Washington, D.C. — U.S. Congressional Representatives Frank Wolf (Republican), Donald Payne (Democrat), and Jim Moran (Democrat) today called for states to divest public funds from companies doing business in Sudan. To date, six states have enacted divestment legislation. Their bi-partisan statement urges the remaining 44 U.S. states to also divest to create economic pressure on the Sudanese Government.
Rep. Frank Wolf, who led the first congressional delegation to Darfur, stated that he could not forget "the horror in which people are living today." Wolf, however, argued that the genocide can be stopped and more important, needed to be stopped because "the women and children in those camps matter as much to us as our own families."
Rep. Payne emphasized, “This is something tangible that people can do, to lobby and push their state legislatures, to write them, to say this is something that can be done. It's not far away."
"History will judge our willingness to act,” Wolf declared to a surprisingly empty room. Wolf expressed outrage at the conspicuous absence of Darfur activists in the audience. "Where are the others?" he demanded, with escalating frustration. "Where are Save Darfur and religious leaders? Where are they today? Where are the evangelicals? It's cheap grace to take out a full-page ad in the newspaper and not be involved on this day of action!"
Rep. Moran concluded by declaring that what is happening in Sudan "is genocide, and it is evil."
Although American companies have been banned from conducting business in Sudan since 1997, many states still hold investments in foreign firms with operations in Sudan. China, which owns 40 percent of Sudan's oil fields, has faced heavy criticism for not putting more pressure on Khartoum to end the genocide in Darfur. However, China recently encouraged Sudan to allow a UN peacekeeping force into the country, a move rejected by Sudan's President Omar Hassan al-Bashir in early November.
Divestment, widely debated as an effective pressure tactic, involves selling shares of a company's stock in hopes that the overall value of the stock will decrease. Divestment was a popular pressure strategy in attempts to end violence in Israel and apartheid in South Africa.
Statement from Rep. Frank Wolf
Congressional Bill to Stop Federal Contracts that Support Genocide [press release]
