[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 86 (Monday, May 22, 2023)]
[House]
[Pages H2469-H2471]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




        PREVENTING THE FINANCING OF ILLEGAL SYNTHETIC DRUGS ACT

  Mr. LUETKEMEYER. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass 
the bill (H.R. 1076) to require the Comptroller General of the United 
States to carry out a study on the trafficking into the United States 
of synthetic drugs, and related illicit finance, and for other 
purposes, as amended.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                               H.R. 1076

       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 ``Preventing the Financing of 
     Illegal Synthetic Drugs Act''.

     SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

       The Congress finds the following:
       (1) According to the Center for Disease Control and 
     Prevention, over 107,000 people in the United States died 
     from drug overdoses or drug poisonings in the 12-month period 
     ending January 2022, with 67 percent of those deaths 
     involving synthetic opioids like fentanyl.
       (2) According to the United National Office of Drugs and 
     Crime (UNODC) in its ``Synthetic Drug Strategy 2021-2025'', 
     the number of synthetic drugs, also called New Psychoactive 
     Substances, has increased 631 percent since 2009, with 
     traffickers introducing an average of 80 new substances to 
     the illicit drug market each year from 2009-2019.
       (3) In October 2022, F. Michael McDaniel, director of the 
     Houston High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas (HITDA) program 
     testified in Congress that one kilogram of fentanyl can 
     produce one million counterfeit pills containing one 
     milligram of fentanyl, saying, ``Currently in Houston, Texas, 
     you can buy a kilogram of fentanyl for an average price of 
     $25,000 to $30,000. This same kilogram of fentanyl in 
     Culiacan (Mexico) could be purchased at an average price of 
     $13,500. Currently, the price of a fentanyl pill in Houston 
     ranges from $6 to $65. Therefore, an illicit investment of 
     $30,000 or less could result in a return of $6 to $32.5 
     million.''.
       (4) According to Celina B. Realuyo, Adjunct Professor, The 
     George Washington University Elliott School of International 
     Affairs, in March 2022 Congressional testimony, ``Financing 
     is essential to support and sustain the command and control, 
     personnel, arms, communications, logistics and operations of 
     organized crime groups. For this reason, following the money 
     trail and depriving criminals of illicit financial flows can 
     disrupt and disable these networks.''.

     SEC. 3. GAO STUDY ON SYNTHETIC DRUGS TRAFFICKING.

       (a) Study.--The Comptroller General of the United States 
     shall carry out a study on illicit financing in connection 
     with the trafficking of synthetic drugs, including fentanyl 
     and methamphetamine, fentanyl- and methamphetamine-related 
     substances, Captagon, and fentanyl and methamphetamine 
     precursors, including--
       (1) the business of the trafficking of synthetic drugs and 
     related illicit finance, such as the participation of 
     transnational criminal organizations and terror syndicates 
     and their notable trafficking corridors, including source and 
     transit countries;
       (2) the business models used by these transnational 
     criminal organizations, including U.S. domestic and foreign 
     activities for precursor purchase or production, movement 
     along the supply chain, manufacture of the completed product, 
     marketing, distribution, sales, and return of proceeds;
       (3) the overlap of the business model of human trafficking 
     and the trafficking of synthetic drugs and related illicit 
     finance;
       (4) the use of online illicit drug markets and the use of 
     social media for the marketing, sale, and payment for 
     synthetic drugs;
       (5) financial methods used by such transnational criminal 
     organizations, including--
       (A) payment;
       (B) money laundering; and
       (C) repatriation of proceeds;
       (6) the use of social media applications like Snap Chat, 
     Discord, and Facebook and payment applications like CashApp 
     to facilitate financial transactions for synthetic drug 
     trafficking, especially among young people; and
       (7) U.S. Government activities to combat illicit finance 
     related to the trafficking of synthetic drugs, including--
       (A) interagency collaboration, including personnel detailed 
     to other agencies to support the effort to combat synthetic 
     drugs trafficking and related illicit finance;
       (B) intergovernmental collaboration;
       (C) intersectoral collaboration with the private sector, 
     including the business and non-governmental communities; and
       (D) identified gaps or resource deficiencies in combating 
     the trafficking of synthetic drugs and related illicit 
     finance in the coordination and collaboration activities 
     described in subparagraphs (A) through (C).
       (b) Report Required.--Not later than the end of the 1-year 
     period beginning on the date of enactment of this Act, the 
     Comptroller General shall issue a report to the Congress 
     containing all findings and determinations made in carrying 
     out the study required under subsection (a).
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Missouri (Mr. Luetkemeyer) and the gentlewoman from Colorado (Ms. 
Pettersen) each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Missouri.


