I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 6505 

To amend the Fentanyl Sanctions Act to strengthen the imposition of 

sanctions under that Act, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

NOVEMBER 29, 2023 

Mr. JAMES (for himself and Ms. PETTERSEN) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services, and in addition to the Committees on Foreign Affairs, the Judiciary, and Oversight 

and Accountability, for a period to be subsequently determined by the 

Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within 

the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To amend the Fentanyl Sanctions Act to strengthen the 

imposition of sanctions under that Act, and for other 

purposes. 

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 ‘‘Fentanyl Reduction 

5 Engrained by Economic Deterrence Act’’ or the ‘‘FREED 

6 Act’’. 

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1 SEC. 2. EXPANSION OF SANCTIONS UNDER THE FENTANYL 

2 SANCTIONS ACT. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 7212 of the Fentanyl 

4 Sanctions Act (21 U.S.C. 2312) is amended to read as 

5 follows: 

6 ‘‘SEC. 7212. IMPOSITION OF SANCTIONS. 

7 ‘‘(a) APPLICATION TO FOREIGN PERSONS.—The 

8 President shall impose the sanctions described in section 

9 7213(a)(6) with respect to any foreign person that— 

10 ‘‘(1) is identified as a foreign opioid trafficker 

11 in the report submitted under section 7211(a); or 

12 ‘‘(2) the President determines— 

13 ‘‘(A) knowingly has engaged in, or at14 tempted to engage in, an activity or transaction 

15 that has materially contributed to, or poses a 

16 significant risk of materially contributing to, 

17 opioid trafficking; 

18 ‘‘(B) knowingly has received any property 

19 or interest in property that the foreign person 

20 knows or should have known— 

21 ‘‘(i) constitutes or is derived from the 

22 proceeds of an activity or transaction de23 scribed in subparagraph (A); or 

24 ‘‘(ii) was used or intended to be used 

25 to commit or to facilitate such an activity 

26 or transaction; 

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1 ‘‘(C) knowingly has provided, or attempted 

2 to provide, financial, material, or technological 

3 support for, including through the provision of 

4 goods or services in support of— 

5 ‘‘(i) any activity or transaction de6 scribed in subparagraph (A); or 

7 ‘‘(ii) any foreign person described in 

8 paragraph (1) or clause (i) of this subpara9 graph; 

10 ‘‘(D) is an adult spouse or other family 

11 member of an individual described in paragraph 

12 (1) or subparagraph (A), (B), or (C) of this 

13 paragraph; or 

14 ‘‘(E) is or has been owned, controlled, or 

15 directed by, or has knowingly acted or pur16 ported to act for or on behalf of, directly or in17 directly, any foreign person described in para18 graph (1) or subparagraph (A), (B), or (C) of 

19 this paragraph. 

20 ‘‘(b) APPLICATION TO AGENCIES AND INSTRUMEN21 TALITIES OF FOREIGN STATES.—The President shall im22 pose 3 or more of the sanctions described in section 7213 

23 with respect to— 

24 ‘‘(1) each agency or instrumentality of a foreign 

25 state (as defined in section 1603(b) of title 28, 

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1 United States Code) that the President deter2 mines— 

3 ‘‘(A) has engaged in, or attempted to en4 gage in, an activity or transaction that has ma5 terially contributed to, or poses a significant 

6 risk of materially contributing to, opioid traf7 ficking; or 

8 ‘‘(B) has provided, or attempted to pro9 vide, financial, material, or technological sup10 port for, including through the provision of 

11 goods or services in support of, any activity or 

12 transaction described in subparagraph (A); 

13 ‘‘(2) each foreign person the President deter14 mines is a senior official of an agency or instrumen15 tality of a foreign state described in paragraph (1); 

16 and 

17 ‘‘(3) each foreign person that the President de18 termines is or has been owned, controlled, or di19 rected by, or has knowingly acted or purported to 

20 act for or on behalf of, directly or indirectly, an 

21 agency or instrumentality of a foreign state de22 scribed in paragraph (1) or a foreign person de23 scribed in paragraph (2). 

24 ‘‘(c) DETERMINATION OF APPLICABILITY TO CER25 TAIN FOREIGN PERSONS.— 

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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The sanctions described in 

2 section 7213 may not apply to a foreign person de3 scribed in subsection (a)(1)(D) if the President de4 termines that there is clear and convincing evidence 

5 the person— 

6 ‘‘(A) is no longer in contact with the indi7 vidual described in paragraph (1) of subsection 

8 (a) or subparagraph (A), (B), or (C) of para9 graph (2) of that subsection; and 

10 ‘‘(B) has provided reliable assurances that 

11 the person will not engage in any conduct de12 scribed in subsection (a) in the future. 

13 ‘‘(2) NOTIFICATION.—Not later than 30 days 

14 after making a determination under paragraph (1), 

15 the President shall submit to the appropriate con16 gressional committees and leadership a report on the 

17 determination. 

