88R10397 BPG-D
By: Oliverson H.C.R. No. 38
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.