Opinion ID: 3050094
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Facts Beyond the Complaint1

Text: The complaint alleges that Caterpillar sold bulldozers to the IDF, but it does not explain how those bulldozers were financed. There is undisputed evidence in the record, however, that the United States government paid for every bulldozer that Caterpillar transferred to the IDF. Caterpillar submitted an affidavit by Frank Weinberg (“Weinberg Declaration”), General Manager of Caterpillar’s Defense & Federal Products division, in which Weinberg states that the United States government has approved and financed all contracts between Israel and Caterpillar dating back to at least 1990, and that Caterpillar “does not sell products to the government of Israel in sales that are not approved by the U.S. government.” Appended to the Weinberg Declaration is a copy of a letter from the Defense Security Cooperation Agency (“DSCA”), an arm of the United States Department of Defense, sent in September 2001 to the Israeli government and copied to Caterpillar (“DSCA letter”). The letter grants “[f]unding approval” for the Israeli government’s purchase of fifty Caterpillar D9 bulldozers under the Foreign Military Financing program (“FMF”). Under the FMF, foreign governments enter into contracts directly with American defense contractors and then apply to the DSCA for approval of funding on a case-by-case basis.2 The DSCA letter also states that the DSCA “find[s] the proposed procurement to be consistent with the purposes of 1 As we discuss infra, it is proper to consider facts in the record found outside the complaint because Caterpillar’s motion to dismiss argues the presence of a political question, which would deprive us of subject matter jurisdiction. 2 See DSCA, “Guidelines for Foreign Military Financing of Direct Commercial Contracts — January 2005,” at http://www.dsca.osd.mil/ DSCA_memoranda/fmf_dcc_2005/Guidlines 2005%203.pdf. We take judicial notice of the DSCA’s guidelines for implementing the FMF. See Fed. R. Evid. 201; Tampa Elec. Co. v. Nashville Coal Co., 365 U.S. 320, 332 & n.10 (1961) (taking judicial notice of a government publication). 12492 CORRIE v. CATERPILLAR, INC. the Arms Export Control Act,” 22 U.S.C. §§ 2751 et seq., which authorizes the FMF, see id. § 2763. Plaintiffs introduced a letter from Matthew Reynolds, the Acting Assistant Secretary of State for Legislative Affairs, indicating that Israel acquired the bulldozers “on a commercial contract basis” financed through the FMF (“Reynolds letter”). At oral argument, plaintiffs did not dispute that the bulldozers were financed under the FMF. Amicus United States Department of State confirms that “funds requested by the Executive and appropriated by Congress were used by Israel to purchase the equipment in question under the Foreign Military Financing [ ] program.”3