II 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2323 

To require the screening of 100 percent of international mail and express 

cargo inbound into the United States from high-risk countries to detect 

and prevent the importation of illicit fentanyl and other illicit synthetic 

opioids, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 30, 2019 

Mr. MARKEY introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 

A BILL 

To require the screening of 100 percent of international 

mail and express cargo inbound into the United States 

from high-risk countries to detect and prevent the importation of illicit fentanyl and other illicit synthetic opioids, 

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 ‘‘Screening All 

5 Fentanyl-Enhanced Mail Act of 2019’’ or the ‘‘SAFE Mail 

6 Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

2 Congress makes the following findings: 

3 (1) The United States continues to experience 

4 an epidemic of overdoses of fentanyl, heroin, and 

5 prescription opioids that claimed more than 49,000 

6 lives in 2017. 

7 (2) Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid that de8 presses central nervous system and respiratory func9 tion, with euphoric effects that may be more power10 ful than the euphoric effects of heroin or morphine. 

11 (3) The effect of fentanyl can be up to 50 times 

12 stronger than the effect of heroin, and 50 to 100 

13 times stronger than the effect of morphine. 

14 (4) Although pharmaceutical fentanyl can be di15 verted for misuse, most fentanyl deaths are believed 

16 to be linked to illicit fentanyl. 

17 (5) Across the United States, the use of illicit 

18 fentanyl and deaths related to that use are rising at 

19 alarming rates. 

20 (6) According to the Centers for Disease Con21 trol and Prevention, between 2016 and 2017, the 

22 rate of drug overdose deaths involving synthetic 

23 opioids—largely fentanyl—increased by 45 percent. 

24 (7) In 2017, more than 28,000 deaths involving 

25 synthetic opioids—largely fentanyl—occurred in the 

26 United States, outnumbering deaths from any other 


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1 type of opioid. According to preliminary data from 

2 the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, that 

3 figure increased to nearly 32,000 deaths in 2018. 

4 (8) Depending on the route of administration 

5 and other factors, as little as 2 milligrams of illicit 

6 fentanyl (similar in size to a few grains of salt) can 

7 be fatal. 

8 (9) Fentanyl is the primary synthetic opioid 

9 available in the United States. 

10 (10) The internet has significantly increased 

11 the availability of illicit fentanyl and other illicit syn12 thetic opioids in the United States. Those drugs are 

13 widely advertised for sale, and are available for pur14 chase, on the open and dark web. 

15 (11) Most illicit fentanyl trafficked into the 

16 United States originates in the People’s Republic of 

17 China and is transported into the United States in 

18 parcel packages directly from the People’s Republic 

19 of China or from the People’s Republic of China 

20 through Canada. 

21 (12) Fentanyl arriving in the mail directly from 

22 the People’s Republic of China can have exception23 ally high purities—over 90 percent—posing a great 

24 risk to the purchaser and user, and allowing it to be 


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1 adulterated many more times and turned into larger 

2 amounts for sale and use. 

3 (13) As the designated postal operator in the 

4 United States, the United States Postal Service ac5 cepts and delivers inbound international mail on be6 half of designated postal operators around the world. 

7 (14) Express consignment operators accept 

8 items from customers in foreign countries and trans9 port and deliver those items in the United States. 

10 (15) U.S. Customs and Border Protection in11 spects mail and express cargo arriving in the United 

12 States and seizes illegal goods, including those that 

13 may pose threats to health and safety, ecology, and 

14 businesses in the United States. 

15 (16) U.S. Customs and Border Protection is 

16 able to screen only a tiny fraction of all inbound 

17 international mail and express cargo into the United 

18 States, contributing to the influx of illicit fentanyl 

19 that is causing tens of thousands of deaths in the 

20 United States annually. 

21 SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

22 It is the sense of Congress that— 

23 (1) in order to save potentially tens of thou24 sands of lives in the United States annually, the 

25 Federal Government must make it a high priority to 


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1 stem the flow of illicit fentanyl into the United 

2 States through increased detection and interception 

3 of inbound international mail and express cargo; and 

4 (2) the Federal Government must resolve to 

5 achieve the automated screening of 100 percent of 

6 international mail and express cargo inbound into 

7 the United States from high-risk countries for illicit 

8 fentanyl and other illicit synthetic opioids. 

9 SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS. 

10 In this Act: 

11 (1) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT12 TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com13 mittees’’ means— 

14 (A) the Committee on Homeland Security 

15 of the House of Representatives; and 

16 (B) the Committee on Commerce, Science, 

17 and Transportation and the Committee on 

18 Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 

19 of the Senate. 

20 (2) EXPRESS CARGO.—The term ‘‘express 

21 cargo’’ has the meaning given the term ‘‘cargo’’ in 

22 section 128.1 of title 19, Code of Federal Regula23 tions (or any corresponding similar regulation or rul24 ing). 


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1 (3) HIGH-RISK COUNTRY.—The term ‘‘high-risk 

2 country’’ means a country identified by the Sec3 retary, in consultation with the officials specified in 

4 section 5(b), as a country that poses a high risk of 

5 being the source of international mail and express 

6 cargo inbound into the United States containing il7 licit fentanyl and other illicit synthetic opioids. 

