ICYMI: Dominican President Abinader Endorses Cassidy’s Americas Act

WASHINGTON - President Luis Abinader, president of the Dominican Republic, endorsed the Americas Act during a keynote address at the 27^th Annual CAF Conference. The landmark legislation introduced earlier this year by U.S. Senators Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA) and Michael Bennet (D-CO) and U.S. Representatives Maria Salazar (R-FL-27) and Adriano Espaillat (D-NY-13) focuses on strengthening economic and national security by creating a permanent trade partnership across the Western Hemisphere while opposing China's growing threat in America's backyard.

"A crucial component to strengthen the economies of the region would be the approval of the Americas Trade and Investment Act. A bill that is still waiting to be passed by the U.S. Congress. This legislative package is a resource that could transform the economic relationships in the Americas by promoting integration and improving commercial ties, facilitating near-shoring of key industries to our region," said President Abinader.

The Americas Act was also recently endorsed by U.S. Southern Command Commander General Laura Richardson and former National Security Council (NSC) senior director in the Trump administration, Mauricio Claver-Carone.

Cassidy will discuss the Americas Act at the 2024 Concordia Annual Summit on September 23^rd in a fireside chat alongside Paraguayan President Santiago Peña.

Background

Cassidy and Bennet, along with Salazar, Espaillat, and former House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party Chairman Mike Gallagher (R-WI-08) introduced the Americas Act in March 2024. They penned an op-ed in Fox News Digital outlining the legislation.

More than 60 million Americans are of Hispanic descent, helping to make the U.S. the fourth-largest Spanish-speaking country in the world. Together, the hemisphere grows enough food and produces enough critical minerals to sustain every country in the Americas.

Last year, Cassidy and Bennet spoke to the Council of the Americas about the Americas Act. They highlighted the need for the U.S. to reimagine its neglected Latin America policy and take a more comprehensive approach to the hemisphere. They focused on the plan's mechanism to expand the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), the gold standard for trade agreements, and the new investment corporation that would promote economic development across the hemisphere. The returns generated by the investment corporation would fully pay for the plan.

The discussion draft released last year received support from Latin American leaders and other stakeholders. Learn more about what people are saying. Following the introduction of the Americas Act, news outlets were quick to highlight the transformational nature of the legislation for the Western Hemisphere.

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