Date: 2016-05-10
Speaker: JACKSON LEE (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Speaker. I thank the chairman and the ranking member for capturing what we in the Committee on the Judiciary have been doing over the last couple months. We have been working in a very effective. bipartisan manner to deal with the whole scheme. if you will. of criminal justice reform. We have been extensively involved in what has become a major epidemic across this Nation. I listened to a number of legislative initiatives. one dealing with a veteran who died from a drug overdose that was just debated here on the floor of the House. As I was flying in today. we knew there was an incident in my district where a motorcyclist was killed by a driver. a young woman who was under the influence of opioids. We know that this Transnational Drug Trafficking Act is an important act. and we want to continue in our bipartisan effort. It is important for me to note a concern that I do not believe the sponsors intended. but which I believe must be addressed. This bill is intended to help us do more to combat the importation of illegal drugs into our country. but it could also subject more people to mandatory minimum sentencing. an unfortunate feature of our criminal justice system that we must address. The United States has been suffering from the damaging effects of illicit drug trafficking for decades. The majority of the drugs wreaking havoc in the United States originate in foreign countries. moving from one country to the next under the direction of powerful and wealthy drug kingpins. I think all of my adult life. Mr. Speaker. we have heard the words "drug kingpins"-you cannot live in urban America without hearing about them. you cannot live in Texas without hearing about themmany of whom never see or touch the drugs or enter the boundaries of this country themselves. Foreign drug kingpins in Colombia. Ecuador. and Peru are leading producers of cocaine imported into the United States. These kingpins lead operations which sell to traffickers in Mexico. who receive the drugs from Central America. South America. or Mexico and then smuggle the drugs into the United States. Certainly. drugs come from all over. The Obama administration reported instances of Afghan drug trafficking working with West African drug trafficking organizations to smuggle heroin into the United States. It is around the world. I support the idea that these drug kingpins are dangerous. but S. 32 is intended to help Federal prosecutors successfully prosecute foreign drug traffickers whose criminal activity outside the U.S. threatens the health. safety. and security of Americans at home. Section 959 makes it a crime to manufacture or distribute controlled substances or certain chemicals used to make controlled substances intended or knowing that the substance or chemical will ultimately be brought illegally into the U.S. or within 12 miles of the coast of the U.S. In recent years. Federal prosecutors reported difficulties enforcing this statute in some instances. Some drug traffickers are aware of the methods used to charge and then extradite foreign criminals into the U.S. for prosecution. Drug traffickers simply avoid any discussion of the destination of the drug shipments. S. 32 would amend section 959. making it easier for prosecutors to obtain a conviction against drug traffickers who operate in other countries. That is certainly an important mission. I am troubled. however. that lowering the intent requirement in the statute without limiting its use to leaders and organizers would expose even lowlevel offenders to mandatory minimum sentences. We are working now to stop that tide so that we can restore the criminal justice system to be just and fair. This would happen. depending on the quantity of drugs involved. Historically. mandatory minimums created in the late 1980s to target kingpins have been largely applied to lowlevel. nonviolent offenders. Mandatory minimums have led to unwarranted and unfair sentences and overincarceration. As the ranking member of the Subcommittee on Crime. Terrorism. Homeland Security. and Investigations. I am engaged with colleagues on both sides of the aisle to address the problem of mandatory minimum sentencing. I am concerned that S. 32 may make matters worse. In the Committee on the Judiciary. Ranking Member CONYERS proposed a very thoughtful amendment to H.R. 3380. the House companion to this bill. to specify that the reduced intent standard would only apply to leaders and organizers of foreign drug trafficking organizations. The amendment would have made certain that the substantial resources. time. and money necessary to extradite foreign criminals will be expended only on those individuals whose prosecution would disrupt the chain. the pipeline. or dismantle drug trafficking networks. If this bill was amended as recommended. it would be a useful tool to help target leaders of transnational organized crime from Africa to Afghanistan. to South and Central America and beyond. networks in the U.S. and abroad. priorities and objective detail in the Presidents strategy to combat transnational organized crime. In a climate in Congress when we are working on a bipartisan basis to make our criminal justice system more just and effective and to reduce mandatory minimums. the best course is for us to limit the scope of this bill to highlevel drug traffickersa simple fix. While we do not have the opportunity to amend this bill today. I ask that my colleagues vote against it so that we may continue to work to address this concern. which would not undermine the goals of the bill. S. 32 also corrects an error in section 2320 of title 18. the statute that governs trafficking in counterfeit goods and services. In order to prove the offense of trafficking in drugs with counterfeit marks. there must be proof that the accused knowingly used a counterfeit mark on or in connection with a trafficked drug. I support those changes. The underlying change and spirit of the bill is a positive one. We are working here