’’ means any 

10 public pension, retirement, annuity, or endowment 

11 fund, or similar instrument, managed by a State. 

12 (2) COMPANY.—The term ‘‘company’’ means 

13 any natural person, legal person, sole proprietorship, 

14 organization, association, corporation, partnership, 

15 firm, joint venture, franchisor, franchisee, financial 

16 institution, utility, public franchise, trust, enterprise, 

17 limited partnership, limited liability partnership, lim18 ited liability company, or other business entity or as19 sociation, including all wholly-owned subsidiaries, 

20 majority-owned subsidiaries, parent companies, or 

21 affiliates of such business entities or associations. 

22 (3) COMPANY WITH A QUALIFYING BUSINESS

23 RELATIONSHIP WITH SUDAN.—The term ‘‘company 

24 with a qualifying business relationship with 

25 Sudan’’— 


ycherry on PROD1PC64 with BILLS
5 

•S 831 IS

1 (A) means any company— 

2 (i) that is wholly or partially managed 

3 or controlled, either directly or indirectly, 

4 by the Government of Sudan or any of its 

5 agencies, including political units and sub6 divisions; 

7 (ii) that is established or organized 

8 under the laws of the Government of 

9 Sudan; 

10 (iii) whose domicile or principal place 

11 of business is in Sudan; 

12 (iv) that is engaged in business oper13 ations that provide revenue to the Govern14 ment of Sudan; 

15 (v) that owns, maintains, sells, leases, 

16 or controls property, assets, equipment, fa17 cilities, personnel, or any other apparatus 

18 of business or commerce in Sudan, includ19 ing ownership or possession of real or per20 sonal property located in Sudan; 

21 (vi) that transacts commercial busi22 ness, including the provision or obtaining 

23 of goods or services, in Sudan; 

24 (vii) that has distribution agreements 

25 with, issues credits or loans to, or purVerDate Aug 31 2005 21:39 Mar 10, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S831.IS S831

ycherry on PROD1PC64 with BILLS
6 

•S 831 IS

1 chases bonds of commercial paper issued 

2 by— 

3 (I) the Government of Sudan; or 

4 (II) any company whose domicile 

5 or principal place of business is in 

6 Sudan; 

7 (viii) that invests in— 

8 (I) the Government of Sudan; or 

9 (II) any company whose domicile 

10 or principal place of business is in 

11 Sudan; or 

12 (ix) that is fined, penalized, or sanc13 tioned by the Office of Foreign Assets 

14 Control of the Department of the Treasury 

15 for violating any Federal rule or restriction 

16 relating to Sudan after the date of the en17 actment of this Act; and 

18 (B) does not include— 

19 (i) nongovernmental organizations 

20 (except agencies of Sudan), which— 

21 (I) have consultative status with 

22 the United Nations Economic and So23 cial Council; or 


ycherry on PROD1PC64 with BILLS
7 

•S 831 IS

1 (II) have been accredited by a de2 partment or specialized agency of the 

3 United Nations; 

4 (ii) companies that operate in Sudan 

5 under a permit or other authority of the 

6 United States; 

7 (iii) companies whose business activi8 ties in Sudan are strictly limited to the 

9 provision of goods and services that are— 

10 (I) intended to relieve human 

11 suffering; 

12 (II) intended to promote welfare, 

13 health, religious, or spiritual activities; 

14 (III) used for educational pur15 poses; 

16 (IV) used for humanitarian pur17 poses; or 

18 (V) used for journalistic activi19 ties. 

20 (4) GOVERNMENT OF SUDAN.—The term ‘‘Gov21 ernment of Sudan’’— 

22 (A) means— 

23 (i) the government in Khartoum, 

24 Sudan, which is led by the National ConVerDate Aug 31 2005 21:39 Mar 10, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S831.IS S831

ycherry on PROD1PC64 with BILLS
8 

•S 831 IS

1 gress Party (formerly known as the Na2 tional Islamic Front); or 

3 (ii) any successor government formed 

4 on or after the date of the enactment of 

5 this Act, including the Government of Na6 tional Unity, established in 2005 as a re7 sult of the Comprehensive Peace Agree8 ment for Sudan; and 

9 (B) does not include the regional Govern10 ment of Southern Sudan. 

11 (5) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means each of 

12 the several States of the United States, the District 

13 of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the 

14 Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and the 

15 Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, 

16 and any department, agency, public university or 

17 college, county, city, village, or township of such gov18 ernmental entity. 

19 SEC. 5. AUTHORIZATION FOR CERTAIN STATE AND LOCAL 

20 DIVESTMENT MEASURES. 

21 (a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other provi22 sion of law, any State may adopt measures to prohibit any 

23 investment of State assets in the Government of Sudan 

24 or in any company with a qualifying business relationship 

25 with Sudan, during any period in which the Government 


ycherry on PROD1PC64 with BILLS
9 

•S 831 IS

1 of Sudan, or the officials of such government are subject 

2 to sanctions authorized under— 

3 (1) the Sudan Peace Act (Public Law 107– 

4 245); 

5 (2) the Comprehensive Peace in Sudan Act of 

6 2004 (Public Law 108–497); 

7 (3) the USA PATRIOT Improvement and Re8 authorization Act of 2005 (Public Law 109–177); 

9 (4) the Darfur Peace and Accountability Act of 

10 2006 (Public Law 109–344); or 

11 (5) any other Federal law or executive order. 

12 (b) APPLICABILITY.—Subsection (a) shall apply to 

13 measures adopted by a State before, on, or after the date 

14 of the enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


ycherry on PROD1PC64 with BILLS