II 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 698 

To direct the Secretary of State to designate certain Mexican drug cartels 

as foreign terrorist organizations, and to submit a report to Congress 

justifying such designations in accordance with section 219 of the Immigration and Nationality Act. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 8, 2023 

Mr. MARSHALL (for himself and Mr. SCOTT of Florida) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations 

A BILL 

To direct the Secretary of State to designate certain Mexican 

drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations, and to 

submit a report to Congress justifying such designations 

in accordance with section 219 of the Immigration and 

Nationality Act. 

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 TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Drug Cartel Terrorist 

5 Designation Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. REPORT ON DESIGNATION OF CERTAIN DRUG CAR2 TELS AS FOREIGN TERRORIST ORGANIZA3 TIONS. 

4 (a) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con5 gress that each of the drug cartels referred to in sub6 section (c) meets the criteria for designation as a foreign 

7 terrorist organization under section 219 of the Immigra8 tion and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1189). 

9 (b) DEFINED TERM.—In this section, the term ‘‘ap10 propriate committees of Congress’’ means— 

11 (1) the Committee on Armed Services of the 

12 Senate; 

13 (2) the Committee on Banking, Housing, and 

14 Urban Affairs of the Senate; 

15 (3) the Committee on Foreign Relations of the 

16 Senate; 

17 (4) the Committee on the Judiciary of the Sen18 ate; 

19 (5) the Committee on Homeland Security and 

20 Governmental Affairs of the Senate; 

21 (6) the Select Committee on Intelligence of the 

22 Senate; 

23 (7) the Committee on Armed Services of the 

24 House of Representatives; 

25 (8) the Committee on Financial Services of the 

26 House of Representatives; 


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1 (9) the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the 

2 House of Representatives; 

3 (10) the Committee on the Judiciary of the 

4 House of Representatives; 

5 (11) the Committee on Homeland Security of 

6 the House of Representatives; and 

7 (12) the Permanent Select Committee on Intel8 ligence of the House of Representatives. 

9 (c) DESIGNATION.— 

10 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of State shall 

11 designate each of the following Mexican drug cartels 

12 as a foreign terrorist organization under section 

13 219(a) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 

14 U.S.C. 1189(a)): 

15 (A) The Reynosa/Los Metros faction of the 

16 Gulf Cartel. 

17 (B) The Cartel Del Noreste faction of Los 

18 Zetas. 

19 (C) The Jalisco New Generation Cartel. 

20 (D) The Sinaloa Cartel. 

21 (2) ADDITIONAL CARTELS.—The Secretary of 

22 State shall designate any Mexican drug cartel, or 

23 any faction of such a cartel, as a foreign terrorist 

24 organization if such cartel or faction meets the cri25 teria described in such section 219(a). 


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1 (d) REPORT.— 

2 (1) REPORT REQUIRED.—Not later than 30 

3 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 

4 Secretary of State, in consultation with the Director 

5 of National Intelligence, shall submit a detailed re6 port to the appropriate committees of Congress re7 garding— 

8 (A) each of the drug cartels referred to in 

9 subsection (c)(1) that describes the criteria jus10 tifying their designations as foreign terrorist or11 ganizations under section 219(a) of the Immi12 gration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1189(a)); 

13 and 

14 (B) all other Mexican drug cartels, or fac15 tions of cartels, that the Secretary determines 

16 pursuant to subsection (c)(2) meet the criteria 

17 for designation as foreign terrorist organiza18 tions under such section 219(a), including the 

19 specific criteria justifying each such designa20 tion. 

21 (2) FORM.—The report required under para22 graph (1)— 

23 (A) shall be submitted in unclassified form, 

24 but may include a classified annex; 


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1 (B) shall be made available only in elec2 tronic form; and 

3 (C) may not be printed, except upon a re4 quest for a printed copy from a congressional 

5 office. 

Æ 


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