[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 142 (Thursday, September 22, 2011)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5908-S5909]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mrs. FEINSTEIN (for herself, Mr. Grassley, Mr. Schumer, Mr. 
        Blumenthal, Mr. Casey, Mr. Udall of New Mexico, and Mr. Wyden):
  S. 1612. A bill to provide the Department of Justice with additional 
tools to target extraterritorial drug trafficking activity; to the 
Committee on the Judiciary.
  Mrs. FEINSTEIN. Mr. President, I rise to introduce the Targeting 
Transnational Drug Trafficking Act of 2011 with my colleagues and 
friends, Senator Charles Grassley, Senator Charles Schumer, Senator 
Richard Blumenthal, Senator Tom Udall, Senator Robert Casey and Senator 
Ron Wyden.
  This bill will support the Obama Administration's recently released 
Strategy to Combat Transnational Organized Crime by providing the 
Department of Justice with crucial tools to help combat the 
international drug trade. As drug traffickers find new and innovative 
ways to avoid prosecution, we must keep up with them rather than 
allowing our laws to lag behind.
  This legislation has three main components. First, it puts in place 
penalties for extraterritorial drug trafficking activity when 
individuals have reasonable cause to believe that illegal drugs will be 
trafficked into the United States. Current law says that drug 
traffickers must know that illegal drugs will be trafficked into the 
United States and this legislation would lower the knowledge threshold 
to reasonable cause to believe.
  The Department of Justice has informed my office that with increasing 
frequency, it sees drug traffickers from Colombia, Ecuador and Peru who 
produce cocaine in their countries but leave transit of cocaine to the 
United States in the hands of Mexican drug trafficking organizations 
such as the Zetas. Under current law, our ability to prosecute source-
nation traffickers from Colombia, Ecuador and Peru is limited since 
there is often no direct evidence of their knowledge that illegal drugs 
were intended for the United States.
  Second, this bill ensures that current penalties apply to precursor 
chemical producers from other countries. This includes those producing 
pseudoephedrine used for methamphetamine who illegally ship precursor 
chemicals into the United States knowing that these chemicals will be 
used to make illegal drugs.
  Third, this bill will expand conspiracy liability when controlled 
substances are destined to the United States from a foreign country. 
This means that members of any conspiracy to distribute controlled 
substances will be subject to U.S. jurisdiction when at least one 
member of the conspiracy intends or knows that illegal drugs will be 
unlawfully imported into the United States.
  As Chairman of the Senate Caucus on International Narcotics Control 
and as a public servant who has focused on law enforcement issues for 
many years, I know that we cannot sit idly by as drug traffickers find 
new ways to circumvent our laws. We must provide the Department of 
Justice with all of the tools it needs to prosecute drug kingpins both 
here at home and abroad.
  Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be 
printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the text of the bill was ordered to be 
printed in the Record, as follows:

                                S. 1612

       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 ``Targeting Transnational Drug 
     Trafficking Act of 2011''.

     SEC. 2. POSSESSION, MANUFACTURE OR DISTRIBUTION FOR PURPOSES 
                   OF UNLAWFUL IMPORTATIONS.

       (a) Possession, Manufacture or Distribution for Purposes of 
     Unlawful Importations.--Section 1009 of the Controlled 
     Substances Import and Export Act (21 U.S.C. 959) is amended--
       (1) by redesignating subsections (b) and (c) as subsections 
     (c) and (d), respectively; and
       (2) in subsection (a), by striking ``It shall'' and all 
     that follows and inserting the following: ``It shall be 
     unlawful for any person to manufacture or distribute a 
     controlled substance in schedule I or II or flunitrazepam 
     intending, knowing, or having reasonable cause to believe 
     that such substance will be unlawfully imported into the 
     United States or into waters within a distance of 12 miles of 
     the coast of the United States.
       ``(b) It shall be unlawful for any person to manufacture or 
     distribute a listed chemical--
       ``(1) intending or knowing that the listed chemical will be 
     used to manufacture a controlled substance; and
       ``(2) intending, knowing, or having reasonable cause to 
     believe that the controlled substance will be unlawfully 
     imported into the United States.''.
       (b) Attempt and Conspiracy.--Section 1013 of the Controlled 
     Substances Import and Export Act (21 U.S.C. 963) is amended 
     by adding at the end the following: ``For a conspiracy to 
     commit such an offense that requires the person to intend, 
     know, or have reasonable cause to believe that a controlled 
     substance will be unlawfully imported into

[[Page S5909]]

     the United States, it is sufficient to prove a conspiracy to 
     commit the offense that only 1 member of the conspiracy 
     intended, knew, or had reasonable cause to believe that the 
     controlled substance would be unlawfully imported into the 
     United States.''.
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