U.S. Postal Service Opioid and Illicit Drug Strategy Act of 2019

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 2974 To require the Postmaster General to establish a comprehensive organizational strategy to combat the use of the mail in the distribution of illicit drugs. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES DECEMBER 4, 2019 Mr. PETERS (for himself and Mr. ROMNEY) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Secu- rity and Governmental Affairs A BILL To require the Postmaster General to establish a comprehen- sive organizational strategy to combat the use of the mail in the distribution of illicit drugs. 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 ‘‘U.S. Postal Service 4 Opioid and Illicit Drug Strategy Act of 2019’’. 5 SEC. 2. COMPREHENSIVE STRATEGY TO COMBAT ILLICIT 6 DRUG DISTRIBUTION. 7 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 8 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:20 Dec 10, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2974.IS S2974 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •S 2974 IS (1) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT- 1 TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com- 2 mittees’’ means— 3 (A) the Committee on Homeland Security 4 and Governmental Affairs of the Senate; 5 (B) the Committee on Oversight and Re- 6 form of the House of Representatives; and 7 (C) the Committee on Homeland Security 8 of the House of Representatives. 9 (2) COVERED RECIPIENTS.—The term ‘‘covered 10 recipients’’ means— 11 (A) the appropriate congressional commit- 12 tees; and 13 (B) the Director of the Office of National 14 Drug Control Policy. 15 (3) POSTAL SERVICE.—The term ‘‘Postal Serv- 16 ice’’ means the United States Postal Service. 17 (4) STRATEGY.—The term ‘‘Strategy’’ means 18 the strategy established by the Postmaster General 19 under subsection (b)(1). 20 (b) STRATEGY REQUIRED.— 21 (1) ESTABLISHMENT, PUBLICATION, AND SUB- 22 MISSION.— 23 (A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days 24 after the enactment of this Act, the Postmaster 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:20 Dec 10, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2974.IS S2974 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •S 2974 IS General shall establish, publish online, and sub- 1 mit to the covered recipients a comprehensive 2 organizational strategy to combat the use of the 3 mail in the distribution of illicit drugs. 4 (B) SENSITIVE AND PROPRIETARY INFOR- 5 MATION.—If the Strategy includes sensitive or 6 proprietary information, the Postmaster Gen- 7 eral— 8 (i) may exclude that information from 9 the version of the Strategy published on- 10 line; and 11 (ii) shall submit that information to 12 the covered recipients, in a classified annex 13 if necessary. 14 (2) REQUIREMENTS.—The Strategy shall— 15 (A) support the Postal Service in coordi- 16 nating, evaluating, and improving its ongoing 17 efforts to prevent use of the mail in the dis- 18 tribution of illicit drugs through domestic and 19 international channels; and 20 (B) prioritize an effective response to the 21 opioid crisis and any other public health con- 22 cern involving illicit drugs that emerges after 23 the date of enactment of this Act. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:20 Dec 10, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2974.IS S2974 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •S 2974 IS (3) PERIODIC UPDATES.—Not later than 180 1 days before the date on which the President is re- 2 quired to submit to Congress a National Drug Con- 3 trol Strategy under section 706(a)(2) of the Office 4 of National Drug Control Policy Reauthorization Act 5 of 1998 (21 U.S.C. 1705(a)(2)), the Postmaster 6 General shall update the Strategy, publish the up- 7 dated Strategy online, and submit the updated 8 Strategy to the covered recipients. 9 (c) CONGRESSIONAL BRIEFINGS.—Upon the submis- 10 sion of the Strategy to the covered recipients under sub- 11 section (b)(1), and annually thereafter, the Postal Service 12 shall provide a briefing to the appropriate congressional 13 committees on the status of initiatives implemented under 14 the Strategy. 15 (d) ELEMENTS.—The Strategy shall include the fol- 16 lowing elements: 17 (1) A description of the goals and objectives of 18 the Postal Service for combating the use of the mail 19 in the distribution of illicit drugs, including fentanyl 20 and other synthetic opioids. 21 (2) A description of the organizational structure 22 the Postal Service uses to efficiently carry out the 23 objectives described in paragraph (1). 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:20 Dec 10, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2974.IS S2974 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •S 2974 IS (3) A discussion of emerging trends regarding 1 the use of the mail in the distribution of illicit drugs, 2 including— 3 (A) trends regarding the relative mag- 4 nitudes and threats of illicit drugs distributed 5 through the mail versus illicit drugs distributed 6 through other channels, which the Postal Serv- 7 ice shall assess in consultation with the Com- 8 missioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protec- 9 tion and the Director of the Office of National 10 Drug Control Policy; 11 (B) the relative roles of domestic and 12 international mail; and 13 (C) any new drug threats the Postal Serv- 14 ice has observed. 15 (4) An inventory and assessment of the existing 16 programs, initiatives, strategies, plans, and policies 17 of the Postal Service related to combating the use of 18 the mail in the distribution of illicit drugs, which 19 shall include— 20 (A) with respect to each program, initia- 21 tive, strategy, plan, or policy— 22 (i) an evaluation of performance; 23 (ii) areas identified for improvement; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:20 Dec 10, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2974.IS S2974 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 •S 2974 IS (iii) potential barriers to improvement; 1 and 2 (iv) recommended changes to more ef- 3 fectively accomplish the goals and objec- 4 tives; 5 (B) an analysis of any constraints on re- 6 sources, including workforce and technology re- 7 sources, that hinder the ability of the Postal 8 Service to efficiently and adequately carry out 9 the objectives described in paragraph (1) and 10 address emerging trends; and 11 (C) a description of future initiatives that 12 the Postal Service is considering in response to 13 emerging trends. 14 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:20 Dec 10, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S2974.IS S2974 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS