Kaine Applauds Committee Passage Of Bipartisan Bills To Strengthen AUKUS And Address Brazilian Cartel Activity

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, U.S. Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA), a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee (SFRC), applauded committee passage of his bipartisan UNLOCK AUKUS Act and Strengthening the Rule of Law in the Brazilian Amazon Act:

"Working with our allies and partners is critical to addressing our shared challenges and ensuring peace and security-'America alone' will not make us safer or more secure. I'm proud that the Senate Foreign Relations Committee today advanced a package of legislation, including my bipartisan bills to strengthen the AUKUS partnership and boost cooperation with Brazil on addressing criminal cartel activity in the Brazilian Amazon. I urge the Senate to take up this legislation as soon as possible."

The UNLOCK AUKUS Act, which Kaine introduced with Senator Pete Ricketts (R-NE), would enable technologies that are currently controlled under the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR) to be eligible for transfer under the AUKUS license-free environment. This would significantly streamline collaboration between AUKUS partners on cutting-edge systems such as guided weapons, collaborative combat aircraft, hypersonics, and other promising AUKUS Pillar II projects, while maintaining non-proliferation commitments.

The Strengthening the Rule of Law in the Brazilian Amazon Act, which Kaine introduced with Senators Jeff Merkley (D-OR) and John Curtis (R-UT), would address crimes committed by transnational criminal organizations and drug trafficking groups, which are devastating communities in and around the Brazilian Amazon, upending the rule of law, and accelerating environmental degradation and deforestation. Violent deaths in the Brazilian Amazon are significantly higher than in other parts of the country, and the cartels are expanding their influence across the region and here in the U.S. The bill-the first environmental policy bill to pass through SFRC in years-would provide the U.S. government with more tools to support U.S.-Brazil efforts to address these crimes and prioritize identifying investment and economic development opportunities for U.S. companies in the Brazilian Amazon.

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