[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 157 (Wednesday, September 28, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Page S5398]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

  SA 5935. Mr. PORTMAN submitted an amendment intended to be proposed 
to amendment SA 5499 submitted by Mr. Reed (for himself and Mr. Inhofe) 
and intended to be proposed to the bill H.R. 7900, to authorize 
appropriations for fiscal year 2023 for military activities of the 
Department of Defense, for military construction, and for defense 
activities of the Department of Energy, to prescribe military personnel 
strengths for such fiscal year, and for other purposes; which was 
ordered to lie on the table; as follows:

       At the end of subtitle B of title X, add the following:

     SEC. 1012. EMPOWERING HOMELAND SECURITY INVESTIGATIONS TO 
                   COUNTER DRUG SMUGGLING BY TRANSNATIONAL 
                   CRIMINAL ORGANIZATIONS.

       (a) In General.--Subtitle C of title IV of the Homeland 
     Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 231 et seq.) is amended by 
     adding at the end the following:

     ``SEC. 437. COUNTERING DRUG SMUGGLING BY TRANSNATIONAL 
                   CRIMINAL ORGANIZATIONS.

       ``(a) Program Established.--The Secretary shall establish a 
     program that provides special agents of the Department 
     described in subsection (c) and any State, tribal, or local 
     law enforcement officers designated by the Secretary with the 
     powers and authorities given to customs officers described in 
     section 401(i) of the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C. 1401(i)) 
     to prevent the smuggling, trafficking, manufacture, and sale 
     of drugs by transnational criminal organizations engaged in 
     cross-border criminal operations, which shall be exercised in 
     the performance of the special agents' existing functions 
     related to customs and criminal law enforcement.
       ``(b) Interagency Coordination and Deconfliction.--The 
     Secretary shall ensure that the special agents authorized 
     through the program established pursuant to subsection (a) 
     conduct investigative data deconfliction, target data 
     deconfliction, and event deconfliction with Federal, State, 
     tribal, and local law enforcement agencies, including the 
     Drug Enforcement Administration, during the course of 
     criminal and customs investigations described in subsection 
     (a), to more effectively coordinate investigative activity 
     and ensure officer and agent safety.
       ``(c) Scope.--The authority granted to special agents under 
     subsection (a) is limited to special agents who have 
     successfully completed--
       ``(1) the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center's 
     Criminal Investigator Training Program; and
       ``(2)(A) Customs Basic Enforcement School, if the officer 
     was hired before March 2003; or
       ``(B) U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Homeland 
     Security Investigations Special Agent Training, if the 
     officer was hired during or after March 2003.''.
       (b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of contents for the 
     Homeland Security Act of 2002 (Public Law 107-296) is amended 
     by inserting after the item relating to section 436 the 
     following:

``Sec. 437. Countering drug smuggling by transnational criminal 
              organizations.''.
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