I 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 8663 

To require the Science and Technology Directorate in the Department of 

Homeland Security to develop greater capacity to detect, identify, and 

disrupt illicit substances in very low concentrations. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 7, 2024 

Mr. LALOTA (for himself and Mr. CORREA) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Homeland Security 

A BILL 

To require the Science and Technology Directorate in the 

Department of Homeland Security to develop greater 

capacity to detect, identify, and disrupt 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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1 SEC. 2. ENHANCING THE CAPACITY TO DETECT, IDENTIFY, 

2 AND DISRUPT DRUGS SUCH AS FENTANYL 

3 AND 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 research, development, test12 ing, evaluation, and cost-benefit analyses to improve 

13 the safety, effectiveness, and efficiency of equipment 

14 and reference libraries for use by Federal, State, 

15 local, Tribal, and territorial law enforcement agen16 cies for the accurate detection of drugs or the dis17 ruption of drug trafficking for drugs such as 

18 fentanyl and xylazine, including, but not limited to— 

19 ‘‘(A) portable equipment that can detect 

20 and identify drugs with minimal or no handling 

21 of the sample; 

22 ‘‘(B) equipment that can separate complex 

23 mixtures containing low concentrations of drugs 

24 and high concentrations of cutting agents into 

25 their component parts to enable signature exVerDate Sep 11 2014 20:20 Jul 23, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8663.IH H8663

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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 infor25 mation, including the latest State and Territory ReVerDate Sep 11 2014 20:20 Jul 23, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8663.IH H8663

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1 port on Enduring and Emerging Threats published 

2 by the Drug Enforcement Administration or any 

3 successor document. 

Æ 


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