Washington, D.C. – On Thursday, December 10th, 2020, U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn (R—Tenn.) introduced legislation to prohibit U.S. pension investments in Chinese companies.
“There is no line between the Chinese Communist Party and Chinese businesses. Companies like Huawei prop up and assist the regime in their genocide of the Muslims Uyghurs, Inner Mongolians, Tibetans, and other religious and ethnic minorities. American dollars should not be used to violate human rights,” said Senator Blackburn.
The Defending Pensions from the Chinese Communist Threat Act Would:
- Codify the President’s November Executive Order and require the Secretary of Labor to prohibit ERISA covered pension plans from investing in any persons or entities on the list of Communist Chinese Military Companies (CCMP).
Background
Chinese companies can be required, under penalty of law, to share technology with the Chinese military. In turn, some of these companies produce technologies for the repression of human rights, as is the case with Uyghurs in Xinjiang, China.
Because of the inclusion of these companies in publicly traded index funds, this threat affects over $10.7 trillion invested in private American pension plans, covered by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA).
