Hawley helps introduce bill to advance DHS efforts to detect and seize illicit drugs

WASHINGTON — Today U.S. Senators Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) and Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Chairman Gary Peters (D-Mich.) introduced the Enhancing DHS Drug Seizures Act — a bipartisan bill to ensure that the Department of the Homeland Security (DHS) is efficiently using existing resources and expanding available tools to stop the flow of deadly and illicit drugs like fentanyl into our nation.

“Illicit drugs such as fentanyl are devastating communities and families across the country, including those in Missouri,” said Senator Hawley. “In order to crack down on drug cartels and criminals operating across our southern border, we need to give the Department of Homeland Security the right tools and resources to root out drug smuggling and improve interdiction efforts. I’m proud to work with Chairman Peters on bipartisan solutions to address the ongoing opioid crisis.”

Chairman Peters said, “The opioid crisis continues to devastate communities in Michigan and across our country. That is why we must use every tool at our disposal to fight back against trafficking and seize these drugs before they can harm Americans. By bolstering the Department of Homeland Security’s ability to reduce the supply of dangerous drugs like fentanyl in the United States, this bipartisan bill will help reduce overdoses and save lives.”

Bill text can be found here.

Background:

The Enhancing DHS Drug Seizures Act would:

• Provide solutions to assist DHS with its counter drug mission while also holding DHS accountable for assessing and improving its efforts.
• Ensure that DHS is utilizing available resources to develop additional ways to test for fentanyl and other illicit drugs. It also requires DHS to study how they can improve efforts to collect and analyze data on illegal drug seizures.
• Enhance penalties for drug traffickers who knowingly and willfully surveil, track, monitor, or transmit information about the location and movement of enforcement officials and those who destroy border technology, such as sensors and cameras, in order to smuggle drugs into the United States.