Is Your State Investing in Terrorism? - Missouri and Ohio Treasurers Are Taking Action

Kudos to Republican Missouri Treasurer, Sarah Steelman, who has encouraged other state treasurers to follow her lead in being proactive against financing terrorism! States, like individuals, have investment portfolios. What Steelman has proposed is that states get rid of stocks in companies that partner with governments in Iran, Syria, Sudan or North Korea (all nations that are well known for "state sponsored terrorism", where government funds are used to support terrorist organizations).

On April 18, 2007, Steelman testified in a special U.S. House hearing on "Isolating Proliferators and Sponsors of Terror: The Use of Sanctions and the International Financial System to Change Regime Behavior." This hearing was a joint subcommittee hearing by the Committee on Foreign Affairs, Subcommittee on Terrorism, Nonproliferation and Trade, and the Committee on Financial Services, Subcommittee on Domestic and International Monetary Policy, Trade and Technology.

In her testimony, she stated, in part: "The people's money should never be used to support terrorism or terrorist-sponsoring states. Too often in our national debate on this issue, we forget what is really at stake. This is really about our families. It is about our husbands and wives, brothers and sisters, sons and daughters. It is about keeping them safe and secure. And in the effort to do so, it seems strange that we send young men and women to defend us, some of whom pay the ultimate sacrifice, however, we have not yet used one of our most powerful weapons-America's financial markets. Every effort and means to win this fight, and every person in this country, should be a part of the victory."

Recent headlines indicate that other states are quickly beginning to follow her lead.

Democratic Ohio Treasurer, Richard Cordray, is doing more than just divesting such stocks currently held by the state of Ohio, he is instituting state policy so as to insure that future Treasurers do not make investments with any connection to terrorist groups.

State treasuries here in the United States may seem like they are a long way from supporting terrorists, but when you consider that a state like Ohio has a $12 billion budget, the budgets of all of the United States combined would add up to hundreds of billions of dollars being invested every year. Now, if you are under the impression that each one of those billions is invested domestically, you are sadly mistaken.

When Cordray discovered that Ohio's investment guidelines didn't mirror federal ones when it came to investing money with entities with terrorist ties, he felt it was time to rewrite those guidelines. He was quoted as saying: "We were surprised to see that no policies were in place at all at the Treasury dealing with this issue."

Cordray's new policy institutes a new tracking program that will be put into place to rid the state portfolio of any terrorist-linked investments within the next 30 days. His office will then certify quarterly that the portfolio complies with the new policy.

Congratulations to Steelman and Cordray! I, for one, am very happy to see Republicans and Democrats working together within the U.S. political realm to make real and effective strides against the financing of terrorism. We can fight the War on Terror on the ground, but the best way to hurt terrorists is in their wallets.