SR0199 95TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

SR0199 LRB095 12215 GRL 36559 r

SENATE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, The United States Department of State has named Iran as being the top state sponsor of terrorism; and

WHEREAS, Iran continues its covert nuclear program in defiance of the will of the international community and international law, which poses a direct threat to international peace and security; and

WHEREAS, Iran provides financial assistance, weapons, and training to Hezbollah, which has been determined by international human rights organizations to perpetrate terrorism and engage in war crimes; and

WHEREAS, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has drawn international condemnation for repeatedly calling for the destruction of Israel; and

WHEREAS, United States companies are legally prohibited from and subject to civil and criminal penalties for doing business in or with states that the U.S. State Department has determined to sponsor terrorism; and

WHEREAS, Billions of dollars in U.S. public pension funds have been invested in foreign companies that have direct financial relationships with the governments of states that sponsor terrorism; and

WHEREAS, The United States Department of the Treasury has taken actions to prohibit international banks from investing in and providing financial assistance to states sponsoring terrorism; and

WHEREAS, The Securities and Exchange Commission has established the Office of Global Security Risk to assess and protect investors from shareholder risk associated with investments in companies doing business with states sponsoring terrorism; and

WHEREAS, There is a global security risk identified with investments that support these terrorism-sponsoring states, which is contrary to the goals that pensions of the dedicated public employees of this State be invested wisely and protected to known risk; and

WHEREAS, It is the goal of the State of Illinois to disassociate from terrorism by divesting taxpayer dollars from companies whose business activities benefit and support Iranian development of weapons of mass destruction and egregious human rights violations; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-FIFTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we call on the public retirement systems and pension funds to immediately enact all necessary actions to ensure that no public funds are invested in entities that have a direct financial relationship with the government of Iran, with the exception of any company engaged solely in providing humanitarian relief.