Project Precursor Act

I 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3205 To disrupt the international fentanyl supply chain, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 11, 2023 Mr. MCCAUL introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com- mittee on Foreign Affairs, and in addition to the Committees on the Ju- diciary, Oversight and Accountability, and Financial Services, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consider- ation of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To disrupt the international fentanyl supply chain, 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 AND TABLE OF CONTENTS. 3 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 4 ‘‘Project Precursor Act’’. 5 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 6 this Act is as follows: 7 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:39 May 23, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3205.IH H3205 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 2 •HR 3205 IH Sec. 1. Short title and table of contents. TITLE I—DEPARTMENT OF STATE BUREAU OF INTERNATIONAL NARCOTICS AND LAW ENFORCEMENT AFFAIRS, BUREAU OF GLOBAL PUBLIC AFFAIRS, AND BUREAU OF INTELLIGENCE AND RESEARCH Sec. 101. Authorizations to strengthen Mexican law enforcement capacity to disrupt fentanyl supply chains. Sec. 102. Public diplomacy as a weapon to delegitimize cartels and disrupt criminal recruitment. Sec. 103. Chinese operations in Mexico. Sec. 104. Relevant congressional committees defined. TITLE II—CHEMICAL WEAPONS CONVENTION Sec. 201. Actions to seek to amend the chemical weapons convention to include covered fentanyl substances on schedule 1, 2, or 3 of the annex on chemicals to the chemical weapons convention. TITLE III—SANCTIONS AND OTHER PENALTIES Subtitle A—Modification and Extension of Fentanyl Sanctions Act Sec. 301. Determination and report on additional foreign opioid traffickers. Sec. 302. Termination. Subtitle B—Sanctions With Respect to Transnational Criminal Organizations Sec. 311. Imposition of sanctions. Sec. 312. Sanctions described. Sec. 313. Penalties; waivers; exceptions. Sec. 314. Report required. Subtitle C—Definitions Sec. 321. Definitions. VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:39 May 23, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6211 E:\BILLS\H3205.IH H3205 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 3 •HR 3205 IH TITLE I—DEPARTMENT OF 1 STATE BUREAU OF INTER- 2 NATIONAL NARCOTICS AND 3 LAW ENFORCEMENT AFFAIRS, 4 BUREAU OF GLOBAL PUBLIC 5 AFFAIRS, AND BUREAU OF IN- 6 TELLIGENCE AND RESEARCH 7 SEC. 101. AUTHORIZATIONS TO STRENGTHEN MEXICAN 8 LAW ENFORCEMENT CAPACITY TO DISRUPT 9 FENTANYL SUPPLY CHAINS. 10 (a) AUTHORIZATION OF PROGRAM.—Notwith- 11 standing section 660 of the Foreign Affairs Assistance Act 12 of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2420), the Secretary of State, acting 13 through the Assistant Secretary of the Bureau of Inter- 14 national Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs, is au- 15 thorized to carry out a program to build the capacity of 16 Mexican law enforcement agencies to prevent the transit, 17 trafficking, and distribution of fentanyl and its precursor 18 chemicals and analogues into the United States from Mex- 19 ico. 20 (b) PROGRAM ELEMENTS.—The program authorized 21 by subsection (a) shall include projects and activities, at 22 a minimum, that address— 23 (1) canine unit support for drug detection; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:39 May 23, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3205.IH H3205 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 4 •HR 3205 IH (2) disrupting fentanyl trafficking in express 1 consignment, as well as in postal, shipping, and 2 transportation operations conducted by the Govern- 3 ment and private business sectors; 4 (3) forensic chemist information exchanges, 5 equipment, and drug profiling; 6 (4) efforts meant to increase Mexican Federal 7 and state laboratory forensic accreditation to iden- 8 tify fentanyl and other drugs; 9 (5) efforts to increase the number of handheld 10 synthetic drug detection devices; 11 (6) the provision of equipment and training re- 12 lated to identifying and dismantling clandestine lab- 13 oratories that produce synthetic drugs; 14 (7) efforts proven to reduce diversion of pre- 15 cursor chemicals from licit to illicit purposes; 16 (8) precursor chemical information sharing be- 17 tween governments and among various agencies; 18 (9) maritime interdiction of synthetic drugs; 19 (10) cargo container control and inspection; and 20 (11) chemical industry mapping. 21 (c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 22 authorized to be appropriated $64,000,000 to carry out 23 the programs described in subsection (a). 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:39 May 23, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3205.IH H3205 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 5 •HR 3205 IH (d) PRIORITIZATION OF MEXICO IN EFFORTS TO 1 COMBAT INTERNATIONAL FENTANYL TRAFFICKING.— 2 The Secretary of State, acting through the Assistant Sec- 3 retary of the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law 4 Enforcement Affairs, shall prioritize Mexico in all efforts 5 of the Department of State to combat international traf- 6 ficking of fentanyl and other synthetic drugs by carrying 7 out programs and activities in Mexico and throughout the 8 greater Latin American region, in consultation with the 9 Government of Mexico and other relevant governments, 10 with respect to the following: 11 (1) Providing technical assistance and equip- 12 ment, as appropriate, to strengthen the capacity of 13 Mexican law enforcement agencies with respect to 14 combating the trafficking of fentanyl and other syn- 15 thetic drugs. 16 (2) Carrying out exchange programs for govern- 17 mental and nongovernmental personnel, such as pro- 18 grams conducted at the International Law Enforce- 19 ment Academy in El Salvador and at other locations 20 in the United States and Mexico, to provide edu- 21 cational and professional development on disrupting 22 fentanyl supply chains, interdicting fentanyl and 23 precursor chemicals used to produce fentanyl, and 24 other synthetic drugs at seaports and on land and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:39 May 23, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3205.IH H3205 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 6 •HR 3205 IH permanently dismantling transnational drug traf- 1 ficking organization operations. 2 (e) REPORT ON LAW ENFORCEMENT COOPERATION 3 AND OBSTRUCTION IN MEXICO.—Not later than 1 year 4 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Assistant 5 Secretary of the Bureau of International Narcotics and 6 Law Enforcement Affairs shall submit to the relevant con- 7 gressional committees an unclassified report, that may in- 8 clude a classified annex, detailing— 9 (1) efforts taken by the various law enforce- 10 ment agencies in Mexico to disrupt the flow of 11 fentanyl and its precursor chemicals; and 12 (2) the extent to which any part of the Govern- 13 ment of Mexico has refused to work with the United 14 States, or otherwise obstructed, paused, or unneces- 15 sarily delayed bilateral security cooperation with re- 16 spect to disrupting the flow of fentanyl and its pre- 17 cursor chemicals. 18 (f) UNITED STATES DEATH TOLL AS CHIEF MONI- 19 TORING AND EVALUATION METRIC.— 20 (1) METRICS TO EVALUATE EFFORTS.—The Of- 21 fice of Knowledge Management of the Bureau of 22 International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Af- 23 fairs shall use monthly and yearly statistics indi- 24 cating the number of United States citizens who die 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:39 May 23, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3205.IH H3205 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 7 •HR 3205 IH from the consumption or ingestion of fentanyl and 1 other illicit narcotics— 2 (A) as the primary monitoring and evalua- 3 tion metric of the efforts led by such bureau in 4 Mexico; and 5 (B) to gauge whether bilateral efforts to 6 disrupt synthetic drug production and precursor 7 chemical transit throughout Mexico are achiev- 8 ing measurable desired impacts, with a rising 9 number of United States deaths indicating a 10 failure to achieve such impacts. 11 (2) IMPROPER USE OF DATA.—The Bureau of 12 International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Af- 13 fairs, in its monitoring and evaluation practices, may 14 not use data related to drug seizures or clandestine 15 laboratory raids in Mexico as a substitute for the 16 data described in paragraph (1). 17 (3) REPORT ON PROGRESS.—Not later than 18 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, 19 and every 180 days thereafter, the Secretary of 20 State, acting through the Assistant Secretary of the 21 Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforce- 22 ment Affairs, shall submit a report to the relevant 23 congressional committees indicating whether, based 24 on the statistics described in paragraph (1), its Mex- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:39 May 23, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3205.IH H3205 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 8 •HR 3205 IH ico programs (including projects and activities under 1 the program authorized by subsection (a)) are 2 achieving desired outcomes, including a ranking of 3 all such programs from most effective to least effec- 4 tive. 5 SEC. 102. PUBLIC DIPLOMACY AS A WEAPON TO 6 DELEGITIMIZE CARTELS AND DISRUPT 7 CRIMINAL RECRUITMENT. 8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the 9 date of the enactment of this Act, the Assistant Secretary 10 of the Bureau of Global Public Affairs, in consultation 11 with the United States Ambassador to Mexico and other 12 diplomatic and consular posts in Mexico, as well as with 13 the United States entertainment and media industries and 14 private and government actors in Mexico, shall formulate 15 and deploy a public relations campaign, the goal of which 16 is to delegitimize and humiliate, in the Mexican and the 17 United States social consciousness, Mexican transnational 18 criminal organizations involved in illicit fentanyl traf- 19 ficking, as well as to permanently disrupt and cripple such 20 organizations’ ability to recruit new members. 21 (b) BRIEFING.—Not later than 90 days after the date 22 of the enactment of this Act, the Bureau of Global Public 23 Affairs shall brief the relevant congressional committees 24 on the implementation of this provision. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:39 May 23, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3205.IH H3205 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 9 •HR 3205 IH (c) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the date 1 of the enactment of this Act, the Bureau of Global Public 2 Affairs shall submit to the relevant congressional commit- 3 tees a report detailing the implementation of subsection 4 (a). 5 SEC. 103. CHINESE OPERATIONS IN MEXICO. 6 Not later than 180 days after the date of the enact- 7 ment of this Act, the Assistant Secretary of the Bureau 8 of Intelligence and Research shall submit to the relevant 9 congressional committees a classified report describing the 10 operations and geographic footprint of all Chinese state- 11 and non-state actors inside Mexico that are involved in 12 the illegal importation, production, transport, or traf- 13 ficking of fentanyl or its precursor chemicals into or 14 through Mexico. 15 SEC. 104. RELEVANT CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEES DE- 16 FINED. 17 In this title, the term ‘‘relevant congressional com- 18 mittees’’ means the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the 19 House of Representatives and the Committee on Foreign 20 Relations of the Senate. 21 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:39 May 23, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3205.IH H3205 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 10 •HR 3205 IH TITLE II—CHEMICAL WEAPONS 1 CONVENTION 2 SEC. 201. ACTIONS TO SEEK TO AMEND THE CHEMICAL 3 WEAPONS CONVENTION TO INCLUDE COV- 4 ERED FENTANYL SUBSTANCES ON SCHEDULE 5 1, 2, OR 3 OF THE ANNEX ON CHEMICALS TO 6 THE CHEMICAL WEAPONS CONVENTION. 7 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of State, in con- 8 sultation with the Secretary of Health and Human Serv- 9 ices and the Attorney General, shall use the voice, vote, 10 and influence of the United States at the Conference of 11 the States Parties to the Chemical Weapons Convention 12 to seek to amend the Chemical Weapons Convention to 13 include each covered fentanyl substance on schedule 1, 2, 14 or 3 of the Annex on Chemicals to the Chemical Weapons 15 Convention. 16 (b) REPORT.—Not later than 180 days after the date 17 of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State shall 18 submit to Congress a report on the implementation of this 19 section. 20 (c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 21 (1) the term ‘‘Chemical Weapons Convention’’ 22 means the Convention on the Prohibition of the De- 23 velopment, Production, Stockpiling and use of 24 Chemical Weapons and on their Destruction, done at 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:39 May 23, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3205.IH H3205 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 11 •HR 3205 IH Paris, January 13, 1993 (commonly known as the 1 ‘‘Chemical Weapons Convention’’); and 2 (2) the term ‘‘covered fentanyl substance’’ 3 means— 4 (A) fentanyl, including its isomers, esters, 5 ethers, salts, and salts of isomers, esters, and 6 ethers, whenever the existence of such isomers, 7 esters, ethers, and salts is possible within the 8 specific chemical designation (as such terms are 9 used in the Controlled Substances Act (21 10 U.S.C. 801 et seq.)); 11 (B) any controlled substance analogue of 12 fentanyl (as the term ‘‘controlled substance 13 analogue’’ is defined in section 102(32) of the 14 Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 802(32)); 15 and 16 (C) any immediate precursor (as defined in 17 section 102(23) of the Controlled Substances 18 Act (21 U.S.C. 802(23)) of fentanyl. 19 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:39 May 23, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3205.IH H3205 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 12 •HR 3205 IH TITLE III—SANCTIONS AND 1 OTHER PENALTIES 2 Subtitle A—Modification and Ex- 3 tension of Fentanyl Sanctions 4 Act 5 SEC. 301. DETERMINATION AND REPORT ON ADDITIONAL 6 FOREIGN OPIOID TRAFFICKERS. 7 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Fentanyl Sanctions Act (title 8 LXXII of division F of Public Law 116–92; 21 U.S.C. 9 2301 et seq.) is amended by adding after section 7217 10 the following: 11 ‘‘SEC. 7218. DETERMINATION AND REPORT ON ADDITIONAL 12 FOREIGN OPIOID TRAFFICKERS. 13 ‘‘(a) DETERMINATION.— 14 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The President shall make a 15 determination as to whether any of the foreign per- 16 sons described in paragraph (2)— 17 ‘‘(A) is a foreign op [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]