Fentanyl Sanctions Act

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1044 To impose sanctions with respect to foreign traffickers of illicit opioids, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES APRIL 4, 2019 Mr. SCHUMER (for himself, Mr. COTTON, Mr. BROWN, Mr. RUBIO, Mr. MENENDEZ, Mrs. SHAHEEN, and Mr. TOOMEY) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs A BILL To impose sanctions with respect to foreign traffickers of illicit opioids, and for other purposes. 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; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 3 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 4 ‘‘Fentanyl Sanctions Act’’. 5 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 6 this Act is as follows: 7 Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. Sec. 2. Findings. Sec. 3. Sense of Congress. Sec. 4. Definitions. VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:39 Apr 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6211 E:\BILLS\S1044.IS S1044 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •S 1044 IS TITLE I—SANCTIONS WITH RESPECT TO FOREIGN OPIOID TRAFFICKERS Sec. 101. Identification of foreign opioid traffickers. Sec. 102. Sense of Congress and reporting on international opioid control re- gime. Sec. 103. Imposition of sanctions. Sec. 104. Description of sanctions. Sec. 105. Waivers. Sec. 106. Procedures for judicial review of classified information. Sec. 107. Briefings on implementation. TITLE II—COMMISSION ON COMBATING SYNTHETIC OPIOID TRAFFICKING Sec. 201. Commission on combating synthetic opioid trafficking. TITLE III—OTHER MATTERS Sec. 301. Director of National Intelligence program on use of intelligence re- sources in efforts to sanction foreign opioid traffickers. Sec. 302. Department of Defense funding. Sec. 303. Department of State funding. Sec. 304. Department of the Treasury funding. Sec. 305. Appropriate committees of Congress defined. SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 1 Congress makes the following findings: 2 (1) The Centers for Disease Control and Pre- 3 vention estimate that from June 2017 through June 4 2018 more than 48,000 people in the United States 5 died from an opioid overdose, with synthetic opioids 6 (excluding methadone), contributing to a record 7 31,500 overdose deaths. While drug overdose deaths 8 from methadone, semi-synthetic opioids, and heroin 9 have decreased in recent months, overdose deaths 10 from synthetic opioids have continued to increase. 11 (2) The objective of preventing the proliferation 12 of synthetic opioids though existing multilateral and 13 bilateral initiatives requires additional efforts to 14 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:39 Apr 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1044.IS S1044 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •S 1044 IS deny illicit actors the financial means to sustain 1 their markets and distribution networks. 2 (3) The People’s Republic of China is the 3 world’s largest producer of illicit fentanyl, fentanyl 4 analogues, and their immediate precursors. From 5 the People’s Republic of China, those substances are 6 shipped primarily through express consignment car- 7 riers or international mail directly to the United 8 States, or, alternatively, shipped directly to transna- 9 tional criminal organizations in Mexico, Canada, and 10 the Caribbean. 11 (4) In 2015, Mexican heroin accounted for 93 12 percent of the total weight of heroin seized in the 13 United States, transported to the United States by 14 transnational criminal organizations that maintain 15 territorial influence over large regions in Mexico and 16 remain the greatest criminal drug threat to the 17 United States. 18 (5) The United States and the People’s Repub- 19 lic of China, Mexico, and Canada have made impor- 20 tant strides in combating the illicit flow of opioids 21 through bilateral efforts of their respective law en- 22 forcement agencies. 23 (6) Insufficient regulation of synthetic opioid 24 production and export and insufficient law enforce- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:39 Apr 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1044.IS S1044 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •S 1044 IS ment efforts to combat opioid trafficking in the Peo- 1 ple’s Republic of China and Mexico continue to con- 2 tribute to a flood of opioids into the United States. 3 (7) While the Department of the Treasury used 4 the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act (21 5 U.S.C. 1901 et seq.) to sanction the first synthetic 6 opioid trafficking entity in April 2018, precision eco- 7 nomic and financial sanctions policy tools are needed 8 to address the flow of synthetic opioids. 