[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 367 Introduced in House (IH)]







110th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 367

   To require the Attorney General to develop a national strategy to 
 eliminate the illegal operations of the top three international drug 
 gangs that present the greatest threat to law and order in the United 
                                States.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            January 10, 2007

Mr. Reichert (for himself and Mr. Kirk) introduced the following bill; 
          which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To require the Attorney General to develop a national strategy to 
 eliminate the illegal operations of the top three international drug 
 gangs that present the greatest threat to law and order in the United 
                                States.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Gang Elimination Act of 2007''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds the following:
            (1) The number of documented members of gangs located in 
        the United States has grown to over 800,000. This number is 
        larger than all but six armies in the world.
            (2) Gangs run by international drug cartels represent a 
        clear and present danger to the national security of the United 
        States.
            (3) Drug gangs have become one of the principle means of 
        importing and distributing illegal narcotics in the United 
        States.
            (4) Drug gangs are now operating within suburban 
        communities. Some police departments and some sheriffs' offices 
        located in such communities are less prepared than police 
        departments and sheriffs' offices located in urban communities 
        to reduce this threat.
            (5) The average recruit into a gang is in the seventh 
        grade.
            (6) Gangs run by international drug cartels now number in 
        the hundreds of thousands, across city, State, and national 
        boundaries.
            (7) Current efforts by municipal and State law enforcement 
        communities have not eliminated this threat to the Nation, law 
        and order, or to children.
            (8) Only the Federal Government can muster the strategy, 
        resources, and intelligence to remove this growing danger to 
        the people in the United States.

SEC. 3. NATIONAL STRATEGY TO ELIMINATE THE ILLEGAL OPERATIONS OF THE 
              THREE INTERNATIONAL DRUG GANGS THAT PRESENT THE BIGGEST 
              THREAT IN THE UNITED STATES.

    (a) In General.--Not later than one year after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the Attorney General, in consultation with the 
Secretary of Homeland Security, shall submit to Congress a report, in 
both classified and unclassified form, setting forth a national 
strategy to eliminate within the period that is four years after the 
date of such submission the illegal operations of each National Threat 
Drug Gang designated under subsection (b). In addition to such 
strategy, the report shall include the following information:
            (1) A list identifying each of such National Threat Drug 
        Gangs.
            (2) A description of the composition, operations, 
        strengths, and weaknesses of each of such National Threat Drug 
        Gangs.
    (b) Designation of National Threat Drug Gangs.--In developing the 
national strategy under subsection (a), the Attorney General shall 
identify the top three international drug gangs that present the 
greatest threat to law and order in the United States and shall 
designate each such gang as a ``National Threat Drug Gang''. For 
purposes of identifying such gangs, the Attorney General shall 
consider--
            (1) the extent to which, for the purpose of committing a 
        drug-related offense, the gang conducts activities with any 
        international terrorist organization or state designated by the 
        Secretary of State as a state sponsor of terrorism, as compared 
        to the extent to which other international drug gangs conduct 
        such activities for such purpose;
            (2) the volume of controlled substances (as defined in 
        section 102 of the Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 802)) 
        that such gang imports to or distributes within the United 
        States, as compared to the volume of controlled substances that 
        other international drug gangs import to or distribute within 
        the United States; and
            (3) the extent to which the gang is a threat to children 
        and schools within the United States, as compared to the extent 
        to which other international drug gangs are such a threat.
    (c) Definitions.--For purposes of this Act:
            (1) Drug gang.--The term ``drug gang'' means an ongoing 
        group, club, organization, or association of 50 or more 
        individuals--
                    (A) that has as one of its primary purposes the 
                commission of one or more drug-related offenses;
                    (B) the members of which engage, or have engaged 
                within the past five years, in a continuing series of 
                drug-related offenses; and
                    (C) the activities of which--
                            (i) include crimes of violence, as defined 
                        in section 16 of title 18, United States Code 
                        (including rape); and
                            (ii) affect interstate or foreign commerce.
            (2) Drug-related offense.--The term ``drug-related 
        offense'' means--
                    (A) a Federal felony involving a controlled 
                substance (as defined in section 102 of the Controlled 
                Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 802)) for which the maximum 
                penalty is not less than 5 years, including a crime 
                involving the manufacturing, importing, distributing, 
                dispensing, or possessing with the intent to 
                manufacture, distribute, or dispense such a controlled 
                substance; and
                    (B) a conspiracy to commit an offense described in 
                subparagraph (A).
            (3) International drug gang.--The term ``international drug 
        gang'' means a drug gang that--
                    (A) conducts activities that affect foreign 
                commerce; or
                    (B) conspires with another drug gang that conducts 
                activities that affect foreign commerce.
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