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State of Arkansas 1
94th General Assembly 2
Regular Session, 2023 HR 1048 3
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By: Representative Richmond 5
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HOUSE RESOLUTION 7
TO CALL ON THE UNITE D STATES GOVERNMENT TO DISRUP T 8
THE COLLABORATION BE TWEEN DRUG CARTELS A ND TERRORIST 9
ORGANIZATIONS, DECLA RE FENTANYL TO BE A WEAPON OF 10
MASS DESTRUCTION, AN D DESIGNATE THE MEXI CAN DRUG 11
CARTELS AS FOREIGN T ERRORIST ORGANIZATIO NS. 12
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Subtitle 15
TO CALL ON THE UNITED STA TES GOVERNMENT 16
TO DECLARE FENTANYL TO BE A WEAPON OF 17
MASS DESTRUCTION AND TO DESIGNATE THE 18
MEXICAN DRUG CARTELS AS FOREIGN TERRORIST 19
ORGANIZATIONS. 20
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WHEREAS, drug overdoses have killed more than one hundred thousand 22
(100,000) Americans over the past year; and 23
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WHEREAS, sixty-six percent (66%) of the overdose deaths in the past 25
year were related to synthetic opioids like fentanyl; and 26
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WHEREAS, the United States Drug Enforcement Administration reports that 28
Mexican drug cartels, including the Sinaloa Cartel and the Jalisco New 29
Generation Cartel, import dangerous raw materials from China, use them to 30
produce deadly synthetic opioids at low cost, and unlawfully transport those 31
opioids into the United States; and 32
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WHEREAS, both the Sinaloa Cartel and the Jalisco New Generation Cartel 34
have expanded their deadly business into the United States; and 35
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WHEREAS, these foreign drugs have created twin public -health and 1
national-security crises of unparalleled magnitude; and 2
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WHEREAS, over the past decade, Mexic an drug cartels have developed 4
well-organized armed forces to protect their reprehensible trade from rivals 5
and from the Mexican government; and 6
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WHEREAS, the existence of the cartels' armed forces just across our 8
southwestern land border and the Mexican government’s inability to control 9
these armed forces pose a threat to our national security far greater than a 10
typical drug-trafficking enterprise; and 11
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WHEREAS, the threat to our national security is made greater still by 13
the known links between the Mexi can drug cartels and foreign terrorist 14
organizations like Hezbollah, who already intend to do our country harm; and 15
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WHEREAS, the United States Administrator of the Drug Enforcement 17
Administration Anne Milgram has emphatically declared that “fentanyl is t he 18
single deadliest drug threat our nation has ever faced"; and 19
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WHEREAS, the Washington Post recently reported, “An estimated 196 21
Americans are now dying each day from the drug — the equivalent of a fully 22
loaded Boeing 757-200 crashing and killing everyo ne on board"; and 23
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WHEREAS, the Mexican drug cartels are essentially conducting chemical 25
warfare on everyday Americans, affecting every community, town, and city in 26
our nation; and 27
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WHEREAS, the cartels are importing a chemical agent — synthetic opioids 29
like fentanyl — into the United States to endanger the safety of the American 30
people; and 31
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WHEREAS, the same cartels that produce and traffic this dangerous 33
chemical are also assassinating rivals and government officials, ambushing 34
and killing Americans a t the border, and engaging in an armed insurgency 35
against the Mexican government; and 36 HR1048
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WHEREAS, the destructive status quo caused by fentanyl and violence 2
related to fentanyl is costing hundreds of thousands of American lives each 3
year; and 4
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WHEREAS, this catastrophic loss of life is inexcusable, yet it has 6
received an anemic response from the federal government, 7
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NOW THEREFORE, 9
BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE NINETY -FOURTH 10
GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ARKANSAS: 11
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THAT it is time to respond to these crises because our national 13
security requires the United States Government to disrupt the collaboration 14
between drug cartels and terrorist organizations. 15
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BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED THAT the House of Representatives call on 17
President Joseph R. Biden, Jr., Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, and the 18
United States Congress to treat fentanyl as the danger it truly is and 19
declare it a weapon of mass destruction. 20
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BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED THAT the House of Representatives request that 22
the Sinaloa Cartel, the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, and other similarly 23
situated Mexican drug cartels be designated as foreign terrorist 24
organizations under 8 U.S.C. § 1189. 25
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BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED THAT upon adoption, a copy of this resolution be 27
provided to President Joseph R. Biden, Jr., Secretary of State Anthony 28
Blinken, Speaker of the House of Representatives Kevin McCarthy, Senate 29
Majority Leader Charles Schumer, and the members of the Arkansas 30
Congressional Delegation. 31
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