II 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 5426 

To require the Science and Technology Directorate in the Department of 

Homeland Security to develop greater capacity to detect and identify 

illicit substances in very low concentrations. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

DECEMBER 4, 2024 

Mr. CORNYN (for himself, Mr. OSSOFF, and Mr. LANKFORD) introduced the 

following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 

Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 

A BILL 

To require the Science and Technology Directorate in the 

Department of Homeland Security to develop greater 

capacity to detect and identify illicit substances in very 

low concentrations. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLES. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Detection Equipment 

5 and Technology Evaluation to Counter the Threat of 

6 Fentanyl and Xylazine Act of 2024’’ or the ‘‘DETECT 

7 Fentanyl and Xylazine Act of 2024’’. 


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•S 5426 IS

1 SEC. 2. ENHANCING THE CAPACITY TO DETECT AND IDEN2 TIFY DRUGS SUCH AS FENTANYL AND 

3 XYLAZINE. 

4 Section 302 of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 

5 (6 U.S.C. 182) is amended— 

6 (1) in paragraph (13), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the 

7 end; 

8 (2) in paragraph (14), by striking the period at 

9 the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

10 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

11 ‘‘(15) carrying out, in coordination with the 

12 Drug Enforcement Administration, research, devel13 opment, testing, evaluation, and cost-benefit anal14 yses to improve the safety, effectiveness, and effi15 ciency of equipment and the effectiveness and effi16 ciency of reference libraries for use by Federal, 

17 State, local, Tribal, and territorial law enforcement 

18 agencies for the accurate detection of drugs, such as 

19 fentanyl and xylazine, including— 

20 ‘‘(A) portable equipment that can detect 

21 and identify drugs with minimal or no handling 

22 of the sample; 

23 ‘‘(B) equipment that can separate complex 

24 mixtures containing low concentrations of drugs 

25 and high concentrations of cutting agents into 

26 their component parts to enable signature exVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:26 Dec 11, 2024 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S5426.IS S5426

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1 traction for field identification and detection; 

2 and 

3 ‘‘(C) technologies that use machine learn4 ing or artificial intelligence (as defined in sec5 tion 5002 of the National Artificial Intelligence 

6 Initiative Act of 2020 (15 U.S.C. 9401)) and 

7 other techniques to predict whether the sub8 stances in a sample are controlled substance 

9 analogues or other new psychoactive substances 

10 not yet included in available reference librar11 ies.’’. 

12 SEC. 3. REQUIREMENTS. 

13 In carrying out section 302(15) of the Homeland Se14 curity Act of 2002, as added by section 2, the Under Sec15 retary for Science and Technology shall— 

16 (1) follow the recommendations, guidelines, and 

17 best practices described in the Artificial Intelligence 

18 Risk Management Framework (NIST AI 100–1) or 

19 any successor document published by the National 

20 Institute of Standards and Technology; and 

21 (2) establish the Directorate of Science and 

22 Technology’s research, development, testing, evalua23 tion, and cost-benefit analysis priorities under such 

24 section 302(15) based on the latest available inforVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:26 Dec 11, 2024 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S5426.IS S5426

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1 mation, including specific drugs identified as threats 

2 in— 

3 (A) the latest Homeland Threat Assess4 ment published by the Department of Home5 land Security; 

6 (B) the latest State and Territory Report 

7 on Enduring and Emerging Threats published 

8 by the Drug Enforcement Administration; or 

9 (C) any successor documents. 

10 SEC. 4. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION. 

11 Nothing in this Act may be construed to limit the 

12 authority of agencies currently managing, overseeing, or 

13 otherwise involved in drug equipment and reference librar14 ies. 

Æ 


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