[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 115 (Thursday, July 11, 2024)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4804-S4806]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

  SA 2482. Mr. RUBIO submitted an amendment intended to be proposed by 
him to the bill S. 4638, to authorize appropriations for fiscal year 
2025 for military activities of the Department of Defense, for military 
construction, and for defense activities of the Department of Energy, 
to prescribe military personnel strengths for such fiscal year, and for 
other purposes; which was ordered to lie on the table; as follows:

       At the end of subtitle F of title XII, add the following:

     SEC. 1291. UNITED STATES LEGAL GOLD AND MINING PARTNERSHIP.

       (a) Short Title.--This section may be cited as the ``United 
     States Legal Gold and Mining Partnership Act''.
       (b) Findings.--Congress makes the following findings:
       (1) The illicit mining, trafficking, and commercialization 
     of gold in the Western Hemisphere--
       (A) negatively affects the region's economic and social 
     dynamics;
       (B) strengthens transnational criminal organizations and 
     other international illicit actors; and
       (C) has a deleterious impact on the environment, indigenous 
     peoples, and food security.
       (2) A lack of economic opportunities and the weak rule of 
     law promote illicit activities, such as illicit gold mining, 
     which increases the vulnerability of individuals in mining 
     areas, including indigenous communities, who have been 
     subjected to trafficking in persons, other human rights 
     abuses, and population displacement in relation to mining 
     activity, particularly in the artisanal and small-scale 
     mining sector.
       (3) Illicit gold mining in Latin America often involves and 
     benefits transnational criminal organizations, drug 
     trafficking organizations, terrorist groups, and other 
     illegal armed groups that extort miners and enter into 
     illicit partnerships with them in order to gain revenue from 
     the illicit activity.
       (4) Illicit gold supply chains are international in nature 
     and frequently involve--
       (A) the smuggling of gold and supplies, such as mercury;
       (B) trade-based money laundering; and
       (C) other cross-border flows of illicit assets.
       (5) In Latin America, mineral traders and exporters, local 
     processors, and shell companies linked to transnational 
     criminal networks and illegally armed groups all play a key 
     role in the trafficking, laundering, and commercialization of 
     illicit gold from the region.
       (6) According to a report on illegally mined Gold in Latin 
     America by the Global Initiative Against Transnational 
     Organized Crime--
       (A) more than 70 percent of the gold mined in several Latin 
     American countries, such as Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru, is 
     mined through illicit means; and
       (B) about 80 percent of the gold mined in Venezuela is 
     mined through illicit means and a large percentage of such 
     gold is sold--
       (i) to Mibiturven, a joint venture operated by the Maduro 
     regime composed of Minerven, a gold processor that has been 
     designated by the Office of Foreign Assets Control of the 
     Department of the Treasury, pursuant to Executive Order 13850 
     (relating to blocking property of additional persons 
     contributing to the situation in Venezuela), and Marilyns 
     Proje Yatirim, S.A., a Turkish company; or
       (ii) through other trafficking and commercialization 
     networks from which the Maduro regime benefits financially.
       (7) Illegal armed groups and foreign terrorist 
     organizations, such as the Ejercito de Liberacion Nacional 
     (National Liberation Army--ELN), work with transnational 
     criminal organizations in Venezuela that participate in the 
     illicit mining, trafficking, and commercialization of gold.
       (8) Transnational criminal organizations based in 
     Venezuela, such as El Tren de Aragua, have expanded their 
     role in the illicit mining, trafficking, and 
     commercialization of gold to increase their criminal profits.
       (9) Nicaragua's gold exports during 2021 were valued at an 
     estimated $989,000,000 in value, of which
