| |
| |
|
|
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
|
|
|
WHEREAS, Larry Fink, chief executive officer of investment |
|
|
behemoth BlackRock, has become a suspiciously strident proponent of |
|
|
Environmental, Social, and Corporate Governance initiatives; and |
|
|
WHEREAS, Under Mr. Fink's leadership, BlackRock has moved to |
|
|
the vanguard of the ESG movement, investing on the basis of social |
|
|
and environmental factors rather than pure fiduciary interests; and |
|
|
WHEREAS, Mr. Fink has used BlackRock's financial might to |
|
|
coerce companies to follow his liberal political agenda; touting |
|
|
the doctrine of "stakeholder capitalism," he has warned companies |
|
|
in which BlackRock invests that they must adopt ESG standards or |
|
|
face pressure in proxy battles; for instance, BlackRock has used |
|
|
the proxy votes of its clients to push its global warming agenda and |
|
|
bolster renewable energy, often in conflict with its fiduciary |
|
|
responsibilities; and |
|
|
WHEREAS, While BlackRock demands unreasonable environmental |
|
|
and social standards of U.S. companies, imposing enormous |
|
|
extra-regulatory costs, it fails to require similar ESG adherence |
|
|
by the Chinese companies in which it invests; the business sector in |
|
|
Communist China has a deplorable record with respect to |
|
|
environmental stewardship, justice, and accountable governance, |
|
|
with a severe lack of the basic auditing safeguards required in the |
|
|
U.S.; notably, BlackRock became an investor in two Chinese |
|
|
companies, Hikvision and iFlytek, that the United States government |
|
|
has blacklisted for human rights abuses against Uyghurs in |
|
|
Xinjiang; BlackRock actually increased its holding in Hikvision |
|
|
after the blacklisting; and |
|
|
WHEREAS, BlackRock manages an estimated $10 trillion in |
|
|
assets, a number larger than many first-world economies; billions |
|
|
of those dollars come from U.S. pension funds, which play a vital |
|
|
role in the financial security of the middle class and in the |
|
|
stability of the U.S. economy; by prioritizing left-wing political |
|
|
initiatives over shareholder returns, BlackRock is potentially |
|
|
weakening those funds and sabotaging the American companies in |
|
|
which it invests; now, therefore, be it |
|
|
RESOLVED, That the 88th Legislature of the State of Texas |
|
|
hereby respectfully urge the United States Congress to investigate |
|
|
the anti-fiduciary practices of BlackRock CEO Larry Fink, the |
|
|
intent behind those practices, and their impact on American |
|
|
companies and the U.S. economy; and, be it further |
|
|
RESOLVED, That the Texas secretary of state forward official |
|
|
copies of this resolution to the president of the United States, to |
|
|
the speaker of the House of Representatives and the president of the |
|
|
Senate of the United States Congress, and to all the members of the |
|
|
Texas delegation to Congress with the request that this resolution |
|
|
be officially entered in the Congressional Record as a memorial to |
|
|
the Congress of the United States of America. |