KORETZ DARFUR DIVESTMENT BILL, AB 2941, IS SIGNED INTO LAW BY GOVERNOR SCHWARZENEGGER

Landmark legislation was signed into law today, as the state of California took a historic stand against the ongoing genocide in the Darfur region of Sudan.

With its passage into law, Assembly Bill 2941, authored by Assemblyman Paul Koretz (D-West Hollywood), will require the state’s huge pension systems, CalPERS and CalSTRS, to divest of investments in companies doing business in the Sudan. Assemblyman Koretz said, “I believe that other states and other countries will follow our lead, and that their voices and actions added to our own will generate enough economic pressure to force the Sudan government to end its campaign of mass murder and rape of its own people.”

AB 2941 was made law at a ceremony featuring Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, who signed the bill into law; Assemblyman Koretz; joint-author Assemblyman Jerome Horton; actors George Clooney and Don Cheadle, both of whom have been dedicated activists regarding Darfur; former U.S. Secretary of State George Schultz; Janice Kaminer-Reznik, Jewish World Watch; Rabbi Harold Schulweis of Valley Beth Shalom; Father Vasken Movsesian of St. Peter Armenian Church; Alice Huffman, president, NAACP California; and Adam Sterling of the Sudan Divestment Task Force.

Estimates of those killed in Darfur since the genocide began are as high as 450,000, with brutal rapes and murders occurring in the hundreds on a daily basis.

Assemblyman Koretz noted that he had lost close relatives to the Holocaust: “Once I was old enough to understand, I wondered how the world could stand by and let a horror like that happen. And I have been shocked to watch history repeating itself in the case of Darfur, with years of a genocide taking place and little being done to stop it. Well, today, that changes. Today, California says no to genocide!”

The Assemblyman thanked Governor Schwarzenegger for signing the bill: “I appreciate your commitment to ending the genocide in Darfur. The successful enactment of this measure sends a clear and concise message: California will not condone genocide.” The Assemblyman likewise thanked actors Clooney and Cheadle: “The two of you have been instrumental in propelling this issue to the forefront of public awareness.” Koretz has also praised California’s state treasurer and current gubernatorial candidate – “Phil Angelides has been a leader for many years in the fight to divest from the Sudan, and I am grateful for his efforts on this critical issue.”

AB 2941 has been the recipient of an immense outpouring of public support, with thousands of letters, postcards, emails and faxes deluging the governor’s office. Koretz saluted the champions of this grassroots effort: “I’d like to extend my appreciation to the Sudan Divestment Task Force, who led an amazing student movement, and to the NAACP, the Committee on Conscience, and Jewish World Watch. Without your commitment and dedication to the people of Darfur, we would not be standing here today.”

The newly signed Koretz divestment bill incorporates a targeted divestment strategy, one that includes divestment from what we would consider the most complicit companies, a level of active engagement with other companies and an exemption for those companies who are in Sudan for humanitarian reasons.