[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 129 (Thursday, September 23, 2010)]
[House]
[Pages H6898-H6899]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              ULTRALIGHT SMUGGLING PREVENTION ACT OF 2010

  Mr. TANNER. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the 
bill (H.R. 5307) to amend the Tariff Act of 1930 to include ultralight 
aircraft under the definition of aircraft for purposes of the aviation 
smuggling provisions under that Act, as amended.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                               H.R. 5307

       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 cited as the ``Ultralight Smuggling Prevention 
     Act of 2010''.

     SEC. 2. DEFINITION OF AIRCRAFT UNDER AVIATION SMUGGLING 
                   PROVISIONS OF THE TARIFF ACT OF 1930.

       (a) In General.--Section 590 of the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 
     U.S.C. 1590) is amended--
       (1) by redesignating subsection (g) as subsection (h); and
       (2) by inserting after subsection (f) the following:
       ``(g) Definition of Aircraft.--As used in this section, the 
     term `aircraft' includes an ultralight vehicle, as defined by 
     the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration.''.
       (b) Effective Date.--The amendments made by subsection (a) 
     apply with respect to violations of any provision of section 
     590 of the Tariff Act of 1930 on or after the 30th day after 
     the date of the enactment of this Act.

     SEC. 3. PAYGO COMPLIANCE.

       The budgetary effects of this Act, for the purpose of 
     complying with the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010, shall 
     be determined by reference to the latest statement titled 
     ``Budgetary Effects of PAYGO Legislation'' for this Act, 
     submitted for printing in the Congressional Record by the 
     Chairman of the House Budget Committee, provided that such 
     statement has been submitted prior to the vote on passage.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Tennessee (Mr. Tanner) and the gentleman from Nevada (Mr. Heller) each 
will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Tennessee.


                             General Leave

  Mr. TANNER. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may 
have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Tennessee?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. TANNER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, the Ultralight Smuggling Prevention Act of 2010 is a 
bill introduced by my colleague Representative Giffords and is aimed at 
preventing smuggling through the use of ultralight vehicles, a recent 
practice threatening our border security.
  The legislation is a commonsense, good policy approach to give border 
enforcement officials the tools they need to protect to the fullest 
extent and bring to justice those who attempt to smuggle illegal 
narcotics and contraband into our country, regardless of the means. It 
makes good sense that we do this bill now. Our prosecutors should be 
armed with the ability to apply the strongest deterrents.
  Before yielding, at this moment I would like to thank Representative 
Giffords for her efforts in bringing this bill to the floor. It is, I 
think, great national security. We all know what the problems are, and 
her dedication and her commitment to this approach is something that I 
think deserves our notice and our thanks.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. HELLER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 5307, the Ultralight Smuggling 
Prevention Act. I want to thank Congresswoman Giffords for the 
opportunity to work with her on this important piece of legislation.
  Mr. Speaker, Nevadans are all too familiar with the impact of illegal 
drugs on our communities. Meth and other illicit substances are 
destroying lives and families in my State. Due to its proximity to 
southwest border States, Nevada serves as a hub for the distribution of 
Mexican drugs destined for the central and eastern United States. As a 
result, too many Nevadans are exposed to illicit drugs from Mexico, 
along with the violence and the crime that accompanies drug smuggling 
activities.
  According to the Office of National Drug Control Policy, Mexican-
produced crystal meth is the most readily available form of meth in 
Nevada. Mexican black tar heroin is the most prevalent form of heroin 
in my State, and Mexican-grown marijuana is readily available in 
Nevada.
  Because of the impact Mexican drugs are having on Nevada, I believe 
passage of the legislation we are considering today is important. While 
ultralights from Mexico don't have the range to make it into Nevada, 
all methods of smuggling across our southern borders impact the supply 
of illegal drugs throughout our Nation.
  The 2010 National Drug Threat Assessment released by the National 
Drug Intelligence Center identified ultralights as a new means drug 
cartels are using to smuggle drugs into the United States. Due to a 
loophole in current law, drug smugglers who use ultralights are subject 
to lesser penalties than they should be. The Ultralight Smuggling 
Prevention Act will provide law enforcement the tools they need to 
prosecute drug smugglers to the fullest extent of the law.
  The Ultralight Smuggling Prevention Act takes the commonsense step of 
including ultralights under the aviation smuggling provisions of the 
Tariff Act of 1930. This bill will simply establish the same penalties 
for smuggling drugs on ultralights as for smuggling on airplanes or 
automobiles.
  In closing, I would like to again recognize and thank Congresswoman 
Giffords for her leadership. I am also grateful to my colleagues on the 
House Ways and Means Committee for allowing this bipartisan legislation 
to come to the floor in this timely manner.
  I urge my colleagues to support passage of the Ultralight Smuggling 
Prevention Act.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. TANNER. Thank you, Mr. Heller.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as she may consume to the gentlewoman 
from Arizona (Ms. Giffords).
  Ms. GIFFORDS. Thank you, Chairman Tanner, for this opportunity.
  I rise today, along with Congressman Heller, to address the newest 
threat of drug smuggling into the United States on the southwest 
border.
  As drug violence wreaks havoc on our southern neighbor, the country 
of Mexico, the product of this narcoterrorism continues to fuel violent 
and ruthless acts and is now floating effortlessly across the U.S.-
Mexico border into our communities. We must do everything in our power 
to neutralize this insidious threat and stem the flow of narcotics and 
drug money that threatens our communities.
  The latest tool used by these drug traffickers are these small 
planes, these small planes that go largely undetected by our law 
enforcement community. Single-person ultralight aircraft that are 
flying low, as depicted in this image, make them, of course, very 
popular among enthusiasts, but are now a new tool that the drug cartels 
have adopted to corrupt this fine pastime.
  Every year now, hundreds of ultralights laden with illegal narcotics 
are flown over our southern borders and are now landing in our 
backyards. Here is a map of my backyard. Southern Arizona is on the 
front lines of this border security crisis. The Tucson sector of the 
Border Patrol is the Nation's largest and most porous part of the U.S.-
Mexico border. Despite the difficult and rugged terrain, drug 
traffickers are streaming across the border

