California State Senator Ellen Corbett has introduced SB 861, a bill that (if passed) would prohibit the state of California from contracting with companies who do not follow the federal rules of transparency that prohibit the trading of conflict minerals from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). AFJN sent this letter of supportto Senator Corbett, and we hope to work together so this bill may set a precedent for other states to act against the trading of Congo conflict minerals.

Section 1502 of the US financial reform law called the “Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act” passed in 2010 is about Confict Minerals which aims to crack down on companies trading in conflict minerals which further violence in DRC and neighboring countries. Learm more about the affects of this law here.