Kaine, Cornyn Introduce Bill to Combat Illicit Gold Mining

WASHINGTON, D.C.– Today, U.S. Senators Tim Kaine (D-VA) and John Cornyn (R-TX) introduced theU.S. Legal Gold and Mining Partnership Actto require a comprehensive strategy from the U.S. Secretary of State to combat illicit gold mining in the Western Hemisphere:
“Illicit gold mining operations in Latin America and the Caribbean are a hotbed of human rights abuses and a haven for crime and terrorism,”said Kaine.“As Ranking Member on the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere, promoting security and prosperity in the region is a top priority of mine, and this bipartisan legislation will be a key step toward that goal.”
“Criminal organizations and authoritarian regimes will do whatever it takes to enrich themselves, and that includes illegally mining and trafficking gold throughout Latin America,”said Cornyn.“Our bill would bring together the private sector and State Department to help our partners in the Western Hemisphere disrupt illicit mining practices and prevent bad actors from using gold to finance their nefarious acts.”
The illicit mining and trafficking of gold is used to finance transnational criminal organizations and authoritarian governments, particularly those in Venezuela and Nicaragua, and negatively impacts the environment and the region’s economic dynamics.
TheU.S. Legal Gold and Mining Partnership Actwould:
###