On the same day the United Nations voted to create a peacekeeping mission in the Darfur, the U.S. House of Representatives passed legislation—supported by U.S. Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ)—that would bring additional pressure on the Government of Sudan to end the genocide in Darfur by eliminating U.S. investments that benefit the regime in Khartoum.

    Smith, Ranking Member of the House Africa, Global Health and International Operations Subcommittee, called the “Darfur Accountability and Divestment Act” (H.R. 180) an “important part of our ongoing efforts here in Congress to influence, pressure and alter the conduct of the Sudanese regime, the government complicit in the genocide being perpetrated and abetted in Darfur.” 

    “The deaths of 450,000 innocent women, men and children and the displacement of 2 million others demand nothing less,” Smith said.

    Smith is a co-sponsor of the “Darfur Accountability and Divestment Act,” which overwhelmingly passed the House by a vote of 418-1 today. The bill requires the U.S. Department of the Treasury to maintain a list of companies or entities whose business dealings directly benefit the regime in Khartoum and publish the list every six months. Companies that are on the Treasury list will not be able to enter into or renew contracts with the United States government.

    Furthermore, the bill enables state and local governments to divest from those companies and provides protection to fund managers from lawsuits brought by investors who disagree with any decision to divest.

    “This bill will provide the practical and legal foundation for our country to do what is in our national tradition—to place the dignity of the human person and the well-being of our brothers and sisters, regardless of where they live or their national or ethnic identity, above financial and commercial interests,” Smith said.

    Smith has long advocated for this action, noting that similar divestiture language was included in the House-passed version of the “Darfur Peace and Accountability Act of 2006” (P.L. 109-344) that was written in part by the Subcommittee he chaired at the time. The language was stripped from the bill by the Senate before it was signed into law.

    “As the Chairman of the Subcommittee on Africa, Global Human Rights and International Operations, I advocated forcefully for divestment provisions in the Darfur Peace and Accountability Act of 2006. Unfortunately, the Senate removed those provisions prior to final passage of the bill. The House has again revisited the divestiture issue, building on those initial efforts in several important ways, and I strongly encourage the Senate to act on this initiative,” said Smith.