8 (4) ILLICIT FENTANYL.—The term ‘‘illicit 

9 fentanyl’’ means illicitly manufactured fentanyl and 

10 illicit versions of chemically similar compounds 

11 known as fentanyl analogues. 

12 (5) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

13 the Secretary of Homeland Security. 

14 SEC. 5. DEVELOPMENT OF TECHNOLOGY TO DETECT IL15 LICIT FENTANYL AND OTHER ILLICIT SYN16 THETIC OPIOIDS IN INTERNATIONAL MAIL 

17 AND EXPRESS CARGO. 

18 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 2 years after the 

19 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary, in coordi20 nation with the officials specified in subsection (b), shall 

21 carry out and complete a program of research and develop22 ment of technology that, when fully deployed, will auto23 mate the detection of illicit fentanyl and other illicit syn24 thetic opioids in 100 percent of international mail and exVerDate Sep 11 2014 17:52 Aug 03, 2019 Jkt 034408 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2323.IS S2323

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1 press cargo inbound into the United States from high-risk 

2 countries. 

3 (b) OFFICIALS SPECIFIED.—The officials specified in 

4 this subsection are the following: 

5 (1) The Commissioner of U.S. Customs and 

6 Border Protection. 

7 (2) The Chief Postal Inspector for the United 

8 States Postal Inspection Service. 

9 (3) The Director of the Office of National Drug 

10 Control Policy. 

11 (4) The Administrator of the Drug Enforce12 ment Administration. 

13 (5) The heads of such other government agen14 cies and private sector entities as the Secretary con15 siders appropriate. 

16 (c) PROGRAM ELEMENTS.—To the extent the Sec17 retary considers appropriate, the program required by 

18 subsection (a) may incorporate by reference, and rely on, 

19 any and all aspects of the Opioid Detection Challenge con20 ducted by the Science and Technology Directorate of the 

21 Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Customs and 

22 Border Protection, the United States Postal Inspection 

23 Service, and the Office of National Drug Control Policy, 

24 including its findings and results. 


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1 SEC. 6. 100 PERCENT SCREENING OF ILLICIT FENTANYL 

2 AND OTHER ILLICIT SYNTHETIC OPIOIDS IN 

3 INBOUND INTERNATIONAL MAIL AND EX4 PRESS CARGO FROM HIGH-RISK COUNTRIES. 

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

6 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall im7 plement an automated system to screen 100 percent of 

8 international mail and express cargo inbound into the 

9 United States from high-risk countries to detect, and pre10 vent the importation into the United States of, illicit 

11 fentanyl and other illicit synthetic opioids. 

12 (b) REQUIREMENTS.—In developing the system re13 quired by subsection (a), the Secretary shall— 

14 (1) develop an automated, nonintrusive method 

15 of detecting illicit fentanyl and other illicit synthetic 

16 opioids in international mail and express cargo in17 bound into the United States that does not unrea18 sonably delay delivery of such mail and cargo; 

19 (2) approve the use of appropriate equipment, 

20 technology, procedures, personnel, and methods for 

21 conducting screening of such mail and cargo under 

22 the system; and 

23 (3) provide for the phased implementation of 

24 the system so that— 

25 (A) not later than 18 months after the 

26 completion of the research and development 


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1 program required by section 5(a), 50 percent of 

2 such mail and cargo shall be screened under the 

3 system; and 

4 (B) not later than 3 years after the com5 pletion of that program, 100 percent of such 

6 mail and cargo shall be screened under the sys7 tem. 

8 (c) REGULATIONS.— 

9 (1) INTERIM FINAL RULE.—The Secretary may 

10 issue an interim final rule as a temporary regulation 

11 to implement this section without regard to the pro12 visions of chapter 5 of title 5, United States Code. 

13 (2) FINAL RULE.— 

14 (A) IN GENERAL.—If the Secretary issues 

15 an interim final rule under paragraph (1), the 

16 Secretary shall issue, not later than one year 

17 after the effective date of the interim final rule, 

18 a final rule as a permanent regulation to imple19 ment this section in accordance with the provi20 sions of chapter 5 of title 5, United States 

21 Code. 

22 (B) FAILURE TO ACT.—If the Secretary 

23 does not issue a final rule in accordance with 

24 subparagraph (A) on or before the last day of 

25 the one-year period referred to in that subparaVerDate Sep 11 2014 17:52 Aug 03, 2019 Jkt 034408 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2323.IS S2323

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1 graph, the Secretary shall, not later than 10 

2 days after such last day and every 30 days 

3 thereafter until the Secretary issues such a 

4 final rule, submit to the appropriate congres5 sional committees a report— 

6 (i) explaining why the final rule was 

7 not timely issued; and 

8 (ii) providing an estimate of the ear9 liest date on which the Secretary will be 

10 able to issue the final rule. 

11 (C) SUPERCEDING OF INTERIM FINAL

12 RULE.—The final rule issued in accordance 

13 with this paragraph shall supersede the interim 

14 final rule issued under paragraph (1). 

15 (d) REPORT REQUIRED.—Not later than one year 

16 after the date on which the system required by subsection 

17 (a) is fully implemented, the Secretary shall submit to the 

18 appropriate congressional committees a report that de19 scribes the system. 

20 SEC. 7. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

21 There are authorized to be appropriated such sums 

22 as may be necessary to carry out this Act. 

Æ 


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