[Senate Report 116-244]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]


                                                       Calendar No. 502

116th Congress }                                             { Report
                              SENATE     
  2d Session   }                                             { 116-244                 
_______________________________________________________________________


                    DHS OPIOID DETECTION RESILIENCE 
                              ACT OF 2019

                               __________

                              R E P O R T

                                OF THE

                   COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY AND

                          GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS

                          UNITED STATES SENATE

                              TO ACCOMPANY

                               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

             
             
             [GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]


                 July 29, 2020.--Ordered to be printed
                 
                                __________
                
                 U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE           
 
99-101                  WASHINGTON : 2020 
                 
                 
                 
        COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY AND GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS

                    RON JOHNSON, Wisconsin, Chairman
ROB PORTMAN, Ohio                    GARY C. PETERS, Michigan
RAND PAUL, Kentucky                  THOMAS R. CARPER, Delaware
JAMES LANKFORD, Oklahoma             MAGGIE HASSAN, New Hampshire
MITT ROMNEY, Utah                    KAMALA D. HARRIS, California
RICK SCOTT, Florida                  KYRSTEN SINEMA, Arizona
MICHAEL B. ENZI, Wyoming             JACKY ROSEN, Nevada
JOSH HAWLEY, Missouri

                Gabrielle D'Adamo Singer, Staff Director
                   Joseph C. Folio III, Chief Counsel
           Brian P. Kennedy, Senior Professional Staff Member
                 Caroline K. Bender, Research Assistant
               David M. Weinberg, Minority Staff Director
               Zachary I. Schram, Minority Chief Counsel
                    Roy S. Awabdeh, Minority Counsel
                     Laura W. Kilbride, Chief Clerk
                     
                     
                     


                                                       Calendar No. 502
116th Congress }                                              { Report
                                 SENATE
 2d Session    }                                              { 116-244

======================================================================


 
              DHS OPIOID DETECTION RESILIENCE ACT OF 2019

                                _______
                                

                 July 29, 2020.--Ordered to be printed

                                _______
                                

 Mr. Johnson, from the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental 
                    Affairs, submitted the following

                              R E P O R T

                        [To accompany H.R. 4761]

      [Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]

    The Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental 
Affairs, to which was referred 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, having considered the same, reports favorably thereon 
without amendment and recommends that the bill do pass.

                                CONTENTS

                                                                   Page
  I. Purpose and Summary..............................................1
 II. Background and Need for the Legislation..........................2
III. Legislative History..............................................3
 IV. Section-by-Section Analysis......................................3
  V. Evaluation of Regulatory Impact..................................4
 VI. Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate........................4
VII. Changes in Existing Law Made by the Act, as Reported.............5

                         I. Purpose and Summary

    The purpose of H.R. 4761, the DHS Opioid Detection 
Resilience Act of 2019, is to ensure U.S. Customs and Border 
Protection (CBP) officers and other personnel within the 
Department of Homeland Security (DHS or the Department) have 
access to synthetic opioid detection equipment capable of 
detecting synthetic opioids below ten percent purity levels.
    Specifically, the Act requires the CBP Commissioner to 
implement a strategy to make certain that chemical screening 
devices used in operational environments are able to detect 
narcotics with purity levels of ten percent or less or provide 
ports of entry with alternative detection methods capable of 
detecting narcotics at lower purity levels. The Act also 
requires CBP to test chemical screening devices prior to 
procurement. Finally, the Act directs the Secretary of Homeland 
Security to implement a plan for the long-term development of a 
centralized spectral database for chemical screening devices. 
Each of the above requirements must be implemented within 180 
days after enactment of this Act.

              II. Background and the Need for Legislation

    During 2017, opioids (including synthetic opioids, such as 
fentanyl) contributed to about 68 percent, or 47,600, of total 
drug overdose deaths in the United States.\1\ This is six times 
higher than the number of opioid related deaths in 1999.\2\ In 
response to the sharp rise in opioid-related deaths, on October 
26, 2017, President Donald Trump declared the opioid crisis a 
national health emergency and directed Federal agencies to 
``use every appropriate emergency authority to fight the opioid 
crisis''.\3\ One important component in reducing the number of 
opioid-related deaths is to reduce the availability of the drug 
by curbing the flow entering our country.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \1\CDC, Opioid Overdose: Drug Overdose Deaths, https://www.cdc.gov/
drugoverdose/data/statedeaths.html.
    \2\CDC, Opioid Overdose: Understanding the Epidemic, https://
www.cdc.gov/drugoverdose/epidemic/index.html.
    \3\Remarks, The White House, Remarks by President Trump on 
Combatting Drug Demand and the Opioid Crisis (Oct. 26, 2017), https://
www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/remarks-president-trump-
combatting-drug-demand-opioid-crisis/.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    According to the Drug Enforcement Administration's (DEA) 
2019 National Drug Threat Assessment, fentanyl smuggling into 
the United States occurs primarily through the southwest border 
and through international mail.\4\ The DEA explained that 
traffickers smuggle fentanyl crossing into the U.S. from Mexico 
in large quantities ``that are low in purity (less than ten 
percent pure on average).''\5\ Furthermore, during 2018, the 
average purity level for fentanyl seized in the U.S. was 5.3 
percent pure, showing the importance of detecting fentanyl and 
other synthetic opioids with lower purity levels.\6\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \4\U.S. Dep't of Justice Drug Enforcement Administration, 2019 
National Drug Threat Assessment (Dec. 2019), available at https://
www.dea.gov/sites/default/files/2020-01/2019-NDTA-final-01-14-
2020_Low_Web-DIR-007-20_2019.pdf.
    \5\Id.
    \6\Id.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    In CBP's March 2019 Strategy to Combat Opioids, the agency 
identified the ability of manufacturers to manipulate fentanyl 
and therefore create a multitude of analogs as one of the major 
problems hindering the ability of CBP to detect fentanyl.\7\ 
CBP has spent more than $25 million since 2016 on small-scale 
screening devices to detect opioids.\8\ During fiscal year 
2019, CBP seized 2,771 pounds of fentanyl, up from 2,233 pounds 
in fiscal year 2018.\9\ However, a September 2019 DHS Office of 
Inspector General (OIG) report, Limitations of CBP OFO's 
Screening Device Used to Identify Fentanyl and Other Narcotics, 
found that the devices CBP uses in the field to detect fentanyl 
were unable to identify fentanyl with purity levels at or below 
ten percent.\10\ Furthermore, the DHS OIG found that CBP Office 
of Field Operations (OFO) did not perform comprehensive testing 
on the devices before acquisition.\11\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \7\U.S. Dep't of Homeland Security, U.S. Customs and Border 
Protection, CBP Strategy to Combat Opioids (March 5, 2019), available 
at https://www.cbp.gov/sites/default/files/assets/documents/2019-Mar/
CBP-Opioid-Strategy-508.pdf.
    \8\U.S. Dep't of Homeland Sec., Office of the Inspector General, 
Limitations of CBP OFO's Screening Device Used to Identify Fentanyl and 
Other Narcotics (Sept. 30, 2019), available at https://www.oig.dhs.gov/
sites/default/files/assets/2019-10/OIG-19-67-Sep19.pdf.
    \9\CBP Enforcement Statistics FY 2019, U.S. Customs and Border 
Protection, https://www.cbp.gov/newsroom/stats/cbp-enforcement-
statistics-fy2019.
    \10\U.S. Dep't of Homeland Sec., Office of the Inspector General, 
Limitations of CBP OFO's Screening Device Used to Identify Fentanyl and 
Other Narcotics (Sept. 30, 2019), available at https://www.oig.dhs.gov/
sites/default/files/assets/2019-10/OIG-19-67-Sep19.pdf.
    \11\Id.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    H.R. 4761 addresses deficiencies in CBP's opioid detection 
capabilities by requiring the agency to test new chemical 
screening devices before acquisition to understand the ability 
of the devices to detect narcotics at various purity levels. 
The Act also requires the Commissioner of CBP to create and 
implement a strategy for ensuring that chemical screening 
devices used in the field can detect narcotics with purity 
levels below ten percent. This legislation strengthens CBP's 
ability to detect narcotics as they enter the U.S. and curb the 
flow of these narcotics entering our communities.
    Finally, because screening devices are only as robust as 
their libraries, and with new analogs of synthetic opioids 
being regularly discovered, it is important to keep an updated 
library for agents and officers in the field. H.R. 4761 
requires DHS to implement a plan for developing a centralized 
database for chemical screening devices as new analogs of 
synthetic opioids are identified.

