Lisa Kalustian
Chief Deputy Director
Office of Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger
300 South Spring Street, Suite 16701
Los Angeles, CA 90013
(213)897-0322
FAX (213)897-0319
Monday, September 25, 2006
In Response to the Slaughter in Darfur, Gov. Schwarzenegger Signs Bills
Directing and Assisting State Entities to Divest of Investments in Sudan
Gov. Schwarzenegger signed two bills today that prohibits the state’s
pension funds from investing in companies with active business in Sudan and
indemnifies the University of California from liability that might result
from its divestment from Sudan.
"Today I am signing two bills that will send a clear message across the
globe: California will not stand for murder and genocide," said Gov.
Schwarzenegger, who was joined by George Clooney and Don Cheadle for the
bill signing ceremony. "Darfur is a humanitarian crisis with hundreds of
thousands of men, women and children dead and dying and millions more
homeless or refugees. No one is being spared. And even if the violence
stopped today the country will bear deep scars for generations to come. We
cannot watch from the sidelines and be content to mourn this atrocity as it
passes into history. We must act and that is exactly why we will divest from
the Sudan. Divesting will show our defiance against the murderers and their
inhumanity. It is an action that says we will not underwrite in any way with
the horror of Darfur."
In the 1980s, the state approved similar measures to allow state entities to
divest in South Africa in order to protest its apartheid policies.
"I couldn’t be more proud of this bipartisan effort, and thank Gov.
Schwarzenegger for his leadership at this most crucial time," said George
Clooney. "It’s a great step forward in holding people responsible for their
actions, and a great blueprint for other states. Two and a half million
refugees just got a little safer because of this, and we have much more work
ahead of us."
At the bill signing, the Governor was joined by George Shultz, Former U.S.
Secretary of State and Head of the Governor’s Council of Economic Advisors;
Assemblymember Paul Koretz (D – West Hollywood); George Clooney, actor; Don
Cheadle, actor; Adam Sterling, UC Sudan Divestment Taskforce; Alice Huffman,
California NAACP President; Janice Reznik, Jewish World Watch and Father
Vazken Movsesian, St. Peter Armenian Church.
"I am here today to commend Governor Schwarzenegger on signing these two
important bills into law and showing not only the government of Sudan but
our own leaders as well that the Governor believes human life trumps
dividends, that humane, common sense should trump dollars and cents," said
Don Cheadle.
Specifically, Gov. Schwarzenegger signed the following two bills:
AB
< ry?bill_number=ab_2179&sess=CUR&ho
use=B&a mp;author=leslie> 2179 by Assemblymember Tim Leslie (R-Tahoe City)
indemnifies the University of California from liability that might result
from divestment in Sudan. Specifically, this bill requires any current, or
former, members of the regents, officers, employees or investment managers
of the UC, and current and former officers, directors, trustees, agents or
employees of any UC foundation, be indemnified from all claims and
liability, including attorney’s fees, that might result from the decision of
the UC Board of Regents to divest from Sudan. The UC Regents voted to divest
from investments in Darfur pending the Governor’s signature of a bill like
AB 2179 that would provide indemnification for UC.
AB
< ry?bill_number=ab_2941&sess=CUR&ho
use=B&a mp;author=koretz> 2941 by Assemblymember Paul Koretz (D-West Hollywood)
prohibits CalPERS or CalSTRS from investing public employee retirement funds
in a company with active business operations in Sudan. This bill also
forbids the board from investing in a company that supplies military
equipment within the borders of Sudan. CalPERS, the state’s employee
retirement fund, is the largest pension fund in the nation and CalSTRS, the
state’s public education retirement fund, is the second largest pension fund
in the nation.
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From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
