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Congresswoman Linda Sánchez Sends Letter to University of California Regents Urging Reconsideration of Investements in Sudan

January 19, 2006
WASHINGTON D.C. - Today, Reps. Linda T. Sánchez (CA-39) and Barbara Lee (CA-9), along with fifteen other members of the California Congressional delegation, sent a letter to the Regents of the University of California urging the Board of Regent to develop and approve a University plan for divestment from Sudan. The letter recognizes the tragedy that has occurred in Sudan in recent years, and the University’s obligation to the sound investment of the University’s endowment, but also points out the unique position of the University to influence the situation in Darfur by sending a strong message that the University will not passively condone government sponsored genocide.

“I was approached by several student groups in my district, very concerned about the government-sponsored genocide in Sudan,” said Congresswoman Sánchez. “I am very pleased that student groups not only at the University of California, but across the country, are organizing around this issue and pressuring their schools to invest with a social conscious,” added Sánchez.

In recent years the government-sponsored genocide in Sudan has murdered 400,000 Dafurians, displaced over 2.5 million people and razed nearly 70 percent of Darfur’s villages. In response to the tragic genocide, universities such as Harvard, Stanford, and Dartmouth, along with several states, including New Jersey, Oregon and Illinois, have imposed varying restrictions on Sudan-related investments. Numerous more universities and states have taken divestment plans under consideration. The increase in participation by not only universities but states proves that substantial divestment from Sudan is now financially possible.

“If the University of California goes through with its plan to divest in Sudan, it will send a very clear message to the Sudanese government that their gruesome tactics and state-sponsored terror will not be tolerated,” concluded Sánchez.

Other members that co-signed the letter: Reps. Nancy Pelosi, Howard Berman, Louise Capps, Susan Davis, Anna Eshoo, Sam Farr, Mike Honda, Tom Lantos, Zoe Lofgren, Juanita Millinder-McDonald, Grace Napolitano, Loretta Sánchez, Brad Sherman, Hilda Solis, Pete Stark, Ellen Tauscher, Diane Watson, and Henry Waxman.