4/11/2022

My Dear Friend, JRB,

            As you work with your new nominee to lead the AFT, Steve Dettelbach, I encourage you to adopt Chuck Schumer’s language. The phrase, “ghost gun exorcism,” is particularly powerful. I hope today’s announcement about your plans for gun safety gets lots of publicity!

            When you speak with PM Narenda Modi (NDM) today, I encourage you to explore the challenge of the diamonds. As you well know, Mumbai is the center of the polished diamond trade & a large percentage of their rough-cut stones come from Russia. If you want to put the squeeze on VVP, you need to get NDM to work with his diamantaires to identify the origins of their wares when they sell them. Then we can make sure that our wedding rings are conflict free. Even better would be if the industry would follow the lead of Brilliant Earth & engage in a “robust chain of custody protocol.” We could also identify the origins of jade & rubies. The we can ensure that jewelry buyers were not inadvertently supporting the Tatmadaw.

            Speaking of which, when you talk with NDM, be sure to discuss Burma. Perhaps you could make a deal with him about allowing refugees to pass through India on their way to the US. Moreover, please tell him to be mindful of his neighbor, Bangladesh & its hope to eventually send its 1 million Rohingya refugees back to their homes. The Diplomat suggests that NDM needs to rethink his Burma strategy. Please help him do so.

            As I learned about the diamond trade this AM, I found out that 80% of that rare Earth material are used by industry. Moreover, from what I could find on the internet, we have only sanctioned non-industrial Russian diamonds. Don’t you think it’s time to sanction ALL diamonds? We can get what we need from Botswana & Canada. The price will go up, but that would be good for the planet.

            You have so much to think about! I hope you can keep it all straight.

            HYITL,