Trafficking and Smuggling Intelligence Act of 2019

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3720 To direct the Director of National Intelligence to make assessments regarding Mexico and the Northern Triangle of Central America, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JULY 11, 2019 Mr. HURD of Texas (for himself and Ms. SPANBERGER) introduced the fol- lowing bill; which was referred to the Permanent Select Committee on In- telligence A BILL To direct the Director of National Intelligence to make as- sessments regarding Mexico and the Northern Triangle of Central America, 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. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Trafficking and Smug- 4 gling Intelligence Act of 2019’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:46 Jul 19, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3720.IH H3720 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •HR 3720 IH SEC. 2. ASSESSMENT OF ACTIVITIES BY DRUG TRAF- 1 FICKING ORGANIZATIONS IN THE NORTHERN 2 TRIANGLE AND MEXICO. 3 (a) REPORT.—Not later than 60 days after the date 4 of the enactment of this Act, the Director of National In- 5 telligence, in coordination with the Chief of Intelligence 6 of the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Assist- 7 ant Secretary of State for Intelligence and Research, shall 8 submit to the appropriate congressional committees a re- 9 port containing an analytical assessment of the activities 10 of drug trafficking organizations in the Northern Triangle 11 and Mexico. Such assessment shall include, at a min- 12 imum— 13 (1) an assessment of the effect of drug traf- 14 ficking organizations on the security and economic 15 situation in the Northern Triangle; 16 (2) an assessment of the effect of the activities 17 of drug trafficking organizations on the migration of 18 persons from the Northern Triangle to the United 19 States-Mexico border; 20 (3) a summary of any relevant activities by ele- 21 ments of the intelligence community in relation to 22 drug trafficking organizations in the Northern Tri- 23 angle and Mexico; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:46 Jul 19, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3720.IH H3720 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •HR 3720 IH (4) a summary of key methods and routes used 1 by drug trafficking organizations in the Northern 2 Triangle and Mexico to the United States; 3 (5) an assessment of the intersection between 4 the activities of drug trafficking organizations, 5 human traffickers and human smugglers, and other 6 organized criminal groups in the Northern Triangle 7 and Mexico; and 8 (6) an assessment of the illicit funds and finan- 9 cial transactions that support the activities of drug 10 trafficking organizations and connected criminal en- 11 terprises in the Northern Triangle and Mexico. 12 (b) FORM.—The report required by subsection (a) 13 may be submitted in classified form, but if so submitted, 14 shall contain an unclassified summary. 15 (c) AVAILABILITY.—The report under subsection (a), 16 or the unclassified summary of the report described in 17 subsection (b), shall be made publicly available. 18 SEC. 3. ASSESSMENT OF HUMAN TRAFFICKING AND SMUG- 19 GLING FROM THE NORTHERN TRIANGLE TO 20 THE UNITED STATES-MEXICO BORDER. 21 (a) REPORT REQUIRED.—Not later than 60 days 22 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Director 23 of National Intelligence, in coordination with the Under 24 Secretary of Homeland Security for Intelligence and Anal- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:46 Jul 19, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3720.IH H3720 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •HR 3720 IH ysis and the Assistant Secretary of State for Intelligence 1 and Research, shall submit to the appropriate congres- 2 sional committees a report containing an analytical assess- 3 ment of human trafficking and human smuggling by indi- 4 viduals and organizations in the Northern Triangle and 5 Mexico. Such assessment shall include, at a minimum— 6 (1) an assessment of the effect of human traf- 7 ficking and human smuggling on the security and 8 economic situation in the Northern Triangle; 9 (2) a summary of any relevant activities by ele- 10 ments of the intelligence community in relation to 11 human trafficking and human smuggling in the 12 Northern Triangle and Mexico; 13 (3) an assessment of the methods and routes 14 used by human traffickers and human smuggler or- 15 ganizations to move persons from the Northern Tri- 16 angle to the United States-Mexico border; 17 (4) an assessment of the intersection between 18 the activities of human traffickers and human smug- 19 glers, drug trafficking organizations, and other orga- 20 nized criminal groups in the Northern Triangle and 21 Mexico; and 22 (5) an assessment of the illicit funds and finan- 23 cial transactions that support the activities of 24 human traffickers and human smugglers and con- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:46 Jul 19, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3720.IH H3720 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •HR 3720 IH nected criminal enterprises in the Northern Triangle 1 and Mexico. 