Date: 2008-09-27
Speaker: DANIEL E. LUNGREN (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Cali

fornia. I thank the gentleman for yielding. Mr. Speaker. this is a bill which Congressman POE and I have worked on to address a serious problem relating to the use of submersible and semisubmersible vessels to transport drugs. people and potentially weapons of mass destruction which pose a threat to our communities and our cities. The drug dealers are always ingenious in their activities to try and inject into the veins of our children the terrible illicit drugs that are there. With respect to those who are in Central and South America. because of the various efforts made by good men and women working in law enforcement in this country. as well as those in our military organizations. they have been forced. that is. the drug dealers. have been forced to find new ways to try and bring this poison to our shores. That is what were dealing with here today. The language in the bill before us reflects the hard work of Senator LAUTENBERG. and it is also similar to legislation which was introduced by Senator BIDEN. I would like to take this opportunity to commend Chairman CONYERS who has played a critical role in the development of this legislation. And I add that without the hard work of his counsel and the hours put into this important bill by Carolyn Lynch on our staff. we would not be here today. Let me point out that it is probably not an exaggeration to suggest that this is noncontroversial legislation. I dont know why anybody. a single vote. would be against it. It has. in slightly different iterations. already passed this body on two prior occasions. It passed this body by a vote of 4081 as an amendment to the Coast Guard authorization. and it passed on suspension this past July 29 by a voice vote. What are these things? Well youre going to hear it. and youre going to see some pictures presented to you by Congressman TED POE from Texas. Let me just try to describe what it is that we are talking about. Semisubmersibles add a new dimension to the notion of "submarine warfare." These vessels are watercraft of unorthodox construction capable of putting much of their bulk under the surface of the water. Therefore. they are extremely difficult to spot when they are out there in the vastness of the ocean. They are built for stealth. designed to be rapidly scuttled. typically less than 100 feet in length. and usually carrying 5 to 6 tons of illicit cargo. They are stateless. that is. they carry the flag of no country. and they have no legitimate use. Although semisubmersibles are being used to evade detection and prosecution for drug traffic. my own interest in this issue is a much broader one. The potential that someone might seek to import a weapon of mass destruction into the United States is perhaps of the greatest concern for us and why we need an aggressive response to alter the calculus of deterrence with respect to the use of these vehicles. It is absolutely critical that our prosecutors be equipped with the tools necessary to adapt to this new challenge facing law enforcement authorities. As was the case in previous House versions of the bill approved by this body. the proposal before us provides for criminal fines and up to 15 years imprisonment. Furthermore. a new title of the bill added in the Senate provides prosecutors with the additional option of seeking civil penalties of up to $1 million for violations of the new law. Since we last visited this legislation on July 29. we have further evidence of why it is so necessary. In the last 2 weeks alone. the Coast Guard has seized two semisubmersible vehicles containing a total of 14 tons of cocaine. Ominously. they found the vessels seized on September 13th to be the most sophisticated of their type ever detected. with electronic propulsion and steering. and exhaust systems more advanced than earlier models. In terms of the larger picture. we have witnessed 62 such seizures this year. Why do we need this legislation? Why did the Coast Guard ask us for it? Simply put. it is this: These are made to be scuttled easily. In other words. when they are detected by the Coast Guard and the United States Navy. sometimes hundreds of miles offshore. when they are identified. when they are seen. they are scuttled. meaning that they intentionally attempt to sink their own vehicles. Why? Because then we cant have the evidence of the illicit cargo that they hold. And as they do that. the two. three. four or five people aboard. the personnel aboard these crafts jump into the water. and then we have to rescue them. So our law enforcement and our Navy then is in the position of rescuing the very people who are attempting to bring this poison into our country. and we obviously do that. but then we cant prosecute them.