119-s938

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 938 Introduced in Senate

    (IS) ]

<DOC>

119th CONGRESS
 1st Session
 S. 938

 To establish the Joint Task Force to Counter the Illicit Synthetic 
 Narcotics.

_______________________________________________________________________

 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

 March 11 (legislative day, March 10), 2025

 Mr. McCormick (for himself, Mr. Coons, Mrs. Britt, and Mr. Fetterman) 
introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the 
 Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

 A BILL

 To establish the Joint Task Force to Counter the Illicit Synthetic 
 Narcotics.

 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 ``Joint Task Force to Counter Illicit 
Synthetic Narcotics Act of 2025''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

 Congress finds the following:

    (1) The United States is experiencing a crisis of substance 
 abuse and addiction resulting in the deaths of hundreds of 
 thousands of people of the United States. Most of these deaths 
 involve some form of opioids.

    (2) There are many elements of Federal, State, territorial, 
 Tribal, and local governments working to combat the opioid 
 epidemic.

    (3) No central entity exists at the appropriate level 
 whereby different agencies can share information and coordinate 
 efforts to combat the opioid crisis.

SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

 In this Act:

    (1) Controlled substance; listed chemical.--The terms 
 ``controlled substance'' and ``listed chemical'' have the 
 meanings given the terms in 

section 102 of the Controlled 
 Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 802).

    (2) Director.--The term ``Director'' means the Director of 
 the JTF-ISN.

    (3) Illicit synthetic narcotic.--The term ``illicit 
 synthetic narcotic'' means--
        (A) a controlled substance with the exception of--
            (i) a substance of natural origin; or
            (ii) a medication--
            (I) that is lawful under the laws 
 of the United States; and
            (II) for which the Drug Enforcement 
 Administration has provided an import 
 permit to the importing organization 
 for the import of the medication;
        (B) a listed chemical; and
            (C) an active pharmaceutical ingredient or chemical 
 that is used in the production of a controlled 
 substance or listed chemical in subparagraphs
        (A) and
        (B) .

    (4) JTF-ISN.--The term ``JTF-ISN'' means the Joint Task 
 Force to Counter Illicit Synthetic Narcotics established under 
 

section 4.

SEC. 4. ESTABLISHMENT OF JOINT TASK FORCE TO COUNTER ILLICIT SYNTHETIC 
 NARCOTICS.

    (a) In General.--There is established a Joint Task Force to Counter 
Illicit Synthetic Narcotics.

    (b) Membership.--The JTF-ISN shall be composed of representatives 
of the following entities:

    (1) The Department of Justice, including--
        (A) the Drug Enforcement Administration;
        (B) the Federal Bureau of Investigation; and
            (C) assistant United States attorneys and trial 
 attorneys, as the Director determines are appropriate.

    (2) The Department of the Treasury, including--
        (A) the Counter-Fentanyl Strike Force;
        (B) the Internal Revenue Service Criminal 
 Investigation;
            (C) the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network;
            (D) the Office of Foreign Assets Control; and
        (E) Office of Intelligence and Analysis.

    (3) The Department of Homeland Security, including--
        (A) Homeland Security Investigations;
        (B) U.S. Customs and Border Protection, including 
 the National Targeting Center;
            (C) Immigration and Customs Enforcement; and
            (D) the United States Coast Guard.

    (4) The Department of State.

    (5) The Department of Commerce.

    (6) The Department of Defense.

    (7) The Office of the Director of National Intelligence.

    (8) Any other agency the Director deems appropriate.
            (c) Director.--

    (1) In general.--The JTF-ISN shall be led by a Director who 
 shall be appointed by the President, by and with the advice and 
 consent of the Senate.

    (2) Compensation.--The Director shall be compensated at the 
 rate of basic pay prescribed for level II of the Executive 
 Schedule under 

section 5313 of title 5, United States Code.
            (d) Reporting.--

    (1) In general.--The Director shall report to the Attorney 
 General.

    (2) Reports and briefings.--Not later than 180 days after 
 the date of enactment of this Act, and every 180 days 
 thereafter, the Director shall submit to the Committee on the 
 Judiciary and the Committee on Homeland Security and 
 Governmental Affairs of the Senate and the Committee on the 
 Judiciary and the Committee on Homeland Security of the House 
 of Representatives a report, and upon request of the chairman 
 or ranking member of any such committee, a briefing that 
 includes--
        (A) a comprehensive plan covering the 2-year period 
 beginning on the date on which the report is submitted 
 or the briefing is made, as applicable, that includes--
            (i) a description of the goals of the JTF-
 ISN;
            (ii) description of areas of improvement 
 with respect to collaboration among the 
 participating agencies; and
            (iii) an estimate of the funding and staff 
 needed for the continued work of the JTF-ISN;
        (B) a statement of the budget priorities of the 
 JTF-ISN for each year in the 2-year period;
            (C) a description of the efforts of the JTF-ISN to 
 investigate and prosecute illicit synthetic narcotics 
 trafficking crimes, including raids conducted, assets 
 seized, assets forfeited and indictments brought and 
 convictions; and
            (D) efforts of the JTF-ISN to address matters 
 related to the role of the People's Republic of China 
 in the opioids crisis.

SEC. 5. PRIMARY MISSIONS OF JTF-ISN.

 The primary mission of the JTF-ISN shall be to direct counter 
opioid and synthetic narcotics activities, including disruption 
activities and associated investigations, and provide strategic 
coordination on related activities, including sanctions enforcement, 
conducting joint operations, raids, and other tactical actions in 
coordination with Federal, State, territorial, Tribal, and local law 
enforcement agencies through memorandums of understanding such as legal 
actions against traffickers and foreign entities, particularly in the 
People's Republic of China, complicit in the opioid trade.

SEC. 6. AUTHORITY AND LIMITATIONS.

    (a) Authority.--The JTF-ISN shall be vested with power and 
authority to--

    (1) investigate and prosecute violations of Federal law 
 relating to--
        (A) the trafficking of illicit synthetic narcotics 
 and related offenses, such as money laundering and 
 other financial crimes; and
        (B) smuggling, false statements, and any matter 
 that arises or might arises directly from its 
 investigations;

    (2) in the case of a prosecution relating to non-United 
 States persons outside of the United States, bring a case--
        (A) in the district where the crime was committed;
        (B) in the district where the Drug Enforcement 
 Administration is located; or
            (C) in a district described in 

section 3238 of 
 title 18, United States Code;

    (3) facilitate the sharing of information between members 
 of the JTF-ISN in a timely manner;

    (4) establish protocols for interagency referrals and 
 procedures for referring cases to prosecuting and sanctions 
 designating authorities as appropriate;

    (5) develop strategies to address the role of the People's 
 Republic of China in the illicit synthetic narcotics crisis;

    (6) work cooperatively with State, territorial, Tribal, and 
 local law enforcement agencies to combat and prosecute 
 trafficking of illicit synthetic narcotics;

    (7) assess and improve existing methods of investigating 
 and prosecuting illicit synthetic narcotics trafficking crimes; 
 and

    (8) conduct direct operational activities, including joint 
 operations, raids, and other tactical actions, to disrupt 
 illicit synthetic narcotics trafficking networks and bring 
 offenders to justice.

    (b) Limitation.--The Director may not direct the execution of 
operational activities outside the scope of counter-opioid efforts 
related to illicit synthetic narcotics suppliers and their networks 
pursuant to the primary missions of the JTF-ISN.

SEC. 7. INTERNAL STRUCTURE OF JTF-ISN.

    (a) Intelligence Coordination.--The Director shall establish and 
maintain within the JTF-ISN an intelligence coordination element, which 
shall have primary responsibility within the United States Government 
for analysis of illicit synthetic narcotics and related trafficking 
organizations from all sources of intelligence, whether collected 
inside or outside the United States.

    (b) Strategic Operational Planning.--

    (1) In general.--The Director shall establish and maintain 
 within the JTF-ISN a strategic operational planning element, 
 which shall provide strategic operational plans for counter-
 opioid operations conducted by the United States Government, 
 and include the mission, objectives to be achieved, tasks to be 
 performed, interagency coordination of operational activities, 
 and the assignment of roles and responsibilities.

    (2) Monitoring.--The Director shall monitor the 
 implementation of strategic operational plans and shall obtain 
 information from each element of the intelligence community, 
 and from each other department, agency, or element of the 
 United States Government relevant for monitoring the progress 
 of such entity in implementing such plans.
            (c) Office of General Counsel.--The Director shall establish and 
maintain within the JTF-ISN an Office of General Counsel, which shall 
provide legal advice in support of the JTF-ISN and its directorates.
            (d) Office of Congressional Coordination.--The Director shall 
establish and maintain within the JTF-ISN an Office of Congressional 
Coordination, which shall coordinate communications of the JTF-ISN with 
Congress and ensure compliance with reporting and briefing obligations 
under this Act.

SEC. 8. RETENTION OF EXISTING AUTHORITIES.

 Each member of the JTF-ISN shall maintain their existing 
authorities to investigate and prosecute trafficking crimes relating to 
illicit synthetic narcotics.

SEC. 9. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.

 Nothing in this Act shall be construed to authorize the JTF-ISN to 
investigate, target, or prosecute individuals for personal drug use or 
to pursue enforcement actions against low-level drug dealing that does 
not involve significant connections to larger trafficking networks.
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