                             General Leave

  Mr. LUETKEMEYER. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all 
Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks 
and include extraneous material on this bill.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Missouri?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. LUETKEMEYER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 1076, the Preventing the 
Financing of Illegal Synthetic Drugs Act.
  As we are all painfully aware, fentanyl is a poison that is 
afflicting every community across America. This poison is a synthetic 
opioid 50 times more potent than heroin and 100 times more potent than 
morphine. Just 2 milligrams, equal to 10 to 15 grains of table salt, is 
enough to be lethal.
  That is why I am grateful that Members like Congresswoman De La Cruz 
have hit the ground running on commonsense legislation like H.R. 1076 
to sever the lifeblood that keeps the fentanyl business model going, 
which is its financing.
  As we heard in the Financial Services Committee hearing titled, 
``Follow the Money,'' ``Financing is essential to support and sustain 
the command and control, personnel, arms, communications, logistics, 
and operations of organized crime groups. For this reason, following 
the money trail and depriving criminals of illicit financial flows can 
disrupt and disable these networks.''
  I recognize there are many challenges to attacking the fentanyl 
crisis, including our unsecured border, but from a Financial Services 
Committee perspective, we can only address what

[[Page H2470]]

is in our jurisdiction, and that is its financing.
  Congresswoman De La Cruz's study will help inform Congress on the 
next best step to disrupt and dismantle synthetic drug trafficking and 
its financing.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge all my colleagues to support this bill, and I 
reserve the balance of my time.
  Ms. PETTERSEN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 1076, the Preventing the 
Financing of Illegal Synthetic Drugs Act sponsored by the gentlewoman 
from Texas (Ms. De La Cruz), a bill that I am pleased to cosponsor and 
co-lead.
  Thanks to collaboration on both sides of the aisle, this bill offers 
a well-written study focused on the financing and proceeds of the 
illicit synthetic drug trade that is victimizing communities across the 
country. By following the money behind the multibillion-dollar drug 
trade, we are able to understand the traffickers' operations and 
improve our ability to disrupt their activities.
  The effects of this trafficking have been staggering. Deaths 
involving synthetic opioids, such as illicit fentanyl and 
methamphetamine, increased by 22 percent in 2021, resulting in the 
deaths of more than 100,000 of our family members and neighbors. In 
2022, there were also nearly 200,000 nonfatal opioid overdoses in the 
U.S. In 2021, overdose death rates increased 44 percent for Black 
people and 39 percent for American Indian and Alaska Natives, showing 
troubling trends and widening disparities among population groups.
  Combating the opioid epidemic is one of the reasons why I ran for 
Congress. Like too many Americans, my family has been impacted by the 
opioid crisis. My mom's addiction began with the overprescription of 
opioids, which led to heroin and ultimately fentanyl when it started to 
take over the drug supply chain in 2016. Unfortunately, my mom's story 
is not unique in Jefferson County, in Colorado, or in this country.
  The opioid epidemic is now more lethal than ever as we continue to 
see drugs become more and more potent and easier to traffic. It is 
going to take an all-hands-on-deck approach to stop the flow of 
fentanyl and other illicit synthetic opioids in this country. Ensuring 
that we understand the financial networks of drug trafficking 
organizations is a critical tool that we need to protect American 
lives.
  This bill will not solve all the issues related to the opioid crisis. 
We need to do more to increase access to substance use disorder 
treatment and recovery services, and we need to do more to help support 
the workforce shortages. We need to crack down on social media 
companies that are permitting the sale of illegal drugs to young 
Americans, and we need to ensure that the financial system has the 
tools to quickly identify bad actors and break up their drug 
trafficking rings.
  As a member of the House Financial Services Committee, I advocate for 
leveraging every financial tool at our disposal to pursue the 
traffickers of illicit fentanyl and other drugs. In this role, I also 
advocate for every individual family and community that has suffered or 
will suffer from misguided antidrug policies' physical, social, and 
economic damage to have the support that they need.
  Thus, I urge my fellow Members to vote for this needed trafficking 
study bill, but I also urge them to consider that we must take the time 
to learn the lessons of past epidemics and take further steps to 
eliminate harmful and counterproductive policies.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. LUETKEMEYER. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as she may consume to 
the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. De La Cruz), the sponsor of this bill, 
a new and dynamic member of our committee.
  Ms. De La CRUZ. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Missouri for 
yielding and for his broader leadership of the Financial Services 
Subcommittee on National Security, Illicit Finance, and International 
Financial Institutions.
  Mr. Speaker, according to the CDC, over 107,000 Americans died from 
drug overdoses or drug poisonings in the 12-month period ending January 
2022. Sixty-seven percent of those deaths involved synthetic opioids 
like fentanyl, which is up to 50 times stronger than heroin and 100 
times stronger than morphine.
  Last year, Hidalgo County, which sits in my district, made news with 
massive fentanyl seizures at the U.S.-Mexico border. These include $1.5 
million in January 2022 and $330,000 in June. These numbers are 
staggering. According to law enforcement, an illicit investment of 
$30,000 or less could yield $6 to $32 million.
  To end this crisis, we must tackle the financing. As the adage goes, 
``Follow the money.'' This money fuels the operations of the cartels 
that are poisoning our families.
  My bill, the Preventing the Financing of Illegal Synthetic Drugs Act, 
will help law enforcement pinpoint the business model of the 
traffickers, how they move and hide their profits, and what the U.S. 
can do to stop fentanyl money laundering.
  To end this carnage that is taking so many lives in south Texas and 
all across America, we must track down the funds that fuel it.