       (A) gold valued at an estimated $898,000,000 was shipped to 
     the United States;
       (B) gold valued at an estimated $48,700,000 was shipped to 
     Switzerland;
       (C) gold valued at an estimated $39,000,000 was shipped to 
     the United Arab Emirates; and
       (D) gold valued at an estimated $3,620,000 was shipped to 
     Austria.
       (c) Definitions.--In this section:
       (1) Appropriate congressional committees.--The term 
     ``appropriate congressional committees'' means--
       (A) the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate;
       (B) the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs of 
     the Senate;
       (C) the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of 
     Representatives; and
       (D) the Committee on Financial Services of the House of 
     Representatives .
       (2) Artisanal and small-scale mining; asm.--The terms 
     ``artisanal and small-scale mining'' and ``ASM'' refer to a 
     form of mining common in the developing world that--
       (A) typically employs rudimentary, simple, and low-cost 
     extractive technologies and manual labor-intensive 
     techniques;
       (B) is frequently subject to limited regulation; and
       (C) often features harsh and dangerous working conditions.
       (3) Illicit actors.--The term ``illicit actors'' includes--
       (A) any person included on any list of--
       (i) United States-designated foreign terrorist 
     organizations;
       (ii) specially designated global terrorists (as defined in 
     section 594.310 of title 31, Code of Federal Regulations);
       (iii) significant foreign narcotics traffickers (as defined 
     in section 808 of the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation 
     Act (21 U.S.C. 1907); or
       (iv) blocked persons, as maintained by the Office of 
     Foreign Assets Control of the Department of the Treasury; and
       (B) drug trafficking organizations.
       (4) Key stakeholders.--The term ``key stakeholders'' means 
     private sector organizations, industry representatives, and 
     civil society groups that represent communities in areas 
     affected by illicit mining and trafficking of gold, including 
     indigenous groups, that are committed to the implementation 
     of the Legal Gold and Mining Partnership Strategy.
       (5) Legal gold and mining partnership strategy; strategy.--
     The terms ``Legal Gold and Mining Partnership Strategy'' and 
     ``Strategy'' mean the strategy developed pursuant to 
     subsection (d).
       (6) Relevant federal departments and agencies.--The term 
     ``relevant Federal departments and agencies'' means--
       (A) the Department of State;
       (B) the Department of the Treasury;
       (C) the Department of Homeland Security, including U.S. 
     Customs and Border Protection and U.S. Immigration and 
     Customs Enforcement;
       (D) the Department of Justice, including the Federal Bureau 
     of Investigation and the Drug Enforcement Administration;
       (E) the Department of the Interior;
       (F) the United States Agency for International Development; 
     and
       (G) other Federal agencies designated by the President.
       (d) Legal Gold and Mining Partnership Strategy.--
       (1) Strategy required.--The Secretary of State, in 
     coordination with the heads of relevant Federal departments 
     and agencies, shall develop a comprehensive, multi-year 
     strategy, which shall be known as the Legal Gold and Mining 
     Partnership Strategy (referred to in this subsection as the 
     ``Strategy''), to combat illicit gold mining in the Western 
     Hemisphere.
       (2) Elements.--The Strategy shall include policies, 
     programs, and initiatives--
       (A) to interrupt the linkages between ASM and illicit 
     actors that profit from ASM in the Western Hemisphere;
       (B) to deter ASM in environmentally protected areas, such 
     as national parks and conservation zones, to prevent mining-
     related contamination of critical natural resources, such as 
     water resources, soil, tropical forests, and other flora and 
     fauna, and aerosol contamination linked to detrimental health 
     impacts;
       (C) to counter the financing and enrichment of actors 
     involved in the illicit mining, trafficking, and 
     commercialization of gold, and the abetting of their 
     activities by--

