Denver — U.S. Senator Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), a member of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, joined U.S. Senator Chris Coons (D-Del.), a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and four Senate colleagues to introduce the bipartisan Defending International Security by Restricting Unlawful Partnerships and Tactics (DISRUPT) Act, which will address increased cooperation between foreign adversaries that threatens U.S. interests.
Autocratic regimes in China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea have deepened their cooperation in recent years – including by transferring weapons and munitions, sharing military and dual-use technologies, launching disinformation campaigns against democracies around the world, and coordinating joint operations that threaten the stability of the post-World War II international order. Yet, the United States lacks a strategic response to this autocratic alignment.
“These autocracies pose interconnected and overlapping threats,” said Bennet. “From Putin to Xi, these dictators have made it clear that they believe that democracy is exhausted, and that authoritarianism is the best humanity can expect. The DISRUPT Act is a crucial step toward bolstering U.S. national security by countering their alignment.”
“Our adversaries are becoming friends,” said Coons. “We cannot continue to sit back and watch as they gain strength before our eyes – in weapons, in their armies, in their economic power. They want to make our country less secure and our economy less prosperous. The DISRUPT Act is the first step to stopping their progress and keeping Americans safe.”
The DISRUPT Act highlights the need for the U.S. to counter threats posed by foreign adversaries’ increased cooperation and prepare for simultaneous challenges across regions, and requires the executive branch to craft a whole-of-government strategy to approach this phenomenon.
Specifically, the DISRUPT Act will:
- Direct the intelligence community to report on the trajectory of adversary collaboration across diplomatic, informational, military, and economic domains and its effects on U.S. interests;
- Require the development of a whole-of-government strategy to approach this phenomenon; and
- Create interagency task forces within key departments such as State, Defense, Commerce, Treasury, and the Directors of National Intelligence and of the Central Intelligence Agency to ensure a coordinated, long-term response.
Bennet has led efforts to counter this autocratic alignment, including by staunchly supporting the Ukrainian people in their fight to defend their democracy against Russia’s invasion; working to bolster cooperation between the U.S. and Indo-Pacific allies amid China’s increased aggression; and pushing to hold Iran accountable for its human rights abuses and support for international terrorism.
In addition to Bennet and Coons, U.S. Senators David McCormick (R-Pa.), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), John Cornyn (R-Texas), and Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) cosponsored the bill.
The text of the bill is available HERE.