SAFE Mail Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 4102 To require the screening of 100 percent of international mail and express cargo inbound into the United States from high-risk countries to detect and prevent the importation of illicit fentanyl and other illicit synthetic opioids, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JULY 30, 2019 Ms. CLARK of Massachusetts introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Homeland Security A BILL To require the screening of 100 percent of international mail and express cargo inbound into the United States from high-risk countries to detect and prevent the impor- tation of illicit fentanyl and other illicit synthetic 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. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Screening All 4 Fentanyl-Enhanced Mail Act of 2019’’ or the ‘‘SAFE Mail 5 Act’’. 6 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:52 Aug 03, 2019 Jkt 034408 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4102.IH H4102 Pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 4102 IH SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 1 Congress makes the following findings: 2 (1) The United States continues to experience 3 an epidemic of overdoses of fentanyl, heroin, and 4 prescription opioids that claimed more than 49,000 5 lives in 2017. 6 (2) Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid that de- 7 presses central nervous system and respiratory func- 8 tion, with euphoric effects that may be more power- 9 ful than the euphoric effects of heroin or morphine. 10 (3) The effect of fentanyl can be up to 50 times 11 stronger than the effect of heroin, and 50 to 100 12 times stronger than the effect of morphine. 13 (4) Although pharmaceutical fentanyl can be di- 14 verted for misuse, most fentanyl deaths are believed 15 to be linked to illicit fentanyl. 16 (5) Across the United States, the use of illicit 17 fentanyl and deaths related to that use are rising at 18 alarming rates. 19 (6) According to the Centers for Disease Con- 20 trol and Prevention, between 2016 and 2017, the 21 rate of drug overdose deaths involving synthetic 22 opioids—largely fentanyl—increased by 45 percent. 23 (7) In 2017, more than 28,000 deaths involving 24 synthetic opioids—largely fentanyl—occurred in the 25 United States, outnumbering deaths from any other 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:52 Aug 03, 2019 Jkt 034408 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4102.IH H4102 Pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 4102 IH type of opioid. According to preliminary data from 1 the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, that 2 figure increased to nearly 32,000 deaths in 2018. 3 (8) Depending on the route of administration 4 and other factors, as little as 2 milligrams of illicit 5 fentanyl (similar in size to a few grains of salt) can 6 be fatal. 7 (9) Fentanyl is the primary synthetic opioid 8 available in the United States. 9 (10) The internet has significantly increased 10 the availability of illicit fentanyl and other illicit syn- 11 thetic opioids in the United States. Those drugs are 12 widely advertised for sale, and are available for pur- 13 chase, on the open and dark web. 14 (11) Most illicit fentanyl trafficked into the 15 United States originates in the People’s Republic of 16 China and is transported into the United States in 17 parcel packages directly from the People’s Republic 18 of China or from the People’s Republic of China 19 through Canada. 20 (12) Fentanyl arriving in the mail directly from 21 the People’s Republic of China can have exception- 22 ally high purities—over 90 percent—posing a great 23 risk to the purchaser and user, and allowing it to be 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:52 Aug 03, 2019 Jkt 034408 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4102.IH H4102 Pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 4102 IH adulterated many more times and turned into larger 1 amounts for sale and use. 2 (13) As the designated postal operator in the 3 United States, the United States Postal Service ac- 4 cepts and delivers inbound international mail on be- 5 half of designated postal operators around the world. 6 (14) Express consignment operators accept 7 items from customers in foreign countries and trans- 8 port and deliver those items in the United States. 9 (15) U.S. Customs and Border Protection in- 10 spects mail and express cargo arriving in the United 11 States and seizes illegal goods, including those that 12 may pose threats to health and safety, ecology, and 13 businesses in the United States. 14 (16) U.S. Customs and Border Protection is 15 able to screen only a tiny fraction of all inbound 16 international mail and express cargo into the United 17 States, contributing to the influx of illicit fentanyl 18 that is causing tens of thousands of deaths in the 19 United States annually. 20 SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 21 It is the sense of Congress that— 22 (1) in order to save potentially tens of thou- 23 sands of lives in the United States annually, the 24 Federal Government must make it a high priority to 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:52 Aug 03, 2019 Jkt 034408 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4102.IH H4102 Pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 4102 IH stem the flow of illicit fentanyl into the United 1 States through increased detection and interception 2 of inbound international mail and express cargo; and 3 (2) the Federal Government must resolve to 4 achieve the automated screening of 100 percent of 5 international mail and express cargo inbound into 6 the United States from high-risk countries for illicit 7 fentanyl and other illicit synthetic opioids. 8 SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS. 9 In this Act: 10 (1) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT- 11 TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com- 12 mittees’’ means— 13 (A) the Committee on Homeland Security 14 of the House of Representatives; and 15 (B) the Committee on Commerce, Science, 16 and Transportation and the Committee on 17 Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 18 of the Senate. 19 (2) EXPRESS CARGO.—The term ‘‘express 20 cargo’’ has the meaning given the term ‘‘cargo’’ in 21 section 128.1 of title 19, Code of Federal Regula- 22 tions (or any corresponding similar regulation or rul- 23 ing). 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:52 Aug 03, 2019 Jkt 034408 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4102.IH H4102 Pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 4102 IH (3) HIGH-RISK COUNTRY.