2 (b) FORM.—The report required by subsection (a) 3 may be submitted in classified form, but if so submitted, 4 shall contain an unclassified summary. 5 (c) AVAILABILITY.—The report under subsection (a), 6 or the unclassified summary of the report described in 7 subsection (b), shall be made publicly available. 8 SEC. 4. PRIORITIZATION OF INTELLIGENCE RESOURCES 9 FOR THE NORTHERN TRIANGLE AND MEXICO. 10 (a) REVIEW OF INTELLIGENCE COMMUNITY EF- 11 FORTS IN NORTHERN TRIANGLE AND MEXICO.—The Di- 12 rector of National Intelligence, in coordination with the 13 Under Secretary of Homeland Security for Intelligence 14 and Analysis, the Assistant Secretary of State for Intel- 15 ligence and Research, the Chief of Intelligence of the Drug 16 Enforcement Administration, and other appropriate offi- 17 cials in the intelligence community, shall carry out a com- 18 prehensive review of the current intelligence collection pri- 19 orities of the intelligence community for the Northern Tri- 20 angle and Mexico in order to identify whether such prior- 21 ities are appropriate and sufficient in light of the threat 22 posed by the activities of drug trafficking organizations 23 and human traffickers and human smugglers to the secu- 24 rity of the United States and the Western Hemisphere. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:46 Jul 19, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3720.IH H3720 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 •HR 3720 IH (b) REPORTS.— 1 (1) REPORT ON INITIAL REVIEW.—Not later 2 than 120 days after the date of the enactment of 3 this Act, the Director of National Intelligence shall 4 submit to the congressional intelligence committees a 5 comprehensive description of the results of the re- 6 view required by subsection (a), including whether 7 the priorities described in that subsection are appro- 8 priate and sufficient in light of the threat posed by 9 the activities of drug trafficking organizations and 10 human traffickers and human smugglers to the secu- 11 rity of the United States and the Western Hemi- 12 sphere. If the report concludes that such priorities 13 are not so appropriate and sufficient, the report 14 shall also include a description of the actions to be 15 taken to modify such priorities in order to assure 16 that such priorities are so appropriate and sufficient. 17 (2) QUARTERLY REPORTS.—Not later than 90 18 days after the date on which the report under para- 19 graph (1) is submitted, and every 90 days thereafter 20 for a 5-year period, the Director of National Intel- 21 ligence shall submit to the congressional intelligence 22 committees a report on the intelligence community’s 23 collection priorities and activities in the Northern 24 Triangle and Mexico with a focus on the threat 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:46 Jul 19, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3720.IH H3720 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 7 •HR 3720 IH posed by the activities of drug trafficking organiza- 1 tions and human traffickers and human smugglers 2 to the security of the United States and the Western 3 Hemisphere. The first report under this paragraph 4 shall also include a description of the amount of 5 funds expended by the intelligence community to the 6 efforts described in subsection (a) during each of fis- 7 cal years 2018 and 2019. 8 (c) FORM.—The reports required by subsection (b) 9 may be submitted in classified form, but if so submitted, 10 shall contain an unclassified summary. 11 SEC. 5. DEFINITIONS. 12 In this Act: 13 (1) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT- 14 TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com- 15 mittees’’ means— 16 (A) the Committee on Foreign Affairs, the 17 Committee on Homeland Security, and the Per- 18 manent Select Committee on Intelligence of the 19 House of Representatives; and 20 (B) the Committee on Foreign Relations, 21 the Committee on Homeland Security and Gov- 22 ernmental Affairs, and the Select Committee on 23 Intelligence of the Senate. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:46 Jul 19, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3720.IH H3720 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 8 •HR 3720 IH (2) HUMAN TRAFFICKING.—The term ‘‘human 1 trafficking’’ has the meaning given the term ‘‘severe 2 forms of trafficking in persons’’ by section 103 of 3 the Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection 4 Act of 2000 (22 U.S.C. 7102). 5 (3) INTELLIGENCE COMMUNITY.—The term 6 ‘‘intelligence community’’ has the meaning given 7 that term in section 3 of the National Security Act 8 of 1947 (50 U.S.C. 3003). 9 (4) NORTHERN TRIANGLE.—The term ‘‘North- 10 ern Triangle’’ means El Salvador, Guatemala, and 11 Honduras. 12 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:46 Jul 19, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H3720.IH H3720 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS