To require the Secretary of Defense to develop a strategy to counter fentanyl trafficking in the United States, and for other purposes.

I 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3359 To require the Secretary of Defense to develop a strategy to counter fentanyl trafficking in the United States, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 16, 2023 Mrs. BICE (for herself, Mrs. KIGGANS of Virginia, and Mr. CARBAJAL) intro- duced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Armed Services, and in addition to the Committees on the Judiciary, and For- eign Affairs, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the juris- diction of the committee concerned A BILL To require the Secretary of Defense to develop a strategy to counter fentanyl trafficking in the United States, 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 section may be cited as the ‘‘Disrupt Fentanyl 4 Trafficking Act of 2023’’. 5 SEC. 2. DISRUPT FENTANYL TRAFFICKING ACT OF 2023. 6 (a) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con- 7 gress that— 8 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:13 May 30, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3359.IH H3359 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 3359 IH (1) fentanyl trafficking across the borders of 1 the United States, and the consequences of that 2 trafficking, constitute an unprecedented, nontradi- 3 tional, and long-term threat to the national security 4 of the United States; 5 (2) transnational criminal organizations have 6 established effective control over significant areas 7 within Mexico, which has enabled the development of 8 fentanyl production and trafficking infrastructure; 9 (3) combating fentanyl trafficking demands— 10 (A) improved interagency command, con- 11 trol, communications, and intelligence sharing 12 to enhance the effectiveness of the interdiction 13 of fentanyl at the borders of the United States; 14 and 15 (B) whole-of-government solutions com- 16 prised of an integrated and synchronized inter- 17 agency organizational construct committed to 18 dismantling the process of trafficking fentanyl 19 from chemical precursor to production to deliv- 20 ery in the United States and enabling partner 21 nations to do the same; 22 (4) it is within the national security interest of 23 the United States for Federal, State, and local law 24 enforcement agencies, the Department of Defense, 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:13 May 30, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3359.IH H3359 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 3359 IH the Department of State, other counter-drug agen- 1 cies, and stakeholders to effectively communicate 2 and that the failure of effective communication af- 3 fects the prevention, interdiction, and prosecution of 4 fentanyl trafficking and distribution into and within 5 the United States; and 6 (5) the United States must partner with Mexico 7 and Canada to combat fentanyl trafficking through 8 institution building, the dismantling of cartels, and 9 seizures of fentanyl in Mexico, Canada, and intra- 10 state transit zones. 11 (b) DEVELOPMENT OF STRATEGY TO COUNTER 12 FENTANYL TRAFFICKING AND REPORT.— 13 (1) STRATEGY.— 14 (A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 120 15 days after the date of the enactment of this 16 Act, the Secretary of Defense, in coordination 17 with other Federal agencies as the Secretary 18 considers appropriate, shall develop and submit 19 to the appropriate congressional committees a 20 strategy to use existing authorities, including 21 the authorities under section 124 of title 10, 22 United States Code, as appropriate, to target, 23 disrupt, or degrade threats to the national secu- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:13 May 30, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3359.IH H3359 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 3359 IH rity of the United States caused or exacerbated 1 by fentanyl trafficking. 2 (B) CONTENTS.—The strategy required by 3 subparagraph (A) shall outline how the Sec- 4 retary of Defense will— 5 (i) leverage existing authorities re- 6 garding counterdrug and counter- 7 transnational organized crime activities 8 with a counter-fentanyl nexus to detect 9 and monitor activities related to fentanyl 10 trafficking; 11 (ii) support operations to counter 12 fentanyl trafficking carried out by other 13 Federal agencies, State, Tribal, and local 14 law enforcement agencies, or foreign secu- 15 rity forces; 16 (iii) coordinate efforts of the Depart- 17 ment of Defense for the detection and 18 monitoring of aerial, maritime, and surface 19 traffic suspected of carrying fentanyl 20 bound for the United States, including ef- 21 forts to unify the use