I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3720 

To direct the Director of National Intelligence to make assessments regarding 

Mexico and the Northern Triangle of Central America, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 11, 2019 

Mr. HURD of Texas (for himself and Ms. SPANBERGER) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence 

A BILL 

To direct the Director of National Intelligence to make assessments regarding Mexico and the Northern Triangle 

of Central America, 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 ‘‘Trafficking and Smug5 gling Intelligence Act of 2019’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. ASSESSMENT OF ACTIVITIES BY DRUG TRAF2 FICKING ORGANIZATIONS IN THE NORTHERN 

3 TRIANGLE AND MEXICO. 

4 (a) REPORT.—Not later than 60 days after the date 

5 of the enactment of this Act, the Director of National In6 telligence, in coordination with the Chief of Intelligence 

7 of the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Assist8 ant Secretary of State for Intelligence and Research, shall 

9 submit to the appropriate congressional committees a re10 port containing an analytical assessment of the activities 

11 of drug trafficking organizations in the Northern Triangle 

12 and Mexico. Such assessment shall include, at a min13 imum— 

14 (1) an assessment of the effect of drug traf15 ficking organizations on the security and economic 

16 situation in the Northern Triangle; 

17 (2) an assessment of the effect of the activities 

18 of drug trafficking organizations on the migration of 

19 persons from the Northern Triangle to the United 

20 States-Mexico border; 

21 (3) a summary of any relevant activities by ele22 ments of the intelligence community in relation to 

23 drug trafficking organizations in the Northern Tri24 angle and Mexico; 


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1 (4) a summary of key methods and routes used 

2 by drug trafficking organizations in the Northern 

3 Triangle and Mexico to the United States; 

4 (5) an assessment of the intersection between 

5 the activities of drug trafficking organizations, 

6 human traffickers and human smugglers, and other 

7 organized criminal groups in the Northern Triangle 

8 and Mexico; and 

9 (6) an assessment of the illicit funds and finan10 cial transactions that support the activities of drug 

11 trafficking organizations and connected criminal en12 terprises in the Northern Triangle and Mexico. 

13 (b) FORM.—The report required by subsection (a) 

14 may be submitted in classified form, but if so submitted, 

15 shall contain an unclassified summary. 

16 (c) AVAILABILITY.—The report under subsection (a), 

17 or the unclassified summary of the report described in 

18 subsection (b), shall be made publicly available. 

19 SEC. 3. ASSESSMENT OF HUMAN TRAFFICKING AND SMUG20 GLING FROM THE NORTHERN TRIANGLE TO 

21 THE UNITED STATES-MEXICO BORDER. 

22 (a) REPORT REQUIRED.—Not later than 60 days 

23 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Director 

24 of National Intelligence, in coordination with the Under 

25 Secretary of Homeland Security for Intelligence and AnalVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:46 Jul 19, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3720.IH H3720

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1 ysis and the Assistant Secretary of State for Intelligence 

2 and Research, shall submit to the appropriate congres3 sional committees a report containing an analytical assess4 ment of human trafficking and human smuggling by indi5 viduals and organizations in the Northern Triangle and 

6 Mexico. Such assessment shall include, at a minimum— 

7 (1) an assessment of the effect of human traf8 ficking and human smuggling on the security and 

9 economic situation in the Northern Triangle; 

10 (2) a summary of any relevant activities by ele11 ments of the intelligence community in relation to 

12 human trafficking and human smuggling in the 

13 Northern Triangle and Mexico; 

14 (3) an assessment of the methods and routes 

15 used by human traffickers and human smuggler or16 ganizations to move persons from the Northern Tri17 angle to the United States-Mexico border; 

18 (4) an assessment of the intersection between 

19 the activities of human traffickers and human smug20 glers, drug trafficking organizations, and other orga21 nized criminal groups in the Northern Triangle and 

22 Mexico; and 

23 (5) an assessment of the illicit funds and finan24 cial transactions that support the activities of 

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1 nected criminal enterprises in the Northern Triangle 

2 and Mexico. 

