Countering Assad's Proliferation Trafficking and Garnering of Narcotics Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. HILL. Mr. Speaker, I thank my two friends from New Jersey for managing the floor, and I thank my good friend, the Speaker pro tempore (Mr. Brendan F. Boyle) for working with me on this important legislation.

Mr. Speaker, I do rise in support of H.R. 6265, the CAPTAGON Act. I really appreciate Chairman Meeks and Ranking Member McCaul shepherding this legislation through the committee and now to the House floor. As I said, Congressman Boyle and I worked collectively on this over the past year, and I appreciate his leadership on our Friends of Syria Caucus.

The decade of destruction and deteriorating human rights situation in Syria is well known. But just look at the poster next to me for a snippet of the headlines coming out of the region as it relates to this poison, this drug, Captagon.

In addition to regularly committing war crimes against his own people, the Assad regime in Syria has now become a narco state. Narcotic production and trafficking in Syria and its neighbors have become more expansive and more widespread.

The current epicenter of the drug trade is in territory controlled by the Assad regime. This has been well known now for at least 2 years. Yet despite that, just last week the State Department and White House failed to include Syria in their required determinations of major drug transit and major illicit drug producing countries.

Mr. Speaker, I include in the Record a letter dated July 15, 2022, from Senator Roger Marshall of Kansas, Representative Brendan Boyle, and myself to Secretary Blinken urging that Syria be added to this determination. Washington, DC, July 15, 2022. Hon. Antony Blinken, Secretary of State, Department of State.

Dear Mr. Secretary: We are writing to respectfully request that your administration review and determine whether Syria meets the criteria of a ``major illicit drug producing country'' or ``major drug-transit country'' as defined in sections 481(e)(2) and 481(e)(5) of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. Sec. 2291(e)(2) and Sec. 2291(e)(5)).

Elements of the Assad regime and regime-affiliated networks have reportedly engaged in state-sponsored amphetamine production and trafficking. We have seen a troubling increase in Captagon exports from Assad regime-affiliated networks relying on a robust pharmaceutical sector and smuggling routes between Syria and neighboring countries. This uptick has also coincided with increased Assad-affiliated Captagon seizures globally.

Not only is this trade a potential source of revenue for elements of the Assad regime and its affiliates, but the industrial-scale amphetamine production represents a security threat to the region itself, particularly as Captagon production can become methamphetamine with a few changes to the production process. In response, the House of Representatives designed an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2022 to encourage your administration to develop a multi-agency strategy to disrupt and dismantle these networks. The Joint Explanatory Statement for the FY2022 NDAA noted that ``the Captagon trade is a cause of instability in the Middle East that has negative implications for the national security of the United States and its allies and partners. We support development of a strategy to guide appropriate action against narcotics production and trafficking and affiliated networks linked to the regime of Bashar al-Assad in Syria.''

As you know, section 706 of the Foreign Relations Authorization Act, Fiscal Year 2003 (P.L. 107-228) requires that the President submit an annual report no later than September 15 of each year that identifies each country determined by the President to be a major drug transit country or major illicit drug-producing country. In its most recent report, the White House did not list Syria among the 22 countries identified as major drug transit or major illicit drug producing countries. If a country is designated as having ``failed demonstrably'' in its counternarcotics commitments, the United States must cease providing certain categories of foreign assistance (as defined in section 481(e)(4) of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961; 22 U.S.C. Sec. 2291(e)(4)) to such country unless the President determines that the provision of such assistance is vital to U.S. national interests or that the country, at any time after the President's initial report to Congress, has made ``substantial efforts'' to comply with the counternarcotics conditions in the legislation. This prohibition does not affect narcotics-related assistance and humanitarian assistance (i.e., disaster relief assistance, assistance involving the provision of food or medicine, and assistance for refugees).

We, therefore, request that you determine whether the Government of Syria meets the criteria for designation as a major drug transit country or major illicit drug-producing country.

Thank you for your time and attention to this matter. We look forward to receiving your expeditious response. Sincerely, Roger Marshall, United States Senator. Brendan Boyle, Member of Congress. French Hill, Member of Congress.

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Mr. HILL. Mr. Speaker, this recent omission tracks with the administration's diplomacy disconnect from our American values. First, earlier this year, State erred and did not include Nigeria, leaving them off as a country of particular concern for religious freedom. And now it is Syria left off as a major drug-producing country.

Mr. Speaker, this is why this bill is so critical and important at this time.

We need an all-of-Government approach to addressing the Assad regime's drug production and trafficking.

Captagon has already reached Europe, and it is only a matter of time before it reaches our shores. If we do not work with our like-minded partners to first hinder the narcotics trade and replace it with a working system of institutions that serve the Syrian people, then Assad will, in fact, add the title drug kingpin to his recognized global status as a leading mass murderer.

Mr. Speaker, I urge all my colleagues to support this important bill.

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