of technology, sur- 22 veillance, and related resources across air, 23 land, and maritime domains to counter 24 fentanyl trafficking, including with respect 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:13 May 30, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3359.IH H3359 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 3359 IH to data collection, data processing, and in- 1 tegrating sensors across such domains; 2 (iv) provide military-unique capabili- 3 ties to support activities by the United 4 States Government and foreign security 5 forces to detect and monitor the trafficking 6 of fentanyl and precursor chemicals used 7 in fentanyl production, consistent with sec- 8 tion 284(b)(10) of title 10, United States 9 Code; 10 (v) leverage existing counterdrug and 11 counter-transnational organized crime pro- 12 grams of the Department to counter 13 fentanyl trafficking; 14 (vi) assess existing training programs 15 of the Department and provide training for 16 Federal, State, Tribal, and local law en- 17 forcement agencies conducted by special 18 operations forces to counter fentanyl traf- 19 ficking, consistent with section 284(b) of 20 title 10, United States Code; 21 (vii) engage with foreign security 22 forces to ensure the counterdrug and 23 counter-transnational organized crime pro- 24 grams of the Department— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:13 May 30, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3359.IH H3359 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 3359 IH (I) support efforts to counter 1 fentanyl trafficking; and 2 (II) build capacity to interdict 3 fentanyl in foreign countries, includ- 4 ing programs to train security forces 5 in partner countries to counter 6 fentanyl trafficking, including coun- 7 tering illicit flows of fentanyl precur- 8 sors, consistent with sections 284(c) 9 and 333 of title 10, United States 10 Code; 11 (viii) use the North American Defense 12 Ministerial and the bilateral defense work- 13 ing groups and bilateral military coopera- 14 tion round tables with Canada and Mexico 15 to increase domain awareness to detect and 16 monitor fentanyl trafficking; and 17 (ix) evaluate existing policies, proce- 18 dures, processes, and resources that affect 19 the ability of the Department to counter 20 fentanyl trafficking consistent with existing 21 counterdrug and counter-transnational or- 22 ganized crime authorities. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:13 May 30, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3359.IH H3359 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 3359 IH (C) FORM.—The strategy required by sub- 1 paragraph (A) shall be submitted in unclassi- 2 fied form, but may include a classified annex. 3 (D) BRIEFING.—Not later than 45 days 4 after the submission of the strategy required by 5 subparagraph (A), the Secretary shall provide 6 to the appropriate congressional committees a 7 briefing on the strategy and plans for its imple- 8 mentation. 9 (2) REPORT ON LAW ENFORCEMENT REIM- 10 BURSEMENT.—The Secretary of Defense shall sub- 11 mit to the appropriate congressional committees a 12 report on— 13 (A) any goods or services provided under 14 section 1535 of title 31, United States Code 15 (commonly known as the ‘‘Economy Act’’), dur- 16 ing the period beginning on January 1, 2010, 17 and ending on the date on which the report is 18 submitted, by the Department of Defense to 19 Federal civilian law enforcement agencies for 20 counterdrug and counter-transnational orga- 21 nized crime operations on the southern border 22 of the United States; and 23 (B) any payments made for such goods or 24 services under such section during such period. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:13 May 30, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3359.IH H3359 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 3359 IH (c) COOPERATION WITH MEXICO.— 1 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Defense 2 shall seek to enhance cooperation with defense offi- 3 cials of the Government of Mexico to target, disrupt, 4 and degrade transnational criminal organizations 5 within Mexico that traffic fentanyl. 6 (2) REPORT ON ENHANCED SECURITY CO- 7 OPERATION.— 8 (A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 9 days after the date of the enactment of this 10 Act, the Secretary of Defense shall submit to 11 the appropriate congressional committees a re- 12 port on efforts to enhance cooperation with de- 13 fense officials of the Government of Mexico 14 specified in paragraph (1). 15 (B) CONTENTS.