3 (b) FORM.—The report required by subsection (a) 

4 may be submitted in classified form, but if so submitted, 

5 shall contain an unclassified summary. 

6 (c) AVAILABILITY.—The report under subsection (a), 

7 or the unclassified summary of the report described in 

8 subsection (b), shall be made publicly available. 

9 SEC. 4. PRIORITIZATION OF INTELLIGENCE RESOURCES 

10 FOR THE NORTHERN TRIANGLE AND MEXICO. 

11 (a) REVIEW OF INTELLIGENCE COMMUNITY EF12 FORTS IN NORTHERN TRIANGLE AND MEXICO.—The Di13 rector of National Intelligence, in coordination with the 

14 Under Secretary of Homeland Security for Intelligence 

15 and Analysis, the Assistant Secretary of State for Intel16 ligence and Research, the Chief of Intelligence of the Drug 

17 Enforcement Administration, and other appropriate offi18 cials in the intelligence community, shall carry out a com19 prehensive review of the current intelligence collection pri20 orities of the intelligence community for the Northern Tri21 angle and Mexico in order to identify whether such prior22 ities are appropriate and sufficient in light of the threat 

23 posed by the activities of drug trafficking organizations 

24 and human traffickers and human smugglers to the secu25 rity of the United States and the Western Hemisphere. 


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1 (b) REPORTS.— 

2 (1) REPORT ON INITIAL REVIEW.—Not later 

3 than 120 days after the date of the enactment of 

4 this Act, the Director of National Intelligence shall 

5 submit to the congressional intelligence committees a 

6 comprehensive description of the results of the re7 view required by subsection (a), including whether 

8 the priorities described in that subsection are appro9 priate and sufficient in light of the threat posed by 

10 the activities of drug trafficking organizations and 

11 human traffickers and human smugglers to the secu12 rity of the United States and the Western Hemi13 sphere. If the report concludes that such priorities 

14 are not so appropriate and sufficient, the report 

15 shall also include a description of the actions to be 

16 taken to modify such priorities in order to assure 

17 that such priorities are so appropriate and sufficient. 

18 (2) QUARTERLY REPORTS.—Not later than 90 

19 days after the date on which the report under para20 graph (1) is submitted, and every 90 days thereafter 

21 for a 5-year period, the Director of National Intel22 ligence shall submit to the congressional intelligence 

23 committees a report on the intelligence community’s 

24 collection priorities and activities in the Northern 

25 Triangle and Mexico with a focus on the threat 


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1 posed by the activities of drug trafficking organiza2 tions and human traffickers and human smugglers 

3 to the security of the United States and the Western 

4 Hemisphere. The first report under this paragraph 

5 shall also include a description of the amount of 

6 funds expended by the intelligence community to the 

7 efforts described in subsection (a) during each of fis8 cal years 2018 and 2019. 

9 (c) FORM.—The reports required by subsection (b) 

10 may be submitted in classified form, but if so submitted, 

11 shall contain an unclassified summary. 

12 SEC. 5. DEFINITIONS. 

13 In this Act: 

14 (1) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT15 TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com16 mittees’’ means— 

17 (A) the Committee on Foreign Affairs, the 

18 Committee on Homeland Security, and the Per19 manent Select Committee on Intelligence of the 

20 House of Representatives; and 

21 (B) the Committee on Foreign Relations, 

22 the Committee on Homeland Security and Gov23 ernmental Affairs, and the Select Committee on 

24 Intelligence of the Senate. 


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1 (2) HUMAN TRAFFICKING.—The term ‘‘human 

2 trafficking’’ has the meaning given the term ‘‘severe 

3 forms of trafficking in persons’’ by section 103 of 

4 the Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection 

5 Act of 2000 (22 U.S.C. 7102). 

6 (3) INTELLIGENCE COMMUNITY.—The term 

7 ‘‘intelligence community’’ has the meaning given 

8 that term in section 3 of the National Security Act 

9 of 1947 (50 U.S.C. 3003). 

10 (4) NORTHERN TRIANGLE.—The term ‘‘North11 ern Triangle’’ means El Salvador, Guatemala, and 

12 Honduras. 

Æ 


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