March 17, 2017
Dear Commissioner Piwowar,
My name is Enock Ntekereze and I am a student at Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) in Rochester NY. I am one of more than 18,630 students who make up the RIT student body and vibrant community. I am involved in multiple student clubs and organizations including Organization of African Students (OAS), RIT Model United Nations, and Conflict-Free Campus Initiative (CFCI). Within these organizations, we discuss issues facing our world and current events and work together to find possible solutions to the issues we care most about. One issue that I care about is the conflict minerals from Congo and company and corporate responsibility.
Today I am writing to express my support for the continued implementation of the Conflict Minerals Rule. As a consumer, it is important to me that I am able to access key information about the companies I purchase from, including information about their conflict minerals sourcing practices. More than 5.4 million people have died as a result of the conflict in the Congo in a war often cited as the deadliest since World War II. This conflict has been devastating to Congolese people and continues to be a humanitarian crisis not only for Congo but the whole region.
I do not want my purchases to support violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and the Conflict Minerals Rule has made it easier for me to assess which companies are taking steps to ensure their products are not linked to this decades-long conflict. Additionally, I believe transparent supply chains are an important indicator of a companys overall stability, which is a key factor for making both purchasing and investment decisions.
I urge you to keep the Conflict Minerals Rule fully intact, and to work with your fellow SEC commissioners to enforce the Rule moving forward.
Thank you.