[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 196 (Monday, December 9, 2019)]
[House]
[Pages H9367-H9369]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
DHS OPIOID DETECTION RESILIENCE ACT OF 2019
Ms. CLARKE of New York. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and
pass the bill (H.R. 4761) to ensure U.S. Customs and Border Protection
officers, agents, and other personnel have adequate synthetic opioid
detection equipment, that the Department of Homeland Security has a
process to update synthetic opioid detection capability, and for other
purposes.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The text of the bill is as follows:
H.R. 4761
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 ``DHS Opioid Detection
Resilience Act of 2019''.
SEC. 2. STRATEGY TO ENSURE DETECTION OF ALL OPIOID PURITY
LEVELS AT PORTS OF ENTRY.
Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of
this section, the Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border
Protection (CBP) shall--
(1) implement a strategy to ensure deployed chemical
screening devices are able to identify in an operational
environment narcotics at purity levels less than or equal to
10 percent, or provide ports of entry with an alternate
method for identifying narcotics at lower purity levels; and
(2) require testing of any new chemical screening devices
to understand the abilities and limitations of such devices
relating to identifying narcotics at various purity levels
before CBP commits to the acquisition of such devices.
SEC. 3. PLAN TO ENSURE OPIOID DETECTION EQUIPMENT RESILIENCY.
Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of
this section, the Secretary of Homeland Security shall
implement a plan for the long-term development of a
centralized spectral database for chemical screening devices.
Such plan shall address the following:
(1) How newly identified spectra will be collected, stored,
and distributed to such devices in their operational
environment, including at ports of entry.
(2) Identification of parties responsible for updates and
maintenance of such database.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentlewoman from
New York (Ms. Clarke) and the gentleman from Louisiana (Mr. Higgins)
each will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from New York.
General Leave
Ms. CLARKE of New York. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all
Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks
and to include extraneous material on this measure.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentlewoman from New York?
There was no objection.
Ms. CLARKE of New York. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I
may consume.
Mr. Speaker, every American community, in one way or another, has
been impacted by the opioid crisis. This crisis, already two decades
old, continues to grow and evolve.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more
than 28,000 people in the United States overdosed or died from
synthetic opioids in 2017 alone. Virtually all types of opioids,
whether finished heroin or potent synthetic opioids such as fentanyl,
cross our borders through our ports of entry.
Transnational criminal organizations hide illicit narcotics in
legitimate
[[Page H9368]]
cross-border cargo, making detection a significant challenge. The
potency of these narcotics also varies by the method used to smuggle it
into the country.
With fentanyl, we now know that shipments coming through our
international mail system often have higher purity levels than those
smuggled in cargo crossing our land borders. Often, the majority of
fentanyl and other opioids seized at land ports of entry have a purity
level of less than 10 percent, making it possible to sell these drugs
in our communities faster.
Fighting back against this tactic requires U.S. Customs and Border
Protection, CBP, to have adequate detection technology to interject
these opioids before they reach our communities.
However, in September of 2019, the Department of Homeland Security,
DHS, Office of Inspector General reported that CBP purchased technology
to screen for synthetic opioids that was unable to identify fentanyl
and other synthetic opioids with purity levels below 10 percent.
H.R. 4761, the DHS Opioid Detection Resilience Act of 2019, is a
bipartisan bill meant to address this capability gap. It requires CBP
to implement a strategy to ensure its chemical screening devices can
identify narcotics, including opioids and synthetic opioids, that are
less than 10 percent in concentration.
The bill also requires that CBP follow best practices and good
government standards by testing new devices to understand their
capabilities and limitations prior to deployment.
Recognizing that drug traffickers change their tactics and the
chemicals used as precursors, H.R. 4761 also requires DHS to take steps
toward developing a centralized database for chemical screening
devices. This would mean that, as new chemicals are identified, their
specific signatures will be more readily detected by the screening
devices used by CBP's frontline personnel.
DHS must continually adapt and stay ahead of the criminal
organizations seeking to exploit our systems. An effective and enhanced
detection capability is a critical tool to accomplishing that mission.
Mr. Speaker, I urge my House colleagues to support this legislation,
and I reserve the balance of my time.
House of Representatives,
Committee on Ways and Means,
Washington, DC, November 20, 2019.
Hon. Bennie G. Thompson,
Chairman, Committee on Homeland Security,
Washington, DC.
Dear Chairman Thompson: In recognition of the desire to
expedite consideration of H.R. 4761, the DHS Opioid Detection
Resilience Act of 2019, the Committee on Ways and Means
agrees to waive formal consideration of the bill as to
provisions that fall within the rule X jurisdiction of the
Committee on Ways and Means.
