Detection Equipment and Technology Evaluation to Counter the Threat of Fentanyl and Xylazine Act of 2024

Floor Speech

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Mr. GIMENEZ. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 8663) to require the Science and Technology Directorate in the Department of Homeland Security to develop greater capacity to detect, identify, and disrupt illicit substances in very low concentrations.

The Clerk read the title of the bill.

The text of the bill is as follows: H.R. 8663

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, SECTION 1. SHORT TITLES.

This Act may be cited as the ``Detection Equipment and Technology Evaluation to Counter the Threat of Fentanyl and Xylazine Act of 2024'' or the ``DETECT Fentanyl and Xylazine Act of 2024''. SEC. 2. ENHANCING THE CAPACITY TO DETECT, IDENTIFY, AND DISRUPT DRUGS SUCH AS FENTANYL AND XYLAZINE.

Section 302 of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 182) is amended--

(1) in paragraph (13), by striking ``and'' at the end;

(2) in paragraph (14), by striking the period at the end and inserting ``; and''; and

(3) by adding at the end the following:

``(15) carrying out research, development, testing, evaluation, and cost-benefit analyses to improve the safety, effectiveness, and efficiency of equipment and reference libraries for use by Federal, State, local, Tribal, and territorial law enforcement agencies for the accurate detection of drugs or the disruption of drug trafficking for drugs such as fentanyl and xylazine, including, but not limited to--

``(A) portable equipment that can detect and identify drugs with minimal or no handling of the sample;

``(B) equipment that can separate complex mixtures containing low concentrations of drugs and high concentrations of cutting agents into their component parts to enable signature extraction for field identification and detection; and

``(C) technologies that use machine learning or artificial intelligence (as defined in section 5002 of the National Artificial Intelligence Initiative Act of 2020 (15 U.S.C. 9401)) and other techniques to predict whether the substances in a sample are controlled substance analogues or other new psychoactive substances not yet included in available reference libraries.''. SEC. 3. REQUIREMENTS.

In carrying out section 302(15) of the Homeland Security Act of 2002, as added by section 2, the Under Secretary for Science and Technology shall--

(1) follow the recommendations, guidelines, and best practices described in the Artificial Intelligence Risk Management Framework (NIST AI 100-1) or any successor document published by the National Institute of Standards and Technology; and

(2) establish the Directorate of Science and Technology's research, development, testing, evaluation, and cost-benefit analysis priorities under such section 302(15) based on the latest available information, including the latest State and Territory Report on Enduring and Emerging Threats published by the Drug Enforcement Administration or any successor document.

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Mr. GIMENEZ. 8663, the bill now under consideration.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 8663, the DETECT Fentanyl and Xylazine Act of 2024.

As the catastrophe at our southern border has continued to spiral out of control, the trafficking of fentanyl and other drugs has reached critical levels, putting Americans and law enforcement officials at risk.

The unchecked drug flow has devastated families and communities across the country, and the Committee on Homeland Security has uncovered throughout the course of the past 2 years this devastating lack of enforcement at the southern border.

While our brave law enforcement and frontline border personnel do their best to interdict, they do not always have the tools and resources to effectively do so. H.R. 8663 