[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)
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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).
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