119-hr1238

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1238 Introduced in House

    (IH) ]

<DOC>

119th CONGRESS
 1st Session
 H. R. 1238

 To authorize the President of the United States to issue letters of 
 marque and reprisal with respect to acts of aggression against the 
 United States by a member of a cartel, or a member of a cartel-linked 
 organization, or any conspirator associated with a cartel, and for 
 other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

 February 12, 2025

 Mr. Burchett (for himself and Mr. Messmer) introduced the following 
 bill; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

 A BILL

 To authorize the President of the United States to issue letters of 
 marque and reprisal with respect to acts of aggression against the 
 United States by a member of a cartel, or a member of a cartel-linked 
 organization, or any conspirator associated with a cartel, and for 
 other purposes.

 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

 This Act may be cited as the ``Cartel Marque and Reprisal 
Authorization Act of 2025''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

 The Congress finds the following:

    (1) Article I, 

Section 8 of the Constitution grants the 
 Congress the power to grant letters of marque and reprisal to 
 punish, deter, and prevent the acts of aggression and 
 depredations and other acts of war committed by cartel 
 conspirators.

    (2) Cartels present an unusual and extraordinary threat to 
 national security and foreign policy of the United States.

SEC. 3. ISSUANCE OF LETTERS OF MARQUE AND REPRISAL.

    (a) Authority of President.--The President of the United States is 
authorized and requested to commission, under officially issued letters 
of marque and reprisal, so many of privately armed and equipped persons 
and entities as, in the judgment of the President, the service may 
require, with suitable instructions to the leaders thereof, to employ 
all means reasonably necessary to seize outside the geographic 
boundaries of the United States and its territories the person and 
property of any individual who the President determines is a member of 
a cartel, a member of a cartel-linked organization, or a conspirator 
associated with a cartel or a cartel-linked organization, who is 
responsible for an act of aggression against the United States.

    (b) Security Bonds.--No letter of marque and reprisal shall be 
issued by the President without requiring the posting of a security 
bond in such amount as the President shall determine is sufficient to 
ensure that the letter be executed according to the terms and 
conditions thereof.
            (c) Definition of Cartel.--In this section, the term ``cartel'' 
means an organization that--

    (1) is described in 

section 1 of the executive order titled 
 ``Designating Cartels And Other Organizations As Foreign 
 Terrorist Organizations and Specially Designated Global 
 Terrorists'' and dated January 20, 2025; or

    (2) is a ``transnational criminal organization'' under the 
 meaning given that term in 

section 3003

    (5) of the Public Law 
 118-50 (21 U.S.C. 2341

    (5) ).
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