together. This scourge is something we must attack. May I simply say. Mr. Speaker. I commend the sponsors of this bill for their desire to improve our ability to pursue. convict. and ultimately imprison toplevel drug traffickers who have plagued our Nation for decades and beyond. Although I believe this bill still requires a simple change to address the unintended issue impacting mandatory minimum sentencing. I look forward to us working in the manner in which we can work. and I look forward to this concluding in a positive way. Mr. Speaker. Although I support the goals of the Transnational Drug Trafficking Act. I must note a concern that I do not believe the sponsors intended but which I believe must be addressed. This bill is intended to help us do more to combat the importation of illegal drugs into our country. But. it could also subject more people to mandatory minimum sentencingan unfortunate feature of our criminal justice system that we must address. The United States has been suffering from the damaging effects of illicit drug trafficking for decades. The majority of the drugs wreaking havoc in the U.S. originate in foreign countries. moving from one country to the next. under the direction of powerful and wealthy drug kingpinsmany of whom never see or touch the drugs or enter the boundaries of this country themselves. Foreign drug kingpins in Columbia. Ecuador. and Peru are the leading producers of cocaine imported into the U.S. These kingpins lead operations which sell to traffickers in Mexico. who receive the drugs in Central America. South America. or Mexico and. then. smuggle the drugs into the U.S. In 2011 the Obama Administration reported instances of Afghan drug trafficking operations working with West African drug trafficking organizations to smuggle heroin into the U.S. I support enhanced efforts to combat international drug trafficking. S. 32 is intended to help federal prosecutors successfully prosecute foreign drug traffickers whose criminal activity outside of the U.S. threatens the health. safety. and security of Americans at home. At present. Section 959 of Title 21 targets criminal conduct committed outside of the United States. Section 959 makes it a crime to manufacture or distribute controlled substances or certain chemicals used to make controlled substances. intending or knowing that the substance or chemical will ultimately be brought illegally into the U.S. or within 12 miles of the coast of the U.S. In recent years. federal prosecutors have reported difficulties enforcing this statute in some circumstances. Since drug traffickers are aware of the methods used to charge and. then. extradite foreign criminals into the U.S. for prosecution. drug traffickers simply avoid any discussion of the destination of their drug shipments. This tactic leaves prosecutors with no direct evidence that the traffickers know the ultimate destination of their drugs or the drugs produced using their chemicals. S. 32 would amend Section 959. making it easier for prosecutors to obtain a conviction against drug traffickers who operate in other countries. Prosecutors would no longer be required to prove the accused intended or actually knew the drugs or chemicals would be brought illegally into the U.S. S. 32 would reduce the level of intent necessary to prove the accuseds guilt. requiring prosecutors to only prove that there was reasonable cause for the accused to believe the drugs or chemicals used to make the drugs would be brought illegally into the U.S. I am troubled. however. that lowering the intent requirement in the statute. without limiting its use to leaders and organizers would expose even lowlevel offenders to mandatory minimum sentences. depending on the quantity of drugs involved. Historically. mandatory minimums created in the late 80s to target kingpins have been largely applied to lowlevel. nonviolent offende rs. Mandatory minimums have led to unwarranted and unfair sentences and overincarceration. As the Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Crime. I am engaged with colleagues on both sides of the aisle to address the problem of mandatory minimum sentencing. I am concerned that S. 32 may make matters worse. In the Judiciary Committee markup. Ranking Member CONYERS proposed an amendment to H.R. 3380. the House companion to this bill. to specify that the reduced intent standard would only apply to leaders and organizers of foreign drug trafficking organizations. The amendment would have made certain that the substantial resources. time. and money necessary to extradite foreign criminals would be expended only on those individuals whose prosecution would disrupt or dismantle drug trafficking networks. If this bill was amended as recommended. it would be a useful tool to help target leaders of transnational organized crime networks in the U.S. and abroadpriorities and objectives detailed in the Presidents Strategy to Combat Transnational Organized Crime. In a climate in Congress when we are working on a bipartisan basis to make our criminal justice system more just and effective and to reduce mandatory minimums. the best course is for us to limit the scope of this bill to highlevel drug traffickers. While we do not have the opportunity to amend this bill today. I ask that my colleagues vote against it so that we may continue to work to address this concern. which would not undermine the goals of the bill. S. 32 also corrects an error in Section 2320 of Title 18. the statute that governs trafficking in counterfeit goods and services. In order to prove the offense of trafficking in drugs with counterfeit marks. there must be proof that the accused knowingly used a counterfeit mark on or in connection with a trafficked drug. and I support this change. In conclusion. Mr. Speaker. I commend the sponsors of this bill for their desire to improve our ability to pursue. convict. and. ultimately. imprison toplevel drug traffickers. although I believe the bill still requires a change to address the unintended issue impacting mandatory minimum sentencing.