S.Amdt. 3400

This amendment, proposed by Mr. Cornyn and Mr. Kaine, seeks to add a new subtitle to bill S. 2296 called the United States Legal Gold and Mining Partnership Act.

The purpose of this amendment is to combat the illicit mining, trafficking, and commercialization of gold in the Western Hemisphere. It aims to address the negative effects of these activities, which include:

• Strengthening transnational criminal organizations and terrorist groups.
• Damaging the environment, food security, and indigenous peoples.
• Promoting human rights abuses, such as trafficking in persons and forced child labor.

To achieve this, the amendment adds several requirements to the bill:

• Legal Gold and Mining Partnership Strategy: It requires the Secretary of State to create a multi-year strategy to interrupt links between artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) and illicit actors, deter mining in protected areas, and build the capacity of foreign law enforcement.

• Targeted Actions: It focuses on interrupting the illicit gold trade in Nicaragua and conducting financial investigations into assets linked to the Maduro regime in Venezuela.

• Partnerships and Formalization: It promotes the formalization of ASM miners through technical assistance and the creation of a public-private partnership to build responsible gold value chains, using best practices from the Swiss Better Gold Initiative.

• Accountability and Funding: The President must submit the strategy to congressional committees within 180 days of enactment. The amendment authorizes $10,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2026 and 2027 to implement the strategy.