Washington, DC – Responding to a letter from Congresswoman Barbara Lee (D-Oakland) and congressional colleagues, CalPers acted Monday to begin moving away from companies that are engaged in business with the Sudanese government.

 Mark Anson, Chief Investment Officer, sent a letter to all companies and fund managers, asking them to advise CalPers as to whether their company did business with the government in Khartoum.  The letter cited the US government’s determination in September that the atrocities being committed in the Darfur region constituted genocide and that Khartoum government and government-sponsored militias are responsible.

 The action by the pension fund came in response to a request from Congresswoman Barbara Lee (D-Oakland).  Lee, who is the senior Democratic woman on the  House International Relations subcommittee on Africa and has been very active on issues involving human rights, sent a letter to CalPers President Sean Harrigan on November 17th asking that CalPers conduct a review to ensure that none of the companies in its portfolio do business with the Khartoum regime.   The letter requests that CalPers send letters to the CEOs of any companies found to be doing business with the Sudanese government and ask them to reconsider, given the situation in Darfur and the government’s role in it.  Lee was joined in sending the letter by Representatives Maxine Waters (D-Los Angeles), Diane Watson (D- Culver City), Zoe Lofgren (D- San Jose) and Juanita Millender-McDonald (D-Torrance).

 “No Californian should have to worry that their pension was paid for by genocide,” said Congresswoman Lee.  “We have a responsibility to make sure that the investments in our individual futures are also investments in our collective future.  CalPers' actions mark an important first step towards ending the flow of money to a brutal regime, and I hope their example will encourage other pension funds to act on this moral imperative.”

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