What This Bill Does
This bill tells the Secretary of State (the head of the U.S. State Department) to officially label four specific Mexican drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations. The bill also requires the Secretary to write a detailed report to Congress explaining why these cartels meet the legal standards for terrorist designations.
Who It Affects
The Secretary of State, the Director of National Intelligence, and 12 specific Congressional committees receive responsibilities under this bill. The four named cartels and any other Mexican drug cartels that meet terrorist criteria could be directly affected by designation.
Key Provisions
- The Secretary of State must designate the Reynosa/Los Metros faction of the Gulf Cartel, the Cartel Del Noreste faction of Los Zetas, the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, and the Sinaloa Cartel as foreign terrorist organizations. (Sec. 2(c)(1))
- The Secretary of State must also designate any other Mexican drug cartel or faction that meets the legal criteria for foreign terrorist organization status. (Sec. 2(c)(2))
- Within 30 days after this law is passed, the Secretary of State and the Director of National Intelligence must submit a detailed report to Congress explaining which criteria each cartel meets for terrorist organization designation. (Sec. 2(d)(1))
- The report must be available only in electronic form and cannot be printed unless a Congressional office specifically requests a printed copy. (Sec. 2(d)(2))
What Changes
If this becomes law, the four named drug cartels would receive official terrorist organization status. The Secretary of State would be required to evaluate any other Mexican drug cartels against terrorist criteria and designate them if they qualify.
Important Definitions
"Appropriate committees of Congress" means the 12 Congressional committees specifically named in the bill, including committees focused on Armed Services, Foreign Relations, the Judiciary, Homeland Security, and Intelligence. (Sec. 2(b))
Effective Date
Not specified in bill text
II
118TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
S. 698
To direct the Secretary of State to designate certain Mexican drug cartels
as foreign terrorist organizations, and to submit a report to Congress
justifying such designations in accordance with section 219 of the Immi-
gration and Nationality Act.
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
MARCH 8, 2023
Mr. MARSHALL (for himself and Mr. SCOTT of Florida) introduced the fol-
lowing bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on For-
eign Relations
A BILL
To direct the Secretary of State to designate certain Mexican
drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations, and to
submit a report to Congress justifying such designations
in accordance with section 219 of the Immigration and
Nationality Act.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
1
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
2
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
3
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Drug Cartel Terrorist
4
Designation Act’’.
5
VerDate Sep 11 2014
00:19 Mar 16, 2023
Jkt 039200
PO 00000
Frm 00001
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\S698.IS
S698
kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
2
•S 698 IS
SEC. 2. REPORT ON DESIGNATION OF CERTAIN DRUG CAR-
1
TELS AS FOREIGN TERRORIST ORGANIZA-
2
TIONS.
3
(a) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con-
4
gress that each of the drug cartels referred to in sub-
5
section (c) meets the criteria for designation as a foreign
6
terrorist organization under section 219 of the Immigra-
7
tion and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1189).
8
(b) DEFINED TERM.—In this section, the term ‘‘ap-
9
propriate committees of Congress’’ means—
10
(1) the Committee on Armed Services of the
11
Senate;
12
(2) the Committee on Banking, Housing, and
13
Urban Affairs of the Senate;
14
(3) the Committee on Foreign Relations of the
15
Senate;
16
(4) the Committee on the Judiciary of the Sen-
17
ate;
18
(5) the Committee on Homeland Security and
19
Governmental Affairs of the Senate;
20
(6) the Select Committee on Intelligence of the
21
Senate;
22
(7) the Committee on Armed Services of the
23
House of Representatives;
24
(8) the Committee on Financial Services of the
25
House of Representatives;
26
VerDate Sep 11 2014
00:19 Mar 16, 2023
Jkt 039200
PO 00000
Frm 00002
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\S698.IS
S698
kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
3
•S 698 IS
(9) the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the
1
House of Representatives;
2
(10) the Committee on the Judiciary of the
3
House of Representatives;
4
(11) the Committee on Homeland Security of
5
the House of Representatives; and
6
(12) the Permanent Select Committee on Intel-
7
ligence of the House of Representatives.
8
(c) DESIGNATION.—
9
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of State shall
10
designate each of the following Mexican drug cartels
11
as a foreign terrorist organization under section
12
219(a) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8
13
U.S.C. 1189(a)):
14
(A) The Reynosa/Los Metros faction of the
15
Gulf Cartel.
16
(B) The Cartel Del Noreste faction of Los
17
Zetas.
18
(C) The Jalisco New Generation Cartel.
19
(D) The Sinaloa Cartel.
20
(2) ADDITIONAL CARTELS.—The Secretary of
21
State shall designate any Mexican drug cartel, or
22
any faction of such a cartel, as a foreign terrorist
23
organization if such cartel or faction meets the cri-
24
teria described in such section 219(a).
25
VerDate Sep 11 2014
00:19 Mar 16, 2023
Jkt 039200
PO 00000
Frm 00003
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\S698.IS
S698
kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
4
•S 698 IS
(d) REPORT.—
1
(1) REPORT
REQUIRED.—Not later than 30
2
days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the
3
Secretary of State, in consultation with the Director
4
of National Intelligence, shall submit a detailed re-
5
port to the appropriate committees of Congress re-
6
garding—
7
(A) each of the drug cartels referred to in
8
subsection (c)(1) that describes the criteria jus-
9
tifying their designations as foreign terrorist or-
10
ganizations under section 219(a) of the Immi-
11
gration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1189(a));
12
and
13
(B) all other Mexican drug cartels, or fac-
14
tions of cartels, that the Secretary determines
15
pursuant to subsection (c)(2) meet the criteria
16
for designation as foreign terrorist organiza-
17
tions under such section 219(a), including the
18
specific criteria justifying each such designa-
19
tion.
20
(2) FORM.—The report required under para-
21
graph (1)—
22
(A) shall be submitted in unclassified form,
23
but may include a classified annex;
24
VerDate Sep 11 2014
01:15 Mar 17, 2023
Jkt 039200
PO 00000
Frm 00004
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\S698.IS
S698
kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
5
•S 698 IS
(B) shall be made available only in elec-
1
tronic form; and
2
(C) may not be printed, except upon a re-
3
quest for a printed copy from a congressional
4
office.
5
Æ
VerDate Sep 11 2014
00:19 Mar 16, 2023
Jkt 039200
PO 00000
Frm 00005
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6301
E:\BILLS\S698.IS
S698
kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS