1 | 1 | | I |
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2 | 2 | | 119THCONGRESS |
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3 | 3 | | 1 |
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4 | 4 | | STSESSION H. R. 2024 |
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5 | 5 | | To establish the Joint Task Force to Counter the Illicit Synthetic Narcotics. |
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6 | 6 | | IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES |
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7 | 7 | | MARCH11, 2025 |
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8 | 8 | | Mr. N |
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9 | 9 | | EWHOUSE(for himself, Mr. MOOLENAAR, Mr. KRISHNAMOORTHI, Mr. |
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10 | 10 | | A |
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11 | 11 | | UCHINCLOSS, Mr. DUNNof Florida, Mr. KHANNA, Mr. JOHNSONof |
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12 | 12 | | South Dakota, and Mr. T |
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13 | 13 | | ORRESof New York) introduced the following |
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14 | 14 | | bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addi- |
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15 | 15 | | tion to the Committees on Financial Services, Foreign Affairs, and Intel- |
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16 | 16 | | ligence (Permanent Select), for a period to be subsequently determined |
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17 | 17 | | by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall |
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18 | 18 | | within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned |
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19 | 19 | | A BILL |
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20 | 20 | | To establish the Joint Task Force to Counter the Illicit |
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21 | 21 | | Synthetic Narcotics. |
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22 | 22 | | Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1 |
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23 | 23 | | tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 |
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24 | 24 | | SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 |
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25 | 25 | | This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Joint Task Force to 4 |
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26 | 26 | | Counter Illicit Synthetic Narcotics Act of 2025’’. 5 |
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27 | 27 | | SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 6 |
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28 | 28 | | Congress finds the following: 7 |
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32 | 32 | | (1) The United States is experiencing a crisis 1 |
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33 | 33 | | of substance abuse and addiction resulting in the 2 |
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34 | 34 | | deaths of hundreds of thousands of people of the 3 |
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35 | 35 | | United States. Most of these deaths involve some 4 |
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36 | 36 | | form of opioids. 5 |
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37 | 37 | | (2) There are many elements of Federal, State, 6 |
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38 | 38 | | territorial, Tribal, and local governments working to 7 |
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39 | 39 | | combat the opioid epidemic. 8 |
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40 | 40 | | (3) No central entity exists at the appropriate 9 |
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41 | 41 | | level whereby different agencies can share informa-10 |
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42 | 42 | | tion and coordinate efforts to combat the opioid cri-11 |
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43 | 43 | | sis. 12 |
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44 | 44 | | SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 13 |
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45 | 45 | | In this Act: 14 |
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46 | 46 | | (1) C |
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47 | 47 | | ONTROLLED SUBSTANCE ; LISTED CHEM-15 |
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48 | 48 | | ICAL.—The terms ‘‘controlled substance’’ and ‘‘listed 16 |
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49 | 49 | | chemical’’ have the meanings given the terms in sec-17 |
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50 | 50 | | tion 102 of the Controlled Substances Act (21 18 |
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51 | 51 | | U.S.C. 802). 19 |
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52 | 52 | | (2) D |
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53 | 53 | | IRECTOR.—The term ‘‘Director’’ means 20 |
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54 | 54 | | the Director of the JTF–ISN. 21 |
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55 | 55 | | (3) I |
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56 | 56 | | LLICIT SYNTHETIC NARCOTIC .—The term 22 |
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57 | 57 | | ‘‘illicit synthetic narcotic’’ means— 23 |
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58 | 58 | | (A) a controlled substance with the excep-24 |
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59 | 59 | | tion of— 25 |
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63 | 63 | | (i) a substance of natural origin; or 1 |
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64 | 64 | | (ii) a medication— 2 |
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65 | 65 | | (I) that is lawful under the laws 3 |
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66 | 66 | | of the United States; and 4 |
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67 | 67 | | (II) for which the Drug Enforce-5 |
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68 | 68 | | ment Administration has provided an 6 |
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69 | 69 | | import permit to the importing orga-7 |
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70 | 70 | | nization for the import of the medica-8 |
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71 | 71 | | tion; 9 |
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72 | 72 | | (B) a listed chemical; and 10 |
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73 | 73 | | (C) an active pharmaceutical ingredient or 11 |
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74 | 74 | | chemical that is used in the production of a 12 |
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75 | 75 | | controlled substance or listed chemical in sub-13 |
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76 | 76 | | paragraphs (A) and (B). 14 |
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77 | 77 | | (4) JTF–ISN.—The term ‘‘JTF–ISN’’ means 15 |
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78 | 78 | | the Joint Task Force to Counter Illicit Synthetic 16 |
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79 | 79 | | Narcotics established under section 4. 17 |
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80 | 80 | | SEC. 4. ESTABLISHMENT OF JOINT TASK FORCE TO 18 |
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81 | 81 | | COUNTER ILLICIT SYNTHETIC NARCOTICS. 19 |
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82 | 82 | | (a) I |
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83 | 83 | | NGENERAL.—There is established a Joint Task 20 |
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84 | 84 | | Force to Counter Illicit Synthetic Narcotics. 21 |
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85 | 85 | | (b) M |
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86 | 86 | | EMBERSHIP.—The JTF–ISN shall be composed 22 |
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87 | 87 | | of representatives of the following entities: 23 |
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88 | 88 | | (1) The Department of Justice, including— 24 |
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89 | 89 | | (A) the Drug Enforcement Administration; 25 |
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93 | 93 | | (B) the Federal Bureau of Investigation; 1 |
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94 | 94 | | and 2 |
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95 | 95 | | (C) assistant United States attorneys and 3 |
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96 | 96 | | trial attorneys, as the Director determines are 4 |
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97 | 97 | | appropriate. 5 |
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98 | 98 | | (2) The Department of the Treasury, includ-6 |
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99 | 99 | | ing— 7 |
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100 | 100 | | (A) the Counter-Fentanyl Strike Force; 8 |
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101 | 101 | | (B) the Internal Revenue Service Criminal 9 |
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102 | 102 | | Investigation; 10 |
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103 | 103 | | (C) the Financial Crimes Enforcement 11 |
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104 | 104 | | Network; 12 |
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105 | 105 | | (D) the Office of Foreign Assets Control; 13 |
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106 | 106 | | and 14 |
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107 | 107 | | (E) Office of Intelligence and Analysis. 15 |
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108 | 108 | | (3) The Department of Homeland Security, in-16 |
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109 | 109 | | cluding— 17 |
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110 | 110 | | (A) Homeland Security Investigations; 18 |
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111 | 111 | | (B) U.S. Customs and Border Protection, 19 |
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112 | 112 | | including the National Targeting Center; 20 |
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113 | 113 | | (C) Immigration and Customs Enforce-21 |
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114 | 114 | | ment; and 22 |
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115 | 115 | | (D) the United States Coast Guard. 23 |
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116 | 116 | | (4) The Department of State. 24 |
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117 | 117 | | (5) The Department of Commerce. 25 |
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121 | 121 | | (6) The Department of Defense. 1 |
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122 | 122 | | (7) The Office of the Director of National Intel-2 |
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123 | 123 | | ligence. 3 |
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124 | 124 | | (8) Any other agency the Director deems appro-4 |
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125 | 125 | | priate. 5 |
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126 | 126 | | (c) D |
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127 | 127 | | IRECTOR.— 6 |
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128 | 128 | | (1) I |
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129 | 129 | | N GENERAL.—The JTF–ISN shall be led 7 |
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130 | 130 | | by a Director who shall be appointed by the Presi-8 |
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131 | 131 | | dent, by and with the advice and consent of the Sen-9 |
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132 | 132 | | ate. 10 |
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133 | 133 | | (2) C |
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134 | 134 | | OMPENSATION.—The Director shall be 11 |
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135 | 135 | | compensated at the rate of basic pay prescribed for 12 |
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136 | 136 | | level II of the Executive Schedule under section 13 |
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137 | 137 | | 5313 of title 5, United States Code. 14 |
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138 | 138 | | (d) R |
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139 | 139 | | EPORTING.— 15 |
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140 | 140 | | (1) I |
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141 | 141 | | N GENERAL.—The Director shall report to 16 |
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142 | 142 | | the Attorney General. 17 |
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143 | 143 | | (2) R |
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144 | 144 | | EPORTS AND BRIEFINGS .—Not later than 18 |
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145 | 145 | | 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act, 19 |
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146 | 146 | | and every 180 days thereafter, the Director shall 20 |
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147 | 147 | | submit to the Committee on the Judiciary and the 21 |
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148 | 148 | | Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental 22 |
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149 | 149 | | Affairs of the Senate and the Committee on the Ju-23 |
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150 | 150 | | diciary and the Committee on Homeland Security of 24 |
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151 | 151 | | the House of Representatives a report, and upon re-25 |
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155 | 155 | | quest of the chairman or ranking member of any 1 |
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156 | 156 | | such committee, a briefing that includes— 2 |
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157 | 157 | | (A) a comprehensive plan covering the 2- 3 |
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158 | 158 | | year period beginning on the date on which the 4 |
