Arkansas 2023 Regular Session

Arkansas House Bill HR1048 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

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4	4	State of Arkansas 1
5	5	94th General Assembly 2
6	6	Regular Session, 2023 HR 1048 3
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8	8	By: Representative Richmond 5
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10	10	HOUSE RESOLUTION 7
11	11	TO CALL ON THE UNITE D STATES GOVERNMENT TO DISRUP T 8
12	12	THE COLLABORATION BE TWEEN DRUG CARTELS A ND TERRORIST 9
13	13	ORGANIZATIONS, DECLA RE FENTANYL TO BE A WEAPON OF 10
14	14	MASS DESTRUCTION, AN D DESIGNATE THE MEXI CAN DRUG 11
15	15	CARTELS AS FOREIGN T ERRORIST ORGANIZATIO NS. 12
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17	17	14
18	18	Subtitle 15
19	19	TO CALL ON THE UNITED STA TES GOVERNMENT 16
20	20	TO DECLARE FENTANYL TO BE A WEAPON OF 17
21	21	MASS DESTRUCTION AND TO DESIGNATE THE 18
22	22	MEXICAN DRUG CARTELS AS FOREIGN TERRORIST 19
23	23	ORGANIZATIONS. 20
24	24	21
25	25	WHEREAS, drug overdoses have killed more than one hundred thousand 22
26	26	(100,000) Americans over the past year; and 23
27	27	24
28	28	WHEREAS, sixty-six percent (66%) of the overdose deaths in the past 25
29	29	year were related to synthetic opioids like fentanyl; and 26
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31	31	WHEREAS, the United States Drug Enforcement Administration reports that 28
32	32	Mexican drug cartels, including the Sinaloa Cartel and the Jalisco New 29
33	33	Generation Cartel, import dangerous raw materials from China, use them to 30
34	34	produce deadly synthetic opioids at low cost, and unlawfully transport those 31
35	35	opioids into the United States; and 32
36	36	33
37	37	WHEREAS, both the Sinaloa Cartel and the Jalisco New Generation Cartel 34
38	38	have expanded their deadly business into the United States; and 35
39	39	36 HR1048
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44	44	WHEREAS, these foreign drugs have created twin public -health and 1
45	45	national-security crises of unparalleled magnitude; and 2
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47	47	WHEREAS, over the past decade, Mexic an drug cartels have developed 4
48	48	well-organized armed forces to protect their reprehensible trade from rivals 5
49	49	and from the Mexican government; and 6
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51	51	WHEREAS, the existence of the cartels' armed forces just across our 8
52	52	southwestern land border and the Mexican government’s inability to control 9
53	53	these armed forces pose a threat to our national security far greater than a 10
54	54	typical drug-trafficking enterprise; and 11
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56	56	WHEREAS, the threat to our national security is made greater still by 13
57	57	the known links between the Mexi can drug cartels and foreign terrorist 14
58	58	organizations like Hezbollah, who already intend to do our country harm; and 15
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60	60	WHEREAS, the United States Administrator of the Drug Enforcement 17
61	61	Administration Anne Milgram has emphatically declared that “fentanyl is t he 18
62	62	single deadliest drug threat our nation has ever faced"; and 19
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64	64	WHEREAS, the Washington Post recently reported, “An estimated 196 21
65	65	Americans are now dying each day from the drug — the equivalent of a fully 22
66	66	loaded Boeing 757-200 crashing and killing everyo ne on board"; and 23
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68	68	WHEREAS, the Mexican drug cartels are essentially conducting chemical 25
69	69	warfare on everyday Americans, affecting every community, town, and city in 26
70	70	our nation; and 27
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72	72	WHEREAS, the cartels are importing a chemical agent — synthetic opioids 29
73	73	like fentanyl — into the United States to endanger the safety of the American 30
74	74	people; and 31
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76	76	WHEREAS, the same cartels that produce and traffic this dangerous 33
77	77	chemical are also assassinating rivals and government officials, ambushing 34
78	78	and killing Americans a t the border, and engaging in an armed insurgency 35
79	79	against the Mexican government; and 36 HR1048
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85	85	WHEREAS, the destructive status quo caused by fentanyl and violence 2
86	86	related to fentanyl is costing hundreds of thousands of American lives each 3
87	87	year; and 4
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89	89	WHEREAS, this catastrophic loss of life is inexcusable, yet it has 6
90	90	received an anemic response from the federal government, 7
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92	92	NOW THEREFORE, 9
93	93	BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE NINETY -FOURTH 10
94	94	GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ARKANSAS: 11
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96	96	THAT it is time to respond to these crises because our national 13
97	97	security requires the United States Government to disrupt the collaboration 14
98	98	between drug cartels and terrorist organizations. 15
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100	100	BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED THAT the House of Representatives call on 17
101	101	President Joseph R. Biden, Jr., Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, and the 18
102	102	United States Congress to treat fentanyl as the danger it truly is and 19
103	103	declare it a weapon of mass destruction. 20
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105	105	BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED THAT the House of Representatives request that 22
106	106	the Sinaloa Cartel, the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, and other similarly 23
107	107	situated Mexican drug cartels be designated as foreign terrorist 24
108	108	organizations under 8 U.S.C. § 1189. 25
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110	110	BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED THAT upon adoption, a copy of this resolution be 27
111	111	provided to President Joseph R. Biden, Jr., Secretary of State Anthony 28
112	112	Blinken, Speaker of the House of Representatives Kevin McCarthy, Senate 29
113	113	Majority Leader Charles Schumer, and the members of the Arkansas 30
114	114	Congressional Delegation. 31
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