Young Helps Introduce Bill to Protect U.S. National Security and Address Fragile States

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Todd Young (R-Ind.) joined Senators Chris Coons (D-Del.), Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) this week in introducing legislation to improve the coordination of U.S. government efforts to reduce violence and instability in fragile countries.  

“It is said that an ‘ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure’, and this is exactly why I am proud to support this important, bipartisan legislation. Smart, proactive, and strategic investments earlier will prevent our service members – including Hoosiers – from having to deploy into harm’s way later when violence and instability worsens,” said Senator Young.

Fragile states can often become threats to U.S. national security because their governments are seen as ineffective or illegitimate by their citizens. The risk of terrorism, violent conflict, criminal activity, and corruption are high in fragile states.  Violent conflict also drives global displacement, with 68,500,000 people forcibly displaced around the world.

S.3368, the Global Fragility and Violence Reduction Act, responds to these challenges by requiring the Secretary of State and Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), in coordination with the Secretary of Defense, to collaborate on a 10-year initiative to reduce violence and fragility in at least six priority countries.

A one-pager on the bill is available here.

The bill text is available here.

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