18 ‘‘(d) WAIVER AUTHORITY.— 

19 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The President may waive 

20 the imposition of sanctions under this section, on a 

21 case-by-case basis and for a period not to exceed 

22 180 days per waiver, with respect to a foreign per23 son or agency or instrumentality of a foreign state, 

24 as the case may be, if the President certifies in writ25 ing to the appropriate congressional committees that 

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1 such waiver is vital to the national security interests 

2 of the United States or would ensure the delivery of 

3 humanitarian assistance such as medicine, agricul4 tural products, food, or fuel. 

5 ‘‘(2) BRIEFINGS.—Not later than 30 days after 

6 issuing a waiver under paragraph (1) with respect to 

7 a foreign person or agency or instrumentality of a 

8 foreign state, and every 180 days thereafter for such 

9 period of time as the waiver remains in effect, the 

10 President shall provide to the appropriate congres11 sional committees a briefing on the status of the in12 volvement of the foreign person or agency or instru13 mentality of a foreign state in activities described in 

14 this section.’’. 

15 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 

16 subsection (a) shall take effect on the date that is 90 days 

17 after the date of the enactment of this Act. 

18 (c) REGULATORY AUTHORITY.— 

19 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days 

20 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 

21 President shall prescribe regulations as necessary for 

22 the implementation of the amendment made by sub23 section (a). 

24 (2) NOTIFICATION TO CONGRESS.—Not later 

25 than 10 days prior to prescribing regulations under 

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1 paragraph (1), the President shall notify the appro2 priate congressional committees and leadership (as 

3 defined in section 7203 of the Fentanyl Sanctions 

4 Act (21 U.S.C. 2302)) with respect to the proposed 

5 regulations. 

6 SEC. 3. DETERMINATIONS WITH RESPECT TO PRIMARY 

7 MONEY LAUNDERING CONCERN RELATING 

8 TO ILLICIT FENTANYL AND NARCOTICS FI9 NANCING. 

10 If the Secretary of the Treasury determines that 1 

11 or more financial institutions operating outside of the 

12 United States, 1 or more classes of transactions within, 

13 or involving, a jurisdiction outside of the United States, 

14 or 1 or more types of accounts within, or involving, a juris15 diction outside of the United States, is of primary money 

16 laundering concern in connection with the financing of il17 licit fentanyl and other narcotics, the Secretary of the 

18 Treasury may, by order, regulation, or otherwise as per19 mitted by law, require domestic financial institutions and 

20 domestic financial agencies to take one or more of the spe21 cial measures described in section 5318A(b) of title 31, 

22 United States Code. 

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1 SEC. 4. REPORT ON IMPROVED ENFORCEMENT WITH RE2 SPECT TO MONEY LAUNDERING RELATING 

3 TO ILLICIT FENTANYL AND NARCOTIC DRUGS 

4 FINANCING. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than one year after the 

6 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of the 

7 Treasury shall submit to appropriate congressional com8 mittees a report that identifies any additional regulations, 

9 statutory changes, enhanced due diligence requirements, 

10 or reporting requirements the Secretary determines are 

11 necessary to better identify, prevent, and combat money 

12 laundering connected with the financing of illicit fentanyl 

13 and other narcotic drugs, including related to— 

14 (1) identifying the beneficial ownership of anon15 ymous entities; and 

16 (2) enhanced know-your-customer procedures 

17 and screenings for transactions involving any organi18 zation identified by the Secretary as— 

19 (A) a drug cartel or other criminal organi20 zation based in Mexico; 

21 (B) a money laundering organization based 

22 in the People’s Republic of China; or 

23 (C) any other entity involved in the financ24 ing of illicit fentanyl. 

25 (b) FORM.— 

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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—The report required by sub2 section (a) shall be submitted in unclassified form, 

3 but may include a classified annex and be accom4 panied by a classified briefing. 

5 (2) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY.—The unclassified 

6 portion of the report required by subsection (a) shall 

7 be made available to the public, including on a pub8 licly accessible internet website of the Department of 

9 the Treasury. 

10 (c) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEES DE11 FINED.—In this section, the term ‘‘appropriate congres12 sional committees’’ means— 

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

14 Urban Affairs and the Committee on Foreign Rela15 tions of the Senate; and 

16 (2) the Committee on Financial Services and 

17 the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of 

18 Representatives. 

19 SEC. 5. SENSE OF CONGRESS ON INTERNATIONAL CO20 OPERATION. 

21 It is the sense of Congress that the Secretary of the 

22 Treasury and other relevant Federal officials should work 

23 jointly with financial intelligence units, trade transparency 

24 units, and appropriate law enforcement authorities of Can25 ada, European and European Union countries, and the 

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1 United Kingdom to identify and present, in the report re2 quired by section 4 and in future analyses of suspicious 

3 transaction reports, cash transaction reports, currency 

4 and monetary instrument reports, and other relevant data 

5 to identify trends and assess risks in the movement of il6 licit funds from illicit fentanyl operations from Mexico, 

7 India, the People’s Republic of China, or any country in 

8 the Western Hemisphere through the financial systems of 

9 the United States, the United Kingdom, and Europe. 

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