—The term ‘‘high-risk 1 country’’ means a country identified by the Sec- 2 retary, in consultation with the officials specified in 3 section 5(b), as a country that poses a high risk of 4 being the source of international mail and express 5 cargo inbound into the United States containing il- 6 licit fentanyl and other illicit synthetic opioids. 7 (4) ILLICIT FENTANYL.—The term ‘‘illicit 8 fentanyl’’ means illicitly manufactured fentanyl and 9 illicit versions of chemically similar compounds 10 known as fentanyl analogues. 11 (5) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 12 the Secretary of Homeland Security. 13 SEC. 5. DEVELOPMENT OF TECHNOLOGY TO DETECT IL- 14 LICIT FENTANYL AND OTHER ILLICIT SYN- 15 THETIC OPIOIDS IN INTERNATIONAL MAIL 16 AND EXPRESS CARGO. 17 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 2 years after the 18 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary, in coordi- 19 nation with the officials specified in subsection (b), shall 20 carry out and complete a program of research and develop- 21 ment of technology that, when fully deployed, will auto- 22 mate the detection of illicit fentanyl and other illicit syn- 23 thetic opioids in 100 percent of international mail and ex- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:52 Aug 03, 2019 Jkt 034408 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4102.IH H4102 Pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 4102 IH press cargo inbound into the United States from high-risk 1 countries. 2 (b) OFFICIALS SPECIFIED.—The officials specified in 3 this subsection are the following: 4 (1) The Commissioner of U.S. Customs and 5 Border Protection. 6 (2) The Chief Postal Inspector for the United 7 States Postal Inspection Service. 8 (3) The Director of the Office of National Drug 9 Control Policy. 10 (4) The Administrator of the Drug Enforce- 11 ment Administration. 12 (5) The heads of such other government agen- 13 cies and private sector entities as the Secretary con- 14 siders appropriate. 15 (c) PROGRAM ELEMENTS.—To the extent the Sec- 16 retary considers appropriate, the program required by 17 subsection (a) may incorporate by reference, and rely on, 18 any and all aspects of the Opioid Detection Challenge con- 19 ducted by the Science and Technology Directorate of the 20 Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Customs and 21 Border Protection, the United States Postal Inspection 22 Service, and the Office of National Drug Control Policy, 23 including its findings and results. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:52 Aug 03, 2019 Jkt 034408 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4102.IH H4102 Pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 4102 IH SEC. 6. 100 PERCENT SCREENING OF ILLICIT FENTANYL 1 AND OTHER ILLICIT SYNTHETIC OPIOIDS IN 2 INBOUND INTERNATIONAL MAIL AND EX- 3 PRESS CARGO FROM HIGH-RISK COUNTRIES. 4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 5 years after the 5 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall im- 6 plement an automated system to screen 100 percent of 7 international mail and express cargo inbound into the 8 United States from high-risk countries to detect, and pre- 9 vent the importation into the United States of, illicit 10 fentanyl and other illicit synthetic opioids. 11 (b) REQUIREMENTS.—In developing the system re- 12 quired by subsection (a), the Secretary shall— 13 (1) develop an automated, nonintrusive method 14 of detecting illicit fentanyl and other illicit synthetic 15 opioids in international mail and express cargo in- 16 bound into the United States that does not unrea- 17 sonably delay delivery of such mail and cargo; 18 (2) approve the use of appropriate equipment, 19 technology, procedures, personnel, and methods for 20 conducting screening of such mail and cargo under 21 the system; and 22 (3) provide for the phased implementation of 23 the system so that— 24 (A) not later than 18 months after the 25 completion of the research and development 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:52 Aug 03, 2019 Jkt 034408 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4102.IH H4102 Pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 4102 IH program required by section 5(a), 50 percent of 1 such mail and cargo shall be screened under the 2 system; and 3 (B) not later than 3 years after the com- 4 pletion of that program, 100 percent of such 5 mail and cargo shall be screened under the sys- 6 tem. 7 (c) REGULATIONS.— 8 (1) INTERIM FINAL RULE.—The Secretary may 9 issue an interim final rule as a temporary regulation 10 to implement this section without regard to the pro- 11 visions of chapter 5 of title 5, United States Code. 12 (2) FINAL RULE.— 13 (A) IN GENERAL.—If the Secretary issues 14 an interim final rule under paragraph (1), the 15 Secretary shall issue, not later than one year 16 after the effective date of the interim final rule, 17 a final rule as a permanent regulation to imple- 18 ment this section in accordance with the provi- 19 sions of chapter 5 of title 5, United States 20 Code. 21 (B) FAILURE TO ACT.—If the Secretary 22 does not issue a final rule in accordance with 23 subparagraph (A) on or before the last day of 24 the one-year period referred to in that subpara- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:52 Aug 03, 2019 Jkt 034408 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4102.IH H4102 Pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 4102 IH graph, the Secretary shall, not later than 10 1 days after such last day and every 30 days 2 thereafter until the Secretary issues such a 3 final rule, submit to the appropriate congres- 4 sional committees a report— 5 (i) explaining why the final rule was 6 not timely issued; and 7 (ii) providing an estimate of the ear- 8 liest date on which the Secretary will be 9 able to issue the final rule. 10 (C) SUPERCEDING OF INTERIM FINAL 11 RULE.—The final rule issued in accordance 12 with this paragraph shall supersede the interim 13 final rule issued under paragraph (1). 14 (d) REPORT REQUIRED.—Not later than one year 15 after the date on which the system required by subsection 16 (a) is fully implemented, the Secretary shall submit to the 17 appropriate congressional committees a report that de- 18 scribes the system. 19 SEC. 7. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 20 There are authorized to be appropriated such sums 21 as may be necessary to carry out this Act. 22 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:52 Aug 03, 2019 Jkt 034408 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H4102.IH H4102 Pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS