I 
115TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 7091 
To stop the production of fentanyl and its trafficking into the United States 
from the People’s Republic of China. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
OCTOBER 26, 2018 
Mr. SMITH of New Jersey (for himself, Mr. SUOZZI, Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN, Miss 
GONZA´LEZ-COLO´N of Puerto Rico, Mr. POE of Texas, Mr. FLEISCHMANN, 
Mr. LANCE, Mr. MACARTHUR, Mr. LIPINSKI, Mr. CHABOT, and Mr. 
DONOVAN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com-
mittee on Foreign Affairs 
A BILL 
To stop the production of fentanyl and its trafficking into 
the United States from the People’s Republic of China. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Combatting Illicit 
Fentanyl Act of 2018’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
(1) America’s overdose epidemic is spreading 
geographically, is increasing across all demographic 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
00:10 Oct 27, 2018
Jkt 089200
PO 00000
Frm 00001
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H7091.IH
H7091
SSpencer on DSKBBXCHB2PROD with BILLS
groups and the sharp increase in drug overdose 
deaths in the United States between 2015 to 2016 
was fueled by a surge in illicit fentanyl, a highly po-
tent drug about 80 to 100 times as strong as mor-
phine by weight and is 30 to 40 times stronger than 
heroin by weight, as well as fentanyl-related com-
pound analogue overdoses. 
(2) Fentanyl began to appear on U.S. streets in 
the early 2000s, in recent years it has become a 
major international drug control issue as overdose 
deaths from its abuse continue to rise, with a spike 
beginning in 2013. Foreign-sourced fentanyl killed 
more Americans in 2016 than all other illicit drugs, 
and synthetic opioids such as fentanyl and tramadol 
accounted for more than 29,000 U.S. drug overdose 
deaths in 2017, according to provisional data from 
the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Il-
licit fentanyl is not a diverged pharmaceutical prod-
uct, is illicitly manufactured, and is clandestinely 
distributed and integrated into the illicit drug sup-
ply, usually sold as ‘‘heroin’’ in powder form, or as 
counterfeit opioid or benzodiazepine pills. 
(3) In Ocean County, New Jersey, based on 
data from the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office, in 
2014 10 percent of all overdose deaths had fentanyl 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
00:10 Oct 27, 2018
Jkt 089200
PO 00000
Frm 00002
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H7091.IH
H7091
SSpencer on DSKBBXCHB2PROD with BILLS
in their systems, and by 2018 that number had risen 
to 80 percent. 
(4) The Drug Enforcement Administration re-
ports that of the illicit fentanyl class substances and 
hundreds of other designer drugs it has identified, 
‘‘the vast majority . . . are manufactured in 
China’’. In 2018, a year-long congressional probe 
found that illicit fentanyl could easily be bought on-
line from Chinese ‘‘labs’’ and mailed to the United 
States due to gaps in oversight in the United States 
Postal Service, and despite increased cooperation be-
tween United States and Chinese counter-narcotics 
agencies, illicit fentanyl is still shipped to the United 
States. 
(5) According to written testimony submitted to 
Congress by the RAND Corporation, regulatory ca-
pacity in China is inadequate to effectively police its 
expansive pharmaceutical and chemical industries, 
and according to the U.S.-China Economic and Se-
curity Review Commission, corrupt practices among 
local officials limit the effectiveness of regulations 
and allows criminal actors to facilitate the fentanyl 
trade. 
(6) In June 2018, $1.7 million worth of Chi-
nese fentanyl was detected by counternarcotics 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
00:10 Oct 27, 2018
Jkt 089200
PO 00000
Frm 00003
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H7091.IH
H7091
SSpencer on DSKBBXCHB2PROD with BILLS
agents in a Philadelphia port during a routine in-
spection, China has publicly gone to great lengths to 
shirk responsibility for illicit fentanyl emanating out 
of the country, and in June 2018, Chinese official 
Liu Yuejin blamed the crisis on the American peo-
ple, saying ‘‘When fewer and fewer Americans use 
fentanyl, there would be no market for it’’, ignoring 
the Chinese supply of the illicit substance, and 
China fails to effectively regulate precursor chemi-
cals, including fentanyl precursors. 
(7) Fentanyl lacks a ‘‘street name’’, indicating 
that this is more of a supply than a demand issue 
and its intentional use is far outweighed by non-in-
tentional use. On September 6, 2018, at a hearing 
before the House Committee on Foreign Affairs 
Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, Global 
Human Rights, and International Organizations, ex-
pert private witnesses from diverse professional and 
academic backgrounds all concurred that China can 
do more to stem the flow of fentanyl. 
(8) According to the United Nations General 
Assembly, the drug trade poses a threat to ‘‘develop-
ment, peace and security and human rights’’, and 
the 
United 
Nations 
Convention 
against 
Transnational Organized Crime (the Palermo Con-
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
00:10 Oct 27, 2018
Jkt 089200
PO 00000
Frm 00004
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H7091.IH
H7091
SSpencer on DSKBBXCHB2PROD with BILLS
vention), a multilateral treaty against transnational 
organized crime including in the realm of narcotics 
signed and ratified by China which entered into 
force in 2003, obligates States Parties to ‘‘ensure ef-
fective action by its authorities in the prevention, de-
tection and punishment of the corruption of public 
officials’’. 
(9) Combating illicit fentanyl is a top priority 
of the Trump Administration and the President has 
called it ‘‘outrageous’’ that fentanyl comes from 
China. The Trump Administration has both high-
lighted China’s role in the crisis and targeted Chi-
nese manufacturers and traffickers, and at an Au-
gust 16, 2018, cabinet meeting, President Trump di-
rected Attorney General Sessions to step up efforts 
to stem inflows of fentanyl from China. 
SEC. 3. REPORT. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days after the 
date of the enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, 
the Secretary of State and the Secretary of Treasury shall 
jointly submit to the appropriate congressional committees 
a report that identifies each person in the People’s Repub-
lic of China and Chinese government official involved in 
the production of fentanyl and its trafficking into the 
United States. 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
00:10 Oct 27, 2018
Jkt 089200
PO 00000
Frm 00005
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H7091.IH
H7091
SSpencer on DSKBBXCHB2PROD with BILLS
(b) FORM.—The report required by subsection (a) 
shall be submitted in unclassified form, but may contain 
a classified annex. 
(c) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEES DE-
FINED.—In this section, the term ‘‘appropriate congres-
sional committees’’ means— 
(1) the Committee on Foreign Affairs, the 
Committee on Financial Services, and the Com-
mittee on Energy and Commerce of the House of 
Representatives; and 
(2) the Committee on Foreign Relations, the 
Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Af-
fairs, the Committee on Commerce, Science, and 
Transportation, and the Committee on Health, Edu-
cation, and Pensions of the Senate. 
SEC. 4. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 
It is the sense of Congress that— 
(1) the President should impose financial sanc-
tions under the International Emergency Economic 
Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.) against each 
person and government official identified in the re-
port required by section 3; and 
(2) the President should impose sanctions 
under section 1263(b) of the National Defense Au-
thorization Act for Fiscal Year 2017 (22 U.S.C. 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
00:10 Oct 27, 2018
Jkt 089200
PO 00000
Frm 00006
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H7091.IH
H7091
SSpencer on DSKBBXCHB2PROD with BILLS