                        III. Legislative History

    Representative Clay Higgins (R-LA) introduced H.R. 4761 on 
October 18, 2019. The House of Representatives passed the Act 
under suspension of the rules by a roll call vote (393-1) on 
December 9, 2019. The Act was referred to the Committee on 
Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.
    The Committee considered H.R. 4761 at a business meeting on 
March 11, 2020. The Act was ordered reported favorably en bloc 
by voice vote. Senators Johnson, Portman, Lankford, Romney, 
Scott, Enzi, Hawley, Peters, Carper, Hassan, Harris, Sinema, 
and Rosen were present for the vote.

        IV. Section-by-Section Analysis of the Act, as Reported


Section 1. Short title

    This section establishes the short title of the Act as the 
``DHS Opioid Detection Resilience Act of 2019.''

Section 2. Strategy to ensure detection of all opioid purity levels at 
        ports of entry

    This section requires the CBP Commissioner to implement a 
strategy for ensuring that chemical devices at ports of entry 
can detect narcotics with purity levels of ten percent or less, 
or provide ports of entry with alternative methods for 
detecting lower purity levels. In addition, CBP is required to 
test any new chemical screening devices before acquisition in 
order to determine the ability of the devices to identify 
various purity levels of narcotics.

Section 3. Plan to ensure opioid detection equipment resiliency

    This section requires the Secretary of Homeland Security to 
implement a plan for the development of a centralized database 
for chemical screening devices. This plan must include 
information on how new spectra are to be collected, stored and 
distributed to chemical screening devices. Also, the plan must 
identify parties to be responsible for updating and maintaining 
this database.

                   V. Evaluation of Regulatory Impact

    Pursuant to the requirements of paragraph 11(b) of rule 
XXVI of the Standing Rules of the Senate, the Committee has 
considered the regulatory impact of this Act and determined 
that the Act will have no regulatory impact within the meaning 
of the rules. The Committee agrees with the Congressional 
Budget Office's statement that the Act contains no 
intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as defined in the 
Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (UMRA) and would impose no costs 
on state, local, or tribal governments.

             VI. Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate

                                     U.S. Congress,
                               Congressional Budget Office,
                                     Washington, DC, July 23, 2020.
Hon. Ron Johnson,
Chairman, Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, U.S. 
        Senate, Washington, DC.
    Dear Mr. Chairman: The Congressional Budget Office has 
prepared the enclosed cost estimate for H.R. 4761, the DHS 
Opioid Detection Resilience Act of 2019.
    If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be 
pleased to provide them. The CBO staff contact is Madeleine 
Fox.
            Sincerely,
                                         Phillip L. Swagel,
                                                          Director.
    Enclosure.

    
          [GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
    

    H.R. 4761 would require Customs and Border Protection (CBP) 
to develop a strategy to ensure that opioid screening devices 
can detect narcotics at certain purity levels. The act also 
would require CBP to develop a plan to ensure the longevity of 
those devices.
    CBP is currently carrying out activities similar to those 
required by H.R. 4761. Thus, CBO estimates that implementing 
the act would not have a significant cost; any spending would 
be subject to the availability of appropriated funds.
    On January 15, 2020, CBO transmitted a cost estimate for 
H.R. 4761, the DHS Opioid Detection Resilience Act of 2019, as 
passed by the House of Representatives on December 9, 2019. The 
two versions of the legislation are similar, and CBO's 
estimates of their budgetary effects are the same.
    The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Madeleine Fox. 
The estimate was reviewed by H. Samuel Papenfuss, Deputy 
Director of Budget Analysis.

       VII. Changes in Existing Law Made by the Act, as Reported

    Because this legislation would not repeal or amend any 
provision of current law, it would not make changes in existing 
law within the meaning of clauses (a) and (b) of paragraph 12 
of rule XXVI of the Standing Rules of the Senate.