 |
 |
|
 |
|
|
|
Resolution: Foreign Military Sales
2007 Shareholder Resolution approved by the Advisory Committee on Corporate Social Responsibility (ACCSR)
Download this resolution in a printer-friendly format (pdf)
Resolution:
Foreign Military Sales
WHEREAS the United States exports
weapons and related military services through foreign
military sales (government-to-government), direct commercial
weapons sales (U.S. companies to foreign buyers), equipment
leases, transfers of excess defense materiel and emergency
drawdowns of weaponry.
The U.S. ranked first in arms transfer deliveries with
developing nations, including those in the Near East and
Asia, with $7.746 billion for 2005. The weapons sold range
from ammunition to tanks, combat aircraft, missiles and
submarines. [These figures were taken from The Department of
Defense Security Assistance Agency's "Facts Book" release at
the end of fiscal year 2005, September 30, 2005. A listing
of countries located in the regions defined for the purpose
of this analysis - Asia, Near East, Latin America, and
Africa - is provided at the end of the report "Conventional
Arms Transfers to Developing Nations, 1997-2004,"
Congressional Research Service, 8-29-05.
http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/natsec/RL33051.pdf]
In a number of recent U.S. combat engagements (e.g., the
first Gulf War, Somalia, Afghanistan and Iraq), our troops
faced adversaries who had previously received U.S. weapons
or military technology.
In Fiscal Year 2005, XXX was ranked as 7th largest
Department of Defense contractor with $4.9 billion in
contracts. (100 Companies Receiving the Largest Dollar
Volume of Prime Contract Awards - Fiscal Year 2005,
Government Executive, 8-15-06)
RESOLVED: Shareholders request that, within six months of
the annual meeting, the Board of Directors provide a
comprehensive report, at reasonable cost and omitting
proprietary and classified information, of XXX’s foreign
sales of weapons-related products and services.
SUPPORTING STATEMENT
We believe it is reasonable that the report include:
1. Processes used to determine and promote foreign sales
e.g. Israel, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and other Middle East
countries;
2. Criteria for choosing countries with which to do
business, including selling weapon components and technology
and subcontracting arms manufacturing and assembly overseas;
(Arms without Borders, Amnesty International USA)
3. Procedures used to negotiate foreign arms sales,
government-to-government and direct commercial sales and the
percentage of sales for each category;
4. Categories of military equipment or components, including
dual use items exported for the past three years, with as
much statistical information as permissible; contracts for
servicing/maintaining equipment; offset agreements; and
licensing and/or co-production with foreign governments.
We believe with the American Red Cross that "the greater the
availability of arms, the greater the violations of human
rights and international humanitarian law." Global security
is the security of all people. Several times in our recent
history, we’ve seen weapons sold to one country result in a
threat to our own security. We know, too, that there is an
increase in human rights abuses inflicted on women and
children, people of minority ethnicities, NGOs offering
medical services and, now, injuries, torture and death of
employees of private military corporations contracted to the
DOD (e.g. Iraq).
Download this resolution in a printer-friendly format (pdf)
