Chairman Goodlatte Statement on Markup of H.R. 3380, the "Transnational Drug Trafficking Act of 2015"

Chairman Goodlatte: Today we consider H.R. 3380, the “Transnational Drug Trafficking Act of 2015,” which was introduced by our Judiciary Committee colleagues, Congressman Tom Marino of Pennsylvania and Congressman Pedro Pierluisi of Puerto Rico.  This legislation makes important changes to our federal drug laws to ensure that law enforcement has the tools it needs to combat extraterritorial drug trafficking.  It is also the first bill this Committee will consider as part of the House’s comprehensive response to the ongoing opioid epidemic that plagues our nation. It is often said in Washington that federal law cannot keep up with lawbreakers.  H.R. 3380 is a timely and appropriate response to that reality.  In recent years, drug organizations in Colombia, Peru, and other Central and South American “source nations” have increasingly relied upon Mexican drug trafficking organizations to import their narcotics into the United States. Under current law, it is very difficult for federal prosecutors to make cases against such “source-nation” manufacturers, wholesale distributors, brokers, and transporters, since direct evidence of their intent that the drugs are bound for the United States is difficult, if not impossible, to develop.  The result is that “source-nation” malefactors, who produce and distribute illegal narcotics, escape prosecution under U.S. law because they feign ignorance of the drugs’ ultimate destination. This has happened with increasing regularity over the past several years, and it is Congress’s responsibility to address this problem.  H.R. 3380 does so by amending the Controlled Substances Import and Export Act to stipulate that when a narcotics trafficker or manufacturer has a “reasonable cause to believe” that the illegal narcotics he produces or traffics will be sent into the U.S., then the U.S. may prosecute him.  This amendment will permit federal prosecutors to pursue extraterritorial drug traffickers who are not directly smuggling drugs into the United States, but who facilitate it. H.R. 3380 also amends the Import/Export Act to address the increasingly prevalent problem of trafficking in “listed chemicals,” which are chemicals regulated by the DEA because they are used in the manufacture of controlled substances.  During a recent CODEL to South and Central America, several of my colleagues and I heard firsthand how drug trafficking organizations have relied upon shadowy chemical suppliers in the manufacture of methamphetamine, heroin, cocaine, and other dangerous narcotics.  H.R. 3380 would enable federal prosecutors to reach chemical traffickers who knowingly facilitate and benefit from the illicit production and smuggling of listed chemicals. Both of these amendments will allow federal law enforcement to go after, not the lowly drug mules moving drugs into the United States, but the criminals who facilitate at a high level, within the source nation, the trafficking of narcotics and precursor chemicals into the United States.  As one law enforcement official has said to me, it is better to fight this battle there than here. In addition to these important reforms, H.R. 3380 also amends the criminal counterfeit law to include an intent requirement for trafficking in counterfeit drugs. Throughout my chairmanship, I have paid special attention to the need for appropriate mens rea protections in federal law, and have stressed that Congress must speak clearly on the matter when writing criminal law. Though this is a small change, it is an important one, as are the other changes in this legislation, and I am pleased to support them today. H.R. 3380 is bipartisan, bicameral, responsible legislation.  Earlier this year the Senate passed, by unanimous consent, an identical bill sponsored by Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein of California.  It is time for the House to act. I urge my colleagues to support this important legislation. For more on today’s markup, click here.