                              {time}  1615

  Ms. PETTERSEN. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as she may consume to 
the gentlewoman from Ohio (Mrs. Beatty).
  Mrs. BEATTY. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for yielding me 
time, and I thank my colleagues on the other side of the aisle for 
their bipartisan support.
  Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to rise in support of the Preventing the 
Financing of Illegal Synthetic Drugs Act, H.R. 1076.
  Mr. Speaker, as the ranking member of the Financial Services 
Subcommittee of National Security, Illicit Finance, and International 
Financial Institutions, our jurisdiction tends to focus abroad, but 
make no mistake, the epidemic of synthetic drug overdoses impacts each 
and every congressional district and every community throughout our 
country. For example, Ohio ranks third in the overall number of drug 
overdose deaths, which we are not proud of.
  According to the most recent study by the Centers for Disease Control 
and Prevention, over 107,000 people in the United States have died from 
drug overdoses or drug poisoning in the past 12 months.
  Mr. Speaker, 5,000 of those individuals were right there in my 
district.
  Let me also share, as my colleague and our chair of the committee has 
stated to us, under the bill, the GAO would examine these illicit 
financial flows from and to foreign nations, including China, and will 
review the business of the trafficking of synthetic drugs and related 
illicit finance, such as participation in transnational criminal 
organizations and behaviors.
  If we are going to stop the flow of illicit drugs like fentanyl and 
meth and the tragic loss of lives they bring with them, then we need to 
know more about the who, the where, and the how of the illegal 
trafficking trade.
  Mr. Speaker, that is why I am honored to support what I call a 
commonsense, bipartisan piece of legislation. Again, I thank the chair, 
our ranking member, the bill's sponsors, and, certainly, our Financial 
Services Committee, and I urge my colleagues to join in support.
  Mr. LUETKEMEYER. Mr. Speaker, I have no further speakers, and I 
reserve the balance of my time.
  Ms. PETTERSEN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.
  Mr. Speaker, I thank Representative De La Cruz for her collaboration 
on this bill. Together, we can better understand the financing of drug 
trafficking and how the traffickers move and hide their proceeds. Doing 
so will help Congress and other policymakers to better disrupt their 
operations, protecting innocent Americans from the deadly harm that 
they cause in communities across the country.
  Mr. Speaker, I again urge my colleagues to support this bill, and I 
yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. LUETKEMEYER. Mr. Speaker, I think the bill's sponsor, Ms. De La 
Cruz, and cosponsor Mrs. Beatty, have both articulated very well the 
need for this bill. It is a good idea.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues' support for the bill, and I yield 
back the balance of my time.

[[Page H2471]]

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from Missouri (Mr. Luetkemeyer) that the House suspend the 
rules and pass the bill, H.R. 1076, 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. LUETKEMEYER. 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.

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