[[Page H6899]]

by whatever means necessary. Sometimes they go under, but in the case 
of the ultralights, they are going over the border.

                              {time}  1200

  In the Tucson sector, there are more drugs and illegal immigrants 
apprehended than in all other parts of the United States. Last fiscal 
year, the Border Patrol in the Tucson sector seized over 1.2 million 
pounds of marijuana. Other drugs were seized as well, like cocaine, 
like methamphetamine that Mr. Heller was talking about.
  In fiscal year 2009, there were over 240,000 apprehensions of illegal 
immigrants--those that we just apprehended in the Tucson sector of the 
Border Patrol.
  So we know that thousands and hundreds of thousands of people are 
crossing illegally.
  And now we have this latest weapon, the ultralight, that they are 
using to produce an ever-expanding arsenal from the narco-terrorists, 
capable of not just transporting illegal drugs, but any number of 
dangerous payloads. These planes have now been reported flying up to 
200 miles north of the border.
  I first learned about the illicit use of ultralights in a briefing 
from the United States Border Patrol. Their message was unambiguous. We 
need to crack down on ultralight aircraft now. The National Drug 
Intelligence Center, in their 2010 National Drug Threat Assessment, 
also identified ultralights as a growing threat.
  According to the CBP Air and Marine Operation Center based in 
Riverside, California, there were 193 suspected incursions into the 
United States and 135 confirmed incursions into the United States by 
ultralights from October 1 of last year through April.
  Some examples: In October of 2008, we detected an unidentified 
northbound low-flying aircraft 12 miles north of Nogales, Arizona. A 
CBP surveillance helicopter launched from Tucson identified the low-
flying aircraft as an ultralight. The pilot was forced down in Marana, 
Arizona. He was carrying a cargo of over 225 pounds of marijuana.
  In November 2008, near San Luis, field workers arrived for work and 
discovered a crashed ultralight, the pilot was dead, 141 pounds of 
marijuana.
  December of 2008, the pilot of an ultralight collided with power 
lines and crashed southwest of Tucson, Arizona. He was carrying 250 
pounds of marijuana.
  And just this past May, at 6:20 early on a Sunday morning, the North 
American Aerospace Defense Command detected a small, low-flying 
aircraft in southern Arizona near the border with Mexico. NORAD quickly 
scrambled two F-16s to intercept the ultralight, shadowing it for 30 
minutes before it was forced back into Mexico.
  The threat is real.
  It is time for the Federal Government to get ahead of these drug 
smugglers. There is no excuse for the Federal Government to not act 
sooner on this known threat. So today we're doing something about it.
  The problem has been that light-weight ultralights are not officially 
categorized as aircraft by the Federal Aviation Administration so our 
law enforcement has not had the tools they need to address the rising 
threat, and that is why I introduced H.R. 5307, the Ultralight 
Smuggling Prevention Act, along with my Republican colleague from 
Nevada, Congressman Dean Heller.
  This is a bipartisan, commonsense bill that will finally close the 
loophole that's been exploited by drug cartel kingpins and give our law 
enforcement the actual tools they need to fight this escalating crisis.
  H.R. 5307 will amend the Tariff Act of 1930 to include ultralight 
vehicles under the aviation smuggling provisions, finally giving law 
enforcement the tools they need to prosecute these crimes to the 