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159 | 159 | | report is submitted or the briefing is made, as 5 |
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160 | 160 | | applicable, that includes— 6 |
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161 | 161 | | (i) a description of the goals of the 7 |
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162 | 162 | | JTF–ISN; 8 |
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163 | 163 | | (ii) description of areas of improve-9 |
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164 | 164 | | ment with respect to collaboration among 10 |
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165 | 165 | | the participating agencies; and 11 |
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166 | 166 | | (iii) an estimate of the funding and 12 |
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167 | 167 | | staff needed for the continued work of the 13 |
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168 | 168 | | JTF–ISN; 14 |
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169 | 169 | | (B) a statement of the budget priorities of 15 |
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170 | 170 | | the JTF–ISN for each year in the 2-year pe-16 |
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171 | 171 | | riod; 17 |
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172 | 172 | | (C) a description of the efforts of the 18 |
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173 | 173 | | JTF–ISN to investigate and prosecute illicit 19 |
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174 | 174 | | synthetic narcotics trafficking crimes, including 20 |
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175 | 175 | | raids conducted, assets seized, assets forfeited 21 |
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176 | 176 | | and indictments brought and convictions; and 22 |
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177 | 177 | | (D) efforts of the JTF–ISN to address 23 |
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178 | 178 | | matters related to the role of the People’s Re-24 |
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179 | 179 | | public of China in the opioids crisis. 25 |
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183 | 183 | | SEC. 5. PRIMARY MISSIONS OF JTF–ISN. 1 |
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184 | 184 | | The primary mission of the JTF–ISN shall be to di-2 |
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185 | 185 | | rect counter opioid and synthetic narcotics activities, in-3 |
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186 | 186 | | cluding disruption activities and associated investigations, 4 |
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187 | 187 | | and provide strategic coordination on related activities, in-5 |
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188 | 188 | | cluding sanctions enforcement, conducting joint oper-6 |
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189 | 189 | | ations, raids, and other tactical actions in coordination 7 |
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190 | 190 | | with Federal, State, territorial, Tribal, and local law en-8 |
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191 | 191 | | forcement agencies through memorandums of under-9 |
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192 | 192 | | standing such as legal actions against traffickers and for-10 |
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193 | 193 | | eign entities, particularly in the People’s Republic of 11 |
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194 | 194 | | China, complicit in the opioid trade. 12 |
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195 | 195 | | SEC. 6. AUTHORITY AND LIMITATIONS. 13 |
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196 | 196 | | (a) A |
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197 | 197 | | UTHORITY.—The JTF–ISN shall be vested with 14 |
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198 | 198 | | power and authority to— 15 |
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199 | 199 | | (1) investigate and prosecute violations of Fed-16 |
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200 | 200 | | eral law relating to— 17 |
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201 | 201 | | (A) the trafficking of illicit synthetic nar-18 |
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202 | 202 | | cotics and related offenses, such as money laun-19 |
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203 | 203 | | dering and other financial crimes; and 20 |
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204 | 204 | | (B) smuggling, false statements, and any 21 |
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205 | 205 | | matter that arises or might arises directly from 22 |
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206 | 206 | | its investigations; 23 |
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207 | 207 | | (2) in the case of a prosecution relating to non- 24 |
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208 | 208 | | United States persons outside of the United States, 25 |
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209 | 209 | | bring a case— 26 |
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213 | 213 | | (A) in the district where the crime was 1 |
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214 | 214 | | committed; 2 |
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215 | 215 | | (B) in the district where the Drug En-3 |
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216 | 216 | | forcement Administration is located; or 4 |
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217 | 217 | | (C) in a district described in section 3238 5 |
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218 | 218 | | of title 18, United States Code; 6 |
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219 | 219 | | (3) facilitate the sharing of information between 7 |
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220 | 220 | | members of the JTF–ISN in a timely manner; 8 |
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221 | 221 | | (4) establish protocols for interagency referrals 9 |
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222 | 222 | | and procedures for referring cases to prosecuting 10 |
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223 | 223 | | and sanctions designating authorities as appropriate; 11 |
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224 | 224 | | (5) develop strategies to address the role of the 12 |
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225 | 225 | | People’s Republic of China in the illicit synthetic 13 |
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226 | 226 | | narcotics crisis; 14 |
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227 | 227 | | (6) work cooperatively with State, territorial, 15 |
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228 | 228 | | Tribal, and local law enforcement agencies to combat 16 |
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229 | 229 | | and prosecute trafficking of illicit synthetic nar-17 |
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230 | 230 | | cotics; 18 |
