[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 78 (Thursday, May 27, 1999)]
[Senate]
[Page S6324]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. COVERDELL (for himself, Mrs. Feinstein, Mr. DeWine, Mr. 
        Helms, Mr. Lott, Mr. Torricelli, Mr. Craig, Mr. Graham, and Mr. 
        Reid):
  S. 1171. A bill to block assets of narcotics traffickers who pose an 
unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security, foreign 
policy, and economy of the United States; to the Committee on Banking, 
Housing, and Urban Affairs.


          legislation to block assets of narcotics traffickers

 Mr. COVERDELL. Mr. President, I am pleased to join my 
colleague from California, Senator Feinstein, in introducing 
legislation that will intensify our fight against the terrible scourge 
of drugs. A version of this bill was originally introduced on March 2. 
Since then, we have conferred with various agencies, including the 
Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control, the 
Department of Justice, and the Office of National Drug Control Policy. 
All are supportive of this concept. The current bill includes some of 
their comments and suggestions.
  Simply put, Mr. President, this legislation decertifies the drug 
kingpins by preventing them, and any of their associates or associated 
campanies, from conducting business with the United States. The bill 
codifies and expands a 1995 Executive Order created under the 
International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), which targeted 
Colombia drug traffickers. The bill expands the existing Executive 
Order to include other foreign drug traffickers considered a threat to 
our national security. The bill freezes the assets of the identified 
drug traffickers and their associates and prohibits these individuals 
and organizations from conducting any financial or commercial dealings 
with the United States.
  In the case of the Cali cartel in Colombia, this tool was remarkably 
effective in weakening the drug kingpins. The United States targeted 
over 150 companies and nearly 300 individuals involved in the ownership 
and management of the Colombian drug cartels' non-narcotics business 
empire, everything from drugstores to poultry farms. Once labeled as 
drug-linked businesses, these companies found themselves financially 
isolated. Banks and legitimate companies chose not to do business with 
the blacklisted firms, cutting off key revenue flows to the cartels.
  The goal is to isolate the leaders of the drug cartels and prevent 
them from doing business with the United States. Taking legitimate U.S. 
dollars out of drug dealers' pockets is a vital step in destroying 
their ability to traffick narcotics across our borders. This is a bold 
but necessary new tool to wage war against illegal drugs and to curb 
the increasing power of the drug cartels.
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