fullest extent. Our bill will establish the same penalties for 
smuggling drugs on ultralights as for smuggling on airplanes or in cars 
or in trucks.
  Millions of pounds of marijuana are coming into the United States 
every single year. They're coming through on vehicles or they're coming 
through with people. And sometimes, more often it's a combination of 
both. With our bill, individuals caught smuggling on ultralights will 
be prosecuted for using the ultralight in addition to being prosecuted 
for the drugs they have in their possession. This will carry a maximum 
sentence of up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
  The Ultralight Smuggling Prevention Act is a long overdue solution, 
which is why it's been received well in our community, and we have had 
several endorsements. For example the Arizona Farm Bureau, the Arizona 
Cattle Growers' Association, and the Pima County Sheriff's Office.
  In closing, Mr. Speaker, while the men and the women of the Border 
Patrol and of ICE have made great progress in stemming the flow of 
drugs and illegal immigrants, our southern border is not yet secure, 
and many of the people I represent live in constant fear. The murder of 
my constituent, Rob Krentz, in March has heightened those fears and, 
quite frankly, has given rise to the anger and frustration that 
southern Arizonans and all Americans feel toward our government's 
inability to live up to its first responsibility--ensuring the safety 
and security of all American citizens.
  Mr. Speaker, improving border security has been my top priority since 
I first came here in January of 2007. I have been steadfast in my 
support of increased funding to bring more agents and more assets to 
southern Arizona, redeploying the National Guard and passing a $600 
million emergency border security funding bill.
  What so many Members of Congress do not understand is that the Border 
Patrol is outmanned, outgunned, and they're out-resourced. So we must 
remain constantly vigilant and one step ahead of the enemy.
  The violent cartels of Mexico are exploiting a new weakness in our 
defense, and the bill we are considering today will strengthen our 
national security. The bill will render useless the newest tool of the 
drug traffickers, making our communities safer.
  Again, I want to thank Mr. Heller for joining me on this very 
important piece of legislation. I'd also like to express my 
appreciation to Chairman Tanner, and to the staff, especially Jennifer 
McCadney, for moving this important legislation forward.
  Mr. HELLER. Madam Speaker, I yield myself 1 minute to reiterate my 
support for this bipartisan legislation.
  The Ultralight Smuggling Prevention Act will serve as an important 
deterrent to the use of ultralights for drug smuggling along our 
borders and help curb the supply of illegal narcotics in our Nation. I 
urge my colleagues to support and vote for the Ultralight Smuggling 
Prevention Act.
  I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. TANNER. Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Ms. Richardson). The question is on the 
motion offered by the gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Tanner) that the 
House suspend the rules and pass the bill, H.R. 5307, as amended.
  The question was taken.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds 
being in the affirmative, the ayes have it.
  Mr. TANNER. Madam Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
  The yeas and nays were ordered.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX and the 
Chair's prior announcement, further proceedings on this motion will be 
postponed.

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