The Committee on Ways and Means takes this action with the
mutual understanding that we do not waive any jurisdiction
over the subject matter contained in this or similar
legislation, and the Committee will be appropriately
consulted and involved as the bill or similar legislation
moves forward so that we may address any remaining issues
within our jurisdiction. The Committee also reserves the
right to seek appointment of an appropriate number of
conferees to any House-Senate conference involving this or
similar legislation.
Finally, I would appreciate your response to this letter
confirming this understanding, and would ask that a copy of
our exchange of letter on this matter be included in the
Congressional Record during floor consideration of H.R. 4761.
Sincerely,
Richard E. Neal,
Chairman.
____
House of Representatives,
Committee on Homeland Security,
Washington, DC, November 21, 2019.
Hon. Richard Neal,
Chairman, Committee on Ways and Means,
Washington, DC.
Dear Chairman Neal: Thank you for your letter regarding
H.R. 4761, the ``DHS Opioid Detection Resilience Act of
2019.'' The Committee on Homeland Security recognizes that
the Committee on Ways and Means has a jurisdictional interest
in H.R. 4761, and I appreciate your effort to allow this bill
to be considered on the House floor.
I concur with you that forgoing action on the bill does not
in any way prejudice the Committee on Ways and Means with
respect to its jurisdictional prerogatives on this bill or
similar legislation in the future, and I would support your
effort to seek appointment of an appropriate number of
conferees to any House-Senate conference involving this
legislation.
I will include our letters on H.R. 4761 in the
Congressional Record during floor consideration of this bill.
I look forward to working with you on this legislation and
other matters of great importance to this nation.
Sincerely,
Bennie G. Thompson,
Chairman.
Mr. HIGGINS of Louisiana. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I
may consume.
Mr. Speaker, U.S. Customs and Border Protection law enforcement
officers are the first line of defense in preventing the illicit flow
of drugs and contraband from entering our country.
I walked the border with my brothers and sisters of the thin blue
line, and I have seen what CBP is up against. I can tell you firsthand
that our cartel adversaries are ruthless and steadfast in their
determination to exploit our laws and poison our communities.
Transnational drug traffickers operate like a business, always
looking to capitalize on products high in demand and high with profit
margin. Today, their focus is fentanyl, a drug 100 times more powerful
than morphine. Just 2 milligrams are enough to be lethal.
Fentanyl and its analogs are being produced mostly in China, but also
increasingly in Mexico. Illicit opioids enter the United States through
the mail, concealed within vehicles or cargo coming through the ports
of entry, and in backpacks of cartel drug runners.
Initially, Chinese drug traffickers were so confident that fentanyl
would not be interdicted they sent stacks of it through the mail. The
CBP improved, their targeting improved, and cartels were forced to
change their approach, sending smaller quantities and rerouting
packages through freight forwarders and other countries to mask their
point of origin.
The 2018 DEA threat assessment stated that the purity level of the
fentanyl coming across the land border is, on average, less than 10
percent pure. However, a recent DHS Office of Inspector General report
found that the CBP's small-scale chemical screening devices cannot
identify fentanyl purity levels of 10 percent or less. This is crucial.
The IG also found that there was no policy or centralized database in
place to ensure chemical screening devices had up-to-date spectral
libraries essential to ensuring all analogs and new opioid forms can be
detected. That is why I am pleased to see the House take up my bill,
H.R. 4761, the DHS Opioid Detection Resilience Act of 2019.
My bill addresses the gaps in CBP's opioid detection capability by
requiring the Customs and Border Protection commissioner to implement a
strategy to ensure chemical screening devices can identify narcotics in
an operational environment with low purity levels.
H.R. 4761 also requires DHS to develop a centralized spectral
database for chemical screening devices to ensure unity of effort
across all components they encounter when opioids cross the field.
{time} 1615
CBP works tirelessly to prevent this poison from reaching American
communities, and this bill helps law enforcement carry out that
mission.
I thank Congresswoman Clarke and Congressmen Rogers, McCaul, King,
Rose, Katko, and Joyce for signing on as original cosponsors and for
their support of this important legislation.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to make the gentlewoman aware that I have
no further speakers and that I am prepared to close.
I urge the adoption of the bill, and I yield back the balance of my
time.
Ms. CLARKE of New York. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I
may consume.
Mr. Speaker, H.R. 4761 is a bipartisan measure that received the full
support of the Committee on Homeland Security to address a capability
need identified by the DHS inspector general. The DHS Opioid Detection
Resilience Act of 2019 seeks to ensure that CBP personnel have the best
and most up-to-date technology to detect and prevent opioids from
entering the country and our communities.
Mr. Speaker, I urge passage of H.R. 4761, and I yield back the
balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the
gentlewoman from New York (Ms. Clarke) that the House suspend the rules
and pass the bill, H.R. 4761.
[[Page H9369]]
The question was taken.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds
being in the affirmative, the ayes have it.
Ms. CLARKE of New York. Mr. 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, further
proceedings on this motion will be postponed.
____________________