9 SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 10 It is the sense of Congress that— 11 (1) the United States should apply economic 12 and other financial sanctions to foreign traffickers of 13 illicit opioids to protect the national security, foreign 14 policy, and economy of the United States; and 15 (2) it is imperative that the People’s Republic 16 of China follow through on the commitments it made 17 to the United States on December 6, 2018, through 18 the Group of Twenty— 19 (A) to schedule the entire category of 20 fentanyl-type substances as controlled sub- 21 stances; and 22 (B) to change its national and provincial 23 laws and increase provincial law enforcement ef- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:39 Apr 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1044.IS S1044 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •S 1044 IS forts to prosecute traffickers of fentanyl sub- 1 stances. 2 SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS. 3 In this Act: 4 (1) ALIEN; NATIONAL; NATIONAL OF THE 5 UNITED STATES.—The terms ‘‘alien’’, ‘‘national’’, 6 and ‘‘national of the United States’’ have the mean- 7 ings given those terms in section 101 of the Immi- 8 gration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101). 9 (2) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT- 10 TEES AND LEADERSHIP.—The term ‘‘appropriate 11 congressional committees and leadership’’ means— 12 (A) the Committee on Armed Services, the 13 Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban 14 Affairs, the Committee on Foreign Relations, 15 the Committee on Homeland Security and Gov- 16 ernmental Affairs, the Committee on the Judi- 17 ciary, the Select Committee on Intelligence, and 18 the majority leader and the minority leader of 19 the Senate; and 20 (B) the Committee on Armed Services, the 21 Committee on Financial Services, the Com- 22 mittee on Foreign Affairs, the Committee on 23 Homeland Security, the Committee on the Judi- 24 ciary, the Permanent Select Committee on In- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:39 Apr 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1044.IS S1044 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 •S 1044 IS telligence, and the Speaker and the minority 1 leader of the House of Representatives. 2 (3) CONTROLLED SUBSTANCE; LISTED CHEM- 3 ICAL.—The terms ‘‘controlled substance’’, ‘‘listed 4 chemical’’, ‘‘narcotic drug’’, and ‘‘opioid’’ have the 5 meanings given those terms in section 102 of the 6 Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 802). 7 (4) ENTITY.—The term ‘‘entity’’ means a part- 8 nership, joint venture, association, corporation, orga- 9 nization, network, group, or subgroup, or any form 10 of business collaboration. 11 (5) FOREIGN OPIOID TRAFFICKER.—The term 12 ‘‘foreign opioid trafficker’’ means any foreign person 13 that the President determines plays a significant 14 role in opioid trafficking. 15 (6) FOREIGN PERSON.—The term ‘‘foreign per- 16 son’’— 17 (A) means— 18 (i) any citizen or national of a foreign 19 country; or 20 (ii) any entity not organized under the 21 laws of the United States or a jurisdiction 22 within the United States; and 23 (B) does not include the government of a 24 foreign country. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:39 Apr 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1044.IS S1044 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 7 •S 1044 IS (7) KNOWINGLY.—The term ‘‘knowingly’’, with 1 respect to conduct, a circumstance, or a result, 2 means that a person has actual knowledge, or should 3 have known, of the conduct, the circumstance, or the 4 result. 5 (8) OPIOID TRAFFICKING.—The term ‘‘opioid 6 trafficking’’ means any illicit activity— 7 (A) to cultivate, produce, manufacture, dis- 8 tribute, sell, or knowingly finance or transport 9 illicit opioids, controlled substances that are 10 opioids, listed chemicals that are opioids, or ac- 11 tive pharmaceutical ingredients or chemicals 12 that are used in the production of controlled 13 substances that are opioids; 14 (B) to attempt to carry out an activity de- 15 scribed in subparagraph (A); or 16 (C) to assist, abet, conspire, or collude 17 with other persons to carry out such an activity. 18 (9) PERSON.—The term ‘‘person’’ means an in- 19 dividual or entity. 20 (10) UNITED STATES PERSON.—The term 21 ‘‘United States person’’ means— 22 (A) any citizen or national of the United 23 States; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:39 Apr 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1044.IS S1044 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 8 •S 1044 IS (B) any alien lawfully admitted for perma- 1 nent residence in the United States; 2 (C) any entity organized under the laws of 3 the United States or any jurisdiction within the 4 United States (including a foreign branch of 5 such an entity); or 6 (D) any person located in the United 7 States. 8 TITLE I—SANCTIONS WITH RE- 9 SPECT TO FOREIGN OPIOID 10 TRAFFICKERS 11 SEC. 101. IDENTIFICATION OF FOREIGN OPIOID TRAF- 12 FICKERS. 13 (a) PUBLIC REPORT.— 14 (1) IN GENERAL.