Family Security Matters launches Women Against Terror

(Washington, D.C.): The Center for Security Policy is pleased to announce that Family Security Matters (FSM) – a new organization dedicated to informing women about the issues and solutions concerning our national security, and how women can enhance our country’s efforts to keep our children and families safe and secure – has enlisted in the Center’s DivestTerror.org campaign. The partnership was unveiled today when the FSM website, www.FamilySecurityMatters.com, published an article by Center President Frank Gaffney on the potentially powerful role women can play in helping defeat terrorism.

DivestTerror.org is a nationwide grassroots divestment campaign aimed at some 400 public companies worldwide that are providing revenues, technology and moral cover to governments that sponsor terrorism. The primary objective of this campaign is to call on America’s public and private pension plans, college endowments and individual investors to divest themselves of all publicly traded companies that operate in terrorist-sponsoring states.

DivestTerror.org and Family Security Matters calls to action are already engendering a positive response. Since its launch last week, thousands of Americans have gone to DivestTerror.org to find out more about this exciting new financial front in the war on terror. In addition, a leading U.S. Senator has joined the fray as well. As Mr. Gaffney noted in his article on the FSM website,

In a recent letter to every state governor and the director of each of America’s 100 largest and most prominent public pension funds, Senator Frank Lautenberg called the holding in portfolio of stocks with business ties to state sponsors of terror "unconscionable." This is especially true since most beneficiaries of public pension funds – police and fire-fighters, teachers and public employees – have no idea that their money is invested in terror-partnered companies. And neither will institutional and private investors in other funds, unless Americans demand full disclosure and accountability.

As part of this partnership, FSM is making available DivestTerror.org’s new report, The Terrorism Investments in the 50 States, free to women who log on to its website, www.FamilySecurityMatters.com. The report empirically shows that 87 of America’s leading pension systems invest some $200 billion in companies that help prop up terrorist-sponsoring regimes. According to Mr. Gaffney, "These investment dollars made on behalf of average Americans give pensions systems incredible leverage in convincing companies to withdraw from terrorist-sponsoring states. This leverage was good enough to overturn apartheid in South Africa. We believe it is good enough to help defeat terrorism."

According to Carol Taber, President, and Gay Bryant, Editor, both founders of FSM, "Our time has come. Women are saying they want to help, just as their own mothers and grandmothers did during WWII. This initiative has given them their venue. While we are shocked to learn what’s in this Report, this is an issue that will galvanize women because it provides them with an opportunity to actually DO something that will cripple the terrorists who wish to do us harm. We want to get the information out to women and urge them to take action now."

More information on Divest Terror and FSM is available at www.DivestTerror.org and www.FamilySecurityMatters.com.