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231 | 231 | | (7) assess and improve existing methods of in-19 |
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232 | 232 | | vestigating and prosecuting illicit synthetic narcotics 20 |
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233 | 233 | | trafficking crimes; and 21 |
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234 | 234 | | (8) conduct direct operational activities, includ-22 |
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235 | 235 | | ing joint operations, raids, and other tactical ac-23 |
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236 | 236 | | tions, to disrupt illicit synthetic narcotics trafficking 24 |
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237 | 237 | | networks and bring offenders to justice. 25 |
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241 | 241 | | (b) LIMITATION.—The Director may not direct the 1 |
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242 | 242 | | execution of operational activities outside the scope of 2 |
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243 | 243 | | counter-opioid efforts related to illicit synthetic narcotics 3 |
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244 | 244 | | suppliers and their networks pursuant to the primary mis-4 |
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245 | 245 | | sions of the JTF–ISN. 5 |
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246 | 246 | | SEC. 7. INTERNAL STRUCTURE OF JTF–ISN. 6 |
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247 | 247 | | (a) I |
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248 | 248 | | NTELLIGENCE COORDINATION.—The Director 7 |
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249 | 249 | | shall establish and maintain within the JTF–ISN an intel-8 |
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250 | 250 | | ligence coordination element, which shall have primary re-9 |
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251 | 251 | | sponsibility within the United States Government for anal-10 |
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252 | 252 | | ysis of illicit synthetic narcotics and related trafficking or-11 |
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253 | 253 | | ganizations from all sources of intelligence, whether col-12 |
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254 | 254 | | lected inside or outside the United States. 13 |
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255 | 255 | | (b) S |
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256 | 256 | | TRATEGICOPERATIONALPLANNING.— 14 |
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257 | 257 | | (1) I |
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258 | 258 | | N GENERAL.—The Director shall establish 15 |
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259 | 259 | | and maintain within the JTF–ISN a strategic oper-16 |
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260 | 260 | | ational planning element, which shall provide stra-17 |
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261 | 261 | | tegic operational plans for counter-opioid operations 18 |
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262 | 262 | | conducted by the United States Government, and in-19 |
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263 | 263 | | clude the mission, objectives to be achieved, tasks to 20 |
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264 | 264 | | be performed, interagency coordination of oper-21 |
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265 | 265 | | ational activities, and the assignment of roles and 22 |
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266 | 266 | | responsibilities. 23 |
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267 | 267 | | (2) M |
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268 | 268 | | ONITORING.—The Director shall monitor 24 |
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269 | 269 | | the implementation of strategic operational plans 25 |
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273 | 273 | | and shall obtain information from each element of 1 |
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274 | 274 | | the intelligence community, and from each other de-2 |
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275 | 275 | | partment, agency, or element of the United States 3 |
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276 | 276 | | Government relevant for monitoring the progress of 4 |
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277 | 277 | | such entity in implementing such plans. 5 |
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278 | 278 | | (c) O |
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279 | 279 | | FFICE OFGENERALCOUNSEL.—The Director 6 |
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280 | 280 | | shall establish and maintain within the JTF–ISN an Of-7 |
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281 | 281 | | fice of General Counsel, which shall provide legal advice 8 |
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282 | 282 | | in support of the JTF–ISN and its directorates. 9 |
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283 | 283 | | (d) O |
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284 | 284 | | FFICE OFCONGRESSIONALCOORDINATION.— 10 |
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285 | 285 | | The Director shall establish and maintain within the 11 |
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286 | 286 | | JTF–ISN an Office of Congressional Coordination, which 12 |
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287 | 287 | | shall coordinate communications of the JFT–ISN with 13 |
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288 | 288 | | Congress and ensure compliance with reporting and brief-14 |
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289 | 289 | | ing obligations under this Act. 15 |
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290 | 290 | | SEC. 8. RETENTION OF EXISTING AUTHORITIES. 16 |
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291 | 291 | | Each member of the JTF–ISN shall maintain their 17 |
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292 | 292 | | existing authorities to investigate and prosecute traf-18 |
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293 | 293 | | ficking crimes relating to illicit synthetic narcotics. 19 |
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294 | 294 | | SEC. 9. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION. 20 |
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295 | 295 | | Nothing in this Act shall be construed to authorize 21 |
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296 | 296 | | the JTF–ISN to investigate, target, or prosecute individ-22 |
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297 | 297 | | uals for personal drug use or to pursue enforcement ac-23 |
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301 | 301 | | tions against low-level drug dealing that does not involve 1 |
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302 | 302 | | significant connections to larger trafficking networks. 2 |
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303 | 303 | | Æ |
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