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Should States Sell Stocks to Protest Links to Iran?

[Wall Street Journal] Neil King Jr. - Three years ago, Josh Mandel was fighting insurgents as a Marine in Iraq. Today, as a freshman state legislator in Ohio, Mandel has proposed a bill forcing the state's five public pension funds to divest themselves of stock in foreign companies doing business in Iran. "The state should not be investing people's hard-earned dollars in countries that are sworn to America's destruction," he says. A new legislative movement is tapping a wellspring of anxiety over Iran and its perceived threat to U.S. troops in the Middle East and to U.S. allies such as Israel. At least 14 other statehouses across the country are considering similar anti-Iran efforts. Last month, Democratic Sen. Barack Obama and Republican Sen. Sam Brownback introduced legislation to support the local divestment bills and to shield divestment legislation from potential lawsuits challenging the states' right to enact laws that impact foreign policy. While U.S. companies have long been barred from operating in Iran, more than 200 multinationals have investments there, from British-Dutch oil giant Royal Dutch Shell PLC and French telecommunications-equipment company Alcatel SA to Sweden's electronics company Telefon AB L.M. Ericsson.
2007-06-20 01:00:00
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