—The report required by 16 subparagraph (A) shall include— 17 (i) an assessment of the impact of the 18 efforts to enhance cooperation described in 19 paragraph (1) on targeting, disrupting, 20 and degrading fentanyl trafficking; 21 (ii) a description of limitations on 22 such efforts, including limitations imposed 23 by the Government of Mexico; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:13 May 30, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3359.IH H3359 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 3359 IH (iii) recommendations by the Sec- 1 retary on actions to further improve co- 2 operation with defense officials of the Gov- 3 ernment of Mexico; 4 (iv) recommendations by the Secretary 5 on actions of the Department of Defense 6 to further improve the capabilities of the 7 Government of Mexico to target, disrupt, 8 and degrade fentanyl trafficking; and 9 (v) any other matter the Secretary 10 considers relevant. 11 (C) FORM.—The report required by sub- 12 paragraph (A) may be submitted in unclassified 13 form but shall include a classified annex. 14 (d) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 15 (1) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT- 16 TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com- 17 mittees’’ means— 18 (A) the Committee on Armed Services of 19 the Senate; and 20 (B) the Committee on Armed Services of 21 the House of Representatives. 22 (2) FENTANYL.—The term ‘‘fentanyl’’ means 23 fentanyl and any fentanyl-related substance. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:13 May 30, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3359.IH H3359 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 3359 IH (3) FENTANYL-RELATED SUBSTANCE.—The 1 term ‘‘fentanyl-related substance’’— 2 (A) means any substance that is struc- 3 turally related to fentanyl by 1 or more modi- 4 fications of— 5 (i) replacement of the phenyl portion 6 of the phenethyl group by any monocycle, 7 whether or not further substituted in or on 8 the monocycle; 9 (ii) substitution in or on the phenethyl 10 group with alkyl, alkenyl, alkoxyl, 11 hydroxyl, halo, haloalkyl, amino, or nitro 12 groups; 13 (iii) substitution in or on the piper- 14 idine ring with alkyl, alkenyl, alkoxyl, 15 ester, ether, hydroxyl, halo, haloalkyl, 16 amino, or nitro groups; 17 (iv) replacement of the aniline ring 18 with any aromatic monocycle whether or 19 not further substituted in or on the aro- 20 matic monocycle; and 21 (v) replacement of the N-propionyl 22 group with another acyl group; and 23 (B) does not include a substance described 24 in subparagraph (A) that is— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:13 May 30, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3359.IH H3359 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 3359 IH (i) controlled by action of the Attor- 1 ney General pursuant to section 201 of the 2 Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 3 811); 4 (ii) expressly listed in Schedule I of 5 section 202(c) of that Act (21 U.S.C. 812) 6 or another schedule by a statutory provi- 7 sion; or 8 (iii) removed from Schedule I, or re- 9 scheduled to another schedule, pursuant to 10 section 201(k) of that Act (21 U.S.C. 11 811(k)). 12 (4) ILLEGAL MEANS.—The term ‘‘illegal 13 means’’ includes the trafficking of money, human 14 trafficking, illicit financial flows, illegal trade in nat- 15 ural resources and wildlife, trade in illegal drugs and 16 weapons, and other forms of illegal means deter- 17 mined by the Secretary of Defense. 18 (5) SECURITY COOPERATION PROGRAM.—The 19 term ‘‘security cooperation program’’ has the mean- 20 ing given that term in section 301 of title 10, United 21 States Code. 22 (6) TRANSNATIONAL CRIMINAL ORGANIZA- 23 TION.— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:13 May 30, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3359.IH H3359 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 12 •HR 3359 IH (A) IN GENERAL.—The term 1 ‘‘transnational criminal organization’’ means a 2 group, network, and associated individuals who 3 operate transnationally for the purpose of ob- 4 taining power, influence, or monetary or com- 5 mercial gain, wholly or in part by illegal means, 6 while advancing their activities through a pat- 7 tern of crime, corruption, or violence and pro- 8 tecting their illegal activities through a 9 transnational organizational structure and the 10 exploitation of public corruption or 11 transnational logistics, financial, or communica- 12 tion mechanisms. 13 (B) ADDITIONAL ORGANIZATIONS.—The 14 term ‘‘transnational criminal organization’’ in- 15 cludes any transnational criminal organization 16 identified in the most recent Drug Threat As- 17 sessment of the Drug Enforcement Agency. 18 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:13 May 30, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H3359.IH H3359 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS