Schatz: I Will Work To Suspend All Funding To Brazil Until Amazon Crisis Is Resolved

 
HONOLULU – U.S. Senator Brian Schatz, Chair of the Senate Democrats’ Special Committee on the Climate Crisis and a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, released the following statement on fires in the Amazon rain forest.

“The Amazon is literally on fire. And instead of confronting this crisis, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has pointed the finger at nongovernmental organizations charged with protecting the rain forest and called his own government’s reports on deforestation fake. The United States cannot treat this as business as usual. The Trump Administration must communicate that the U.S.-Brazil bilateral relationship is in danger, and American companies in Brazil must pledge to pull out if the Bolsonaro government doesn’t reverse course and stop giving license to cattle ranchers and others to torch the rain forest. When the Senate returns, I will be working with my colleagues to hold every source of funding we provide to Brazil in abeyance until this crisis is over.” 

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