[[Page S4805]]

       (i) promoting the exercise of due diligence and the use of 
     responsible sourcing methods in the purchase and trade of 
     ASM;
       (ii) preventing and prohibiting foreign persons who control 
     commodity trading chains linked to illicit actors from 
     enjoying the benefits of access to the territory, markets or 
     financial system of the United States, and halting any such 
     ongoing activity by such foreign persons;
       (iii) combating related impunity afforded to illicit actors 
     by addressing corruption in government institutions; and
       (iv) supporting the capacity of financial intelligence 
     units, customs agencies, and other government institutions 
     focused on anti-money laundering initiatives and combating 
     the financing of criminal activities and terrorism to 
     exercise oversight consistent with the threats posed by 
     illicit gold mining;
       (D) to build the capacity of foreign civilian law 
     enforcement institutions in the Western Hemisphere to 
     effectively counter--
       (i) linkages between illicit gold mining, illicit actors, 
     money laundering, and other financial crimes, including 
     trade-based money laundering;
       (ii) linkages between illicit gold mining, illicit actors, 
     trafficking in persons, and forced or coerced labor, 
     including sex work and child labor;
       (iii) the cross-border trafficking of illicit gold, and the 
     mercury, cyanide, explosives, and other hazardous materials 
     used in illicit gold mining; and
       (iv) surveillance and investigation of illicit and related 
     activities that are related to or are indicators of illicit 
     gold mining activities;
       (E) to ensure the successful implementation of the existing 
     Memoranda of Understanding signed with the Governments of 
     Peru and of Colombia in 2017 and 2018, respectively, to 
     expand bilateral cooperation to combat illicit gold mining;
       (F) to work with governments in the Western Hemisphere, 
     bolster the effectiveness of anti-money laundering efforts to 
     combat the financing of illicit actors in Latin America and 
     the Caribbean and counter the laundering of proceeds related 
     to illicit gold mining by--
       (i) fostering international and regional cooperation and 
     facilitating intelligence sharing, as appropriate, to 
     identify and disrupt financial flows related to the illicit 
     gold mining, trafficking, and commercialization of gold and 
     other minerals and illicit metals; and
       (ii) supporting the formulation of strategies to ensure the 
     compliance of reporting institutions involved in the mining 
     sector and to promote transparency in mining-sector 
     transactions;
       (G) to support foreign government efforts--
       (i) to increase regulations of the ASM sector;
       (ii) to facilitate licensing and formalization processes 
     for ASM miners;
       (iii) to create and implement environmental safeguards to 
     reduce the negative environmental impact of mining on 
     sensitive ecosystems; and
       (iv) to develop mechanisms to support regulated cultural 
     artisanal mining and artisanal mining as a job growth area;
       (H) to engage the mining industry to encourage the building 
     of technical expertise in best practices, environmental 
     safeguards, and access to new technologies;
       (I) to support the establishment of gold commodity supply 
     chain due diligence, responsible sourcing, tracing and 
     tracking capacities, and standards-compliant commodity 
     certification systems in countries in Latin America and the 
     Caribbean, including efforts recommended in the OECD Due 
     Diligence Guidance for Responsible Supply Chains of Minerals 
     from Conflict-Affected and High Risk Areas, Third Edition 
     (2016);
       (J) to engage with civil society to reduce the negative 
     environmental impacts of ASM, particularly--
       (i) the use of mercury in preliminary refining;
       (ii) the destruction of tropical forests;
       (iii) the construction of illegal and unregulated dams and 
     the resulting valley floods;
       (iv) the pollution of water resources and soil; and
       (v) the release of dust, which can contain toxic chemicals 
     and heavy metals that can cause severe health problems;
       (K) to aid and encourage ASM miners--
       (i) to formalize their business activities, including 
     through skills training, technical and business assistance, 
     and access to financing, loans, and credit;
       (ii) to utilize environmentally safe and sustainable mining 
     practices, including by scaling up the use of mercury-free 
     gold refining technologies, and mining methods and 
     technologies that do not result in deforestation, forest 
     destruction, air pollution, water and soil-contamination, and 
     other negative environmental impacts associated with ASM;
       (iii) to reduce the costs associated with formalization and 
     compliance with mining regulations;
       (iv) to fully break away from the influence of illicit 
     actors who leverage the control of territory and use violence 
     to extort miners and push them into illicit arrangements;
       (v) to adopt and utilize environmentally safe and 
     sustainable mining practices, including--

       (I) mercury-free gold refining technologies; and
       (II) extractive techniques that do not result in--

