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State Representative Ryan Winkler
100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
651-296-7026
For more information contact: Matt Swenson 651-297-8406
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BIPARTISAN COALITION TO WITHDRAW STATE INVESTMENTS FROM IRAN
ST. PAUL, MN -Sen. Terri Bonoff (DFL - Minnetonka) and Rep. Ryan Winkler (DFL - Golden Valley) have authored a bill (HF111/SF131) requiring the State Board of Investment to divest state resources from any foreign business that has done more than $20 million of business in the Iranian energy sector since 1996. Bonoff, Winkler, and a bipartisan coalition of state legislators have signed on to the bill to ensure Minnesota investment funds aren’t indirectly contributing to the threat of global terrorism.
"Money invested in companies that support Iran's oil and gas industry helps fund Iran's nuclear program and terrorism throughout the world," said Sen. Bonoff. "At a time of heightened tensions in the Middle East and a growing Iranian nuclear threat, the State of Minnesota has a responsibility to ensure our investment funds are not indirectly supporting terrorism."
The Minnesota divestment proposal is modeled after federal legislation and similar initiatives in 14 other states. These laws are focused on Iran’s energy sector because the revenue from Iran’s oil and gas industry directly funds its nuclear program as well as its support for international terrorism.
“Withholding economic support from Iran is one of our most promising, effective means to help peacefully thwart the strength and progress of Iran’s nuclear program," said Rep. Winkler. “We’re better off investing in companies that create jobs rather than companies that indirectly create nuclear threats and terrorist activity.”
The Jewish Community Relations Council of Minnesota and the Dakotas (JCRC) has endorsed the bill and urges its passage. Steve Hunegs, Executive Director of the JCRC, considers this Minnesota effort just one more piece in the puzzle to reduce the Iranian threat both in the Middle East as well as here in America.
“American businesses are already prohibited by law from dealing in the Iranian energy sector,” said Hunegs. “But we haven’t done enough to turn up the pressure on Iran. State efforts like this are the next step toward helping put an end to the Iranian nuclear program, and curbing Iran’s massive financial influence on terrorism around the world.”
The divestment proposal has garnered bipartisan, bicameral support in the Minnesota Legislature. Speaker Margaret Anderson Kelliher, House Minority Leader Marty Seifert, Sen. Claire Robling, Sen. Ann Rest, Sen. Warren Limmer, and a host of others have signed on as co-authors.
“Passing this bill is something we can do together to help make our world safer from the threat of terrorism,” said Rep. Paul Kohls (R - Victoria), a co-author of the proposal. “It is an effort we can all support.”
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