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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
House Memorial 1
A memorial to the United States Department of State, 2
urging the United States Secretary of State to 3
designate drug cartels as Foreign Terrorist 4
Organizations. 5
6
WHEREAS, the land and maritime borders of the United States 7
present unique challenges and threats to the national security 8
of the country, and 9
WHEREAS, drug cartels engage in illicit activities, 10
including human smuggling, human trafficking, weapons 11
trafficking, money laundering, drug smuggling, extortion, and 12
kidnapping, which activities have breached the borders of the 13
United States, and 14
WHEREAS, as an example of the heinous activities of the 15
drug cartels, in March 2023, south of the Texas border, one dr ug 16
cartel claimed responsibility for the armed abduction and 17
killing of American citizens who were traveling in Mexico, and 18
WHEREAS, drug cartels have been responsible for the export 19
and distribution to the United States of wholesale amounts of 20
fentanyl, methamphetamine, heroin, cocaine, and other illicit 21
substances, which has caused tens of thousands of drug -related 22
overdoses and deaths in this country, and 23
WHEREAS, during federal fiscal year 2023, United States 24
Customs and Border Protection seized 27,00 0 pounds of fentanyl 25
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
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and millions of fentanyl pills, enough to kill every American 26
several times over, and this amount represents a mere 10 to 15 27
percent of the fentanyl actually sent across the border into the 28
United States each year, and 29
WHEREAS, drug cartels engage in the practice of human 30
smuggling, which poses a substantial threat to the United States 31
by creating conduits that allow contraband and persons seeking 32
to harm the United States to clandestinely enter this country, 33
and 34
WHEREAS, during feder al fiscal year 2023, United States 35
Customs and Border Protection encountered 172 individuals on the 36
terrorist watchlist, nearly double the previous year and more 37
than the past 6 years combined, and 38
WHEREAS, Section 219 of the Immigration and Nationality A ct 39
authorizes the United States Secretary of State, in consultation 40
with the Secretary of the Treasury and the Attorney General, to 41
designate an organization as a Foreign Terrorist Organization 42
when certain criteria are met, and 43
WHEREAS, drug cartels meet the criteria to be designated as 44
Foreign Terrorist Organizations, given they are foreign in 45
nature, engage in or retain the capability and intent to engage 46
in terrorism, and threaten the security, foreign relations, and 47
economic interests of the United St ates, NOW, THEREFORE, 48
49
Be It Resolved by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 50
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That the Florida Legislature respectfully urges the United 52
States Secretary of State to designate drug cartels as Foreign 53
Terrorist Organizations so that appropriate me ans may be 54
initiated to mitigate and, eventually, eliminate their 55
operations. 56
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Secretary of State dispatch 57
copies of this memorial to the President of the United States, 58
the President of the United States Senate, the Speaker of the 59
United States House of Representatives, the United States 60
Secretary of State, and each member of the Florida delegation to 61
the United States Congress. 62