—The President shall submit 15 to the appropriate congressional committees and 16 leadership, in accordance with subsection (c), a re- 17 port— 18 (A) identifying the foreign persons that the 19 President determines are foreign opioid traf- 20 fickers; 21 (B) detailing progress the President has 22 made in implementing this title; and 23 (C) providing an update on cooperative ef- 24 forts with the Governments of Mexico and the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:39 Apr 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1044.IS S1044 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 9 •S 1044 IS People’s Republic of China with respect to com- 1 bating foreign opioid traffickers. 2 (2) IDENTIFICATION OF ADDITIONAL PER- 3 SONS.—If, at any time after submitting a report re- 4 quired by paragraph (1) and before the submission 5 of the next such report, the President determines 6 that a foreign person not identified in the report is 7 a foreign opioid trafficker, the President shall sub- 8 mit to the appropriate congressional committees and 9 leadership an additional report containing the infor- 10 mation required by paragraph (1) with respect to 11 the foreign person. 12 (3) EXCLUSION.—The President shall not be 13 required to include in a report under paragraph (1) 14 or (2) any persons with respect to which the United 15 States has imposed sanctions before the date of the 16 report under this title or any other provision of law 17 with respect to opioid trafficking. 18 (4) FORM OF REPORT.— 19 (A) IN GENERAL.—Each report required 20 by paragraph (1) or (2) shall be submitted in 21 unclassified form but may include a classified 22 annex. 23 (B) AVAILABILITY TO PUBLIC.—The un- 24 classified portion of a report required by para- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:39 Apr 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1044.IS S1044 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 10 •S 1044 IS graph (1) or (2) shall be made available to the 1 public. 2 (b) CLASSIFIED REPORT.— 3 (1) IN GENERAL.—The President shall submit 4 to the appropriate congressional committees and 5 leadership, in accordance with subsection (c), a re- 6 port, in classified form— 7 (A) describing in detail the status of sanc- 8 tions imposed under this title, including the 9 personnel and resources directed toward the im- 10 position of such sanctions during the preceding 11 fiscal year; 12 (B) providing background information with 13 respect to persons newly identified as foreign 14 opioid traffickers and their illicit activities; 15 (C) describing actions the President in- 16 tends to undertake or has undertaken to imple- 17 ment this title; and 18 (D) providing a strategy for identifying ad- 19 ditional foreign opioid traffickers. 20 (2) EFFECT ON OTHER REPORTING REQUIRE- 21 MENTS.—The report required by paragraph (1) is in 22 addition to the obligations of the President to keep 23 Congress fully and currently informed pursuant to 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:39 Apr 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1044.IS S1044 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 11 •S 1044 IS the provisions of the National Security Act of 1947 1 (50 U.S.C. 3001 et seq.). 2 (c) SUBMISSION OF REPORTS.—Not later than 180 3 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, and annu- 4 ally thereafter until the date that is 5 years after such 5 date of enactment, the President shall submit the reports 6 required by subsections (a) and (b) to the appropriate con- 7 gressional committees and leadership. 8 (d) EXCLUSION OF CERTAIN INFORMATION.— 9 (1) INTELLIGENCE.—Notwithstanding any 10 other provision of this section, a report required by 11 subsection (a) or (b) shall not disclose the identity 12 of any person if the Director of National Intelligence 13 determines that such disclosure could compromise an 14 intelligence operation, activity, source, or method of 15 the United States. 16 (2) LAW ENFORCEMENT.—Notwithstanding any 17 other provision of this section, a report required by 18 subsection (a) or (b) shall not disclose the identity 19 of any person if the Attorney General, in coordina- 20 tion, as appropriate, with the Director of the Fed- 21 eral Bureau of Investigation, the Administrator of 22 the Drug Enforcement Administration, the head of 23 any other appropriate Federal law enforcement 24 agency, and the Secretary of the Treasury, deter- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:39 Apr 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1044.IS S1044 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 12 •S 1044 IS mines that such disclosure could reasonably be ex- 1 pected— 2 (A) to compromise the identity of a con- 3 fidential source, including a State, local, or for- 4 eign agency or authority or any private institu- 5 tion that furnished information on a confiden- 6 tial basis; 7 (B) to jeopardize the integrity or success 8 of an ongoing criminal investigation or prosecu- 9 tion; 10 (C) to endanger the life or physical safety 11 of any person; or 12 (D) to cause substantial harm to physical 13 property. 14 (3) NOTIFICATION REQUIRED.—If the Director 15 of National Intelligence makes a determination 16 under paragraph (1) or the [Text truncated for display. 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