[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 158 (Thursday, September 29, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5748-S5749]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
SA 6225. Mr. KELLY 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,
[[Page S5749]]
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 E of title X, add the following:
SECTION 1052. SECURING AMERICA'S BORDERS AGAINST FENTANYL.
(a) Short Title.--This section may be cited as the
``Securing America's Borders Against Fentanyl Act''.
(b) Definitions.--In this section:
(1) Appropriate congressional committees.--The term
``appropriate congressional committees'' means--
(A) the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental
Affairs of the Senate; and
(B) the Committee on Homeland Security of the House of
Representatives.
(2) Department.--The term ``Department'' means the
Department of Homeland Security.
(3) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary
of Homeland Security.
(c) Reports, Evaluations, and Research Regarding Drug
Interdiction at and Between Ports of Entry.--
(1) Research on additional technologies to detect
fentanyl.--
(A) In general.--Not later than 1 year after the date of
the enactment of this Act, the Secretary, in consultation
with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Drug
Enforcement Administration, the Food and Drug Administration,
the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, the
Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity, and any
other Federal agency that the Secretary deems appropriate,
shall research additional technological solutions--
(i) to target and detect illicit fentanyl and its
precursors, including low-purity fentanyl, especially in
counterfeit pressed tablets, and illicit pill press molds;
(ii) to enhance targeting of counterfeit pills through
nonintrusive, noninvasive, and other visual screening
technologies; and
(iii) to enhance data-driven targeting to increase
interdiction and seizure rates of fentanyl, its precursors,
and illicit pill press molds.
(B) Authorization of appropriations.--There is authorized
to be appropriated to the Department $20,000,000 for each of
the fiscal years 2023 through 2027 to carry out this
paragraph.
(2) Evaluation of current technologies and strategies in
illicit drug interdiction and procurement decisions.--
(A) Establishment of data collection program.--
(i) In general.--The Secretary, in consultation with the
Administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration, the
Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Director
of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the
Commissioner of Food and Drugs, and the Postmaster General,
shall establish a program to collect available data and
develop metrics to measure the effectiveness of technologies
and strategies used by the Department (including U.S. Customs
and Border Protection) and other relevant Federal agencies
for detecting, deterring, or addressing illicit fentanyl and
its precursors being trafficking into the United States at
and between land, air, and sea ports of entry.
(ii) Considerations.--The data and metrics program
established pursuant to clause (i) may consider--
(I) the rate of detection of fentanyl at random secondary
inspections at such ports of entry;
(II) investigations and intelligence sharing into the
origins of illicit fentanyl later detected within the United
States; and
(III) other data or metrics that the Secretary considers
appropriate.
(iii) Updates.--The Secretary, as appropriate and in the
coordination with the officials referred to in clause (i),
may update the data and metrics program established pursuant
to clause (i).
(B) Reports.--
(i) Department of homeland security.--Not later than 1 year
after the date of the enactment of this Act and biennially
thereafter, the Secretary, in consultation with the
Administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration, the
Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Director
of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the
Commissioner of Food and Drugs, and the Postmaster General
shall, based on the data collected and metrics developed
under the program established pursuant to subparagraph (A),
submit a report to the appropriate congressional committees
that--
(I) examines and analyzes current technologies deployed at
land, air, and sea ports of entry, including pilot
technologies, to assess how well and accurately such
technologies detect, deter, interdict, and address fentanyl
and its precursors;
(II) examines and analyzes current technologies deployed
between land ports of entry, including pilot technologies and
technologies used to inspect international mail and express
cargo, to assess how well and accurately such technologies
detect, deter, interdict, and address fentanyl and its
precursors;
(III) contains a cost-benefit analysis of technologies used
in drug interdiction; and
(IV) describes how such analysis may be used when making
procurement decisions relating to such technologies.
(ii) Government accountability office.--Not later than 1
year after the submission of each report required under
clause (i), the Comptroller General of the United States
shall submit a report to the appropriate congressional
committees that evaluates and, as appropriate, makes
recommendations to improve, the data collected and metrics
used in each such report.
(d) Office of National Drug Control Policy Performance
Measurement System Supplemental Strategies.--Section 706(h)
of the Office of National Drug Control Policy Reauthorization
Act of 1998 (21 U.S.C. 1705(h)) is amended--
(1) in paragraph (5), by striking ``and'' at the end;
(2) in paragraph (6), by striking the period at the end and
inserting ``; and''; and
(3) by adding at the end the following:
``(7) develops performance measures and targets for the
National Drug Control Strategy for supplemental strategies
(including the Southwest Border, Northern Border, and
Caribbean Border Counternarcotics Strategies)--
``(A) to effectively evaluate region-specific goals, to the
extent the performance measurement system does not adequately
measure the effectiveness of the strategies, as determined by
the Director; and
``(B) may evaluate interdiction efforts at and between
ports of entry, interdiction technology, intelligence
sharing, diplomacy, and other appropriate metrics, specific
to each supplemental strategies region, as determined by the
Director.''.
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