       (aa) forest clearance and water contamination; or
       (bb) the release of dust or uncontrolled tailings 
     containing toxic chemicals;
       (vi) to pursue alternative livelihoods outside the mining 
     sector; and
       (vii) to fully access public social services in ASM-
     dependent communities;
       (L) to support and encourage socioeconomic development 
     programs, law enforcement capacity-building programs, and 
     support for relevant international initiatives, including by 
     providing assistance to achieve such ends by implementing the 
     Strategy;
       (M) to interrupt the illicit gold trade in Nicaragua, 
     including through the use of United States punitive measures 
     against the government led by President Daniel Ortega and 
     Vice-President Rosario Murillo and their collaborators 
     pursuant to Executive Order 14088 (relating to taking 
     additional steps to address the national emergency with 
     respect to the situation in Nicaragua), which was issued on 
     October 24, 2022;
       (N) to assist local journalists with investigations of 
     illicit mining, trafficking, and commercialization of gold 
     and its supplies in the Western Hemisphere; and
       (O) to promote responsible sourcing and due diligence at 
     all levels of gold supply chains.
       (3) Challenges assessed.--The Strategy shall include an 
     assessment of the challenges posed by, and policy 
     recommendations to address--
       (A) linkages between ASM sector production and trade, 
     particularly relating to gold, to the activities of illicit 
     actors, including linkages that help to finance or enrich 
     such illicit actors or abet their activities;
       (B) linkages between illicit or grey market trade, and 
     markets in gold and other metals or minerals and legal trade 
     and commerce in such commodities, notably with respect to 
     activities that abet the entry of such commodities into legal 
     commerce, including--
       (i) illicit cross-border trafficking, including with 
     respect to goods, persons and illegal narcotics;
       (ii) money-laundering;
       (iii) the financing of illicit actors or their activities; 
     and
       (iv) the extralegal entry into the United States of--

       (I) metals or minerals, whether of legal foreign origin or 
     not; and
       (II) the proceeds of such metals or minerals;

       (C) linkages between the illicit mining, trafficking, and 
     commercialization of gold, diamonds, and precious metals and 
     stones, and the financial and political activities of the 
     regime of Nicolas Maduro of Venezuela;
       (D) factors that--
       (i) produce linkages between ASM miners and illicit actors, 
     prompting some ASM miners to utilize mining practices that 
     are environmentally damaging and unsustainable, notably 
     mining or related ore processing practices that--

       (I) involve the use of elemental mercury; or
       (II) result in labor, health, environmental, and safety 
     code infractions and workplace hazards; and

       (ii) lead some ASM miners to operate in the extralegal or 
     poorly regulated informal sector, and often prevent such 
     miners from improving the socioeconomic status of themselves 
     and their families and communities, or hinder their ability 
     to formalize their operations, enhance their technical and 
     business capacities, and access finance of fair market prices 
     for their output;
       (E) mining-related trafficking in persons and forced or 
     coerced labor, including sex work and child labor; and
       (F) the use of elemental mercury and cyanide in ASM 
     operations, including the technical aims and scope of such 
     usage and its impact on human health and the environment, 
     including flora, fauna, water resources, soil, and air 
     quality.
       (4) Foreign assistance.--The Strategy shall describe--
       (A) existing foreign assistance programs that address 
     elements of the Strategy; and
       (B) additional foreign assistance resources needed to fully 
     implement the Strategy.
       (5) Submission.--Not later than 180 days after the date of 
     the enactment of this Act, the President shall submit the 
     Strategy to the appropriate congressional committees.
       (6) Briefing.--Not later than 180 days after submission of 
     the Strategy, and semiannually thereafter for the following 3 
     years, the Secretary of State, or the Secretary's designee, 
     shall provide a briefing to the appropriate congressional 
     committees regarding the implementation of the strategy, 
     including efforts to leverage international support and 
     develop a public-private partnership to build responsible 
     gold value chains with other governments.
       (e) Classified Briefing on Illicit Gold Mining in 
     Venezuela.--Not later than 90 days after the date of the 
     enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State, or the 
     Secretary's designee, in coordination with the Director of 
     National Intelligence, shall provide a classified briefing to 
     the appropriate congressional committees, the Select 
     Committee on Intelligence of the Senate, and the Permanent 
     Select Committee on Intelligence of the House of 
     Representatives that describes--
       (1) the activities related to illicit gold mining, 
     including the illicit mining, trafficking, and 
     commercialization of gold, inside Venezuelan territory 
     carried out by illicit actors, including defectors from the 
     Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC)

[[Page S4806]]

     and members of the National Liberation Army (ELN); and
       (2) Venezuela's illicit gold trade with foreign 
     governments, including the Government of the Republic of 
     Turkey and the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran.
       (f) Investigation of the Illicit Gold Trade in Venezuela.--
     The Secretary of State, in coordination with the Secretary of 
     the Treasury, the Attorney General, and allied and partner 
     governments in the Western Hemisphere, shall--
       (1) lead a coordinated international effort to carry out 
     financial investigations to identify and track assets taken 
     from the people and institutions in Venezuela that are linked 
     to money laundering and illicit activities, including mining-
     related activities, by sharing financial investigations 
     intelligence, as appropriate and as permitted by law; and
       (2) provide technical assistance to help eligible 
     governments in Latin America establish legislative and 
     regulatory frameworks capable of imposing and effectively 
     implementing targeted sanctions on--
       (A) officials of the Maduro regime who are directly engaged 
     in the illicit mining, trafficking, and commercialization of 
     gold; and
       (B) foreign persons engaged in the laundering of illicit 
     gold assets linked to designated terrorist and drug 
     trafficking organizations.
       (g) Leveraging International Support.--In implementing the 
     Legal Gold and Mining Partnership Strategy pursuant to 
     subsection (d), the President should direct United States 
     representatives accredited to relevant multilateral 
     institutions and development banks and United States 
     ambassadors in the Western Hemisphere to use the influence of 
     the United States to foster international cooperation to 
     achieve the objectives of this Act, including--
       (1) marshaling resources and political support; and
       (2) encouraging the development of policies and 
     consultation with key stakeholders to accomplish such 
     objectives and provisions.
       (h) Public-private Partnership to Build Responsible Gold 
     Value Chains.--
       (1) Best practices.--The Administrator of the United States 
     Agency for International Development (referred to in this 
     subsection as the ``Administrator''), in coordination with 
     the Governments of Colombia, of Ecuador, and of Peru, and 
     with other democratically-elected governments in the region, 
     shall consult with the Government of Switzerland regarding 
     best practices developed through the Swiss Better Gold 
     Initiative, a public-private partnership that aims to improve 
     transparency and traceability in the international gold 
     trade.
       (2) In general.--The Administrator shall coordinate with 
     the Governments of Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and other 
     democratically-elected governments in the region determined 
     by the Administrator to establish a public-private 
     partnership to advance the best practices identified in 
     paragraph (1), including supporting programming in 
     participating countries that will--
       (A) support formalization and compliance with appropriate 
     environmental and labor standards in ASM gold mining;
       (B) increase access to financing for ASM gold miners who 
     are taking significant steps to formalize their operations 
     and comply with labor and environmental standards;
       (C) enhance the traceability and support the establishment 
     of a certification process for ASM gold;
       (D) support a public relations campaign to promote 
     responsibly-sourced gold;
       (E) include representatives of local civil society to work 
     towards soliciting the free and informed consent of those 
     living on lands with mining potential;
       (F) facilitate contact between vendors of responsibly-
     sourced gold and United States companies; and
       (G) promote policies and practices in participating 
     countries that are conducive to the formalization of ASM gold 
     mining and promoting adherence of ASM to internationally-
     recognized best practices and standards.
       (3) Meeting.--The Secretary of State or the Administrator, 
     without delegation and in coordination with the governments 
     of participating countries, should--
       (A) host a meeting with senior representatives of the 
     private sector and international governmental and 
     nongovernmental partners; and
       (B) make commitments to improve due diligence and increase 
     the responsible sourcing of gold.
       (i) Authorization of Appropriations.--There is authorized 
     to be appropriated to the Department of State $10,000,000 to 
     implement the Legal Gold and Mining Partnership Strategy 
     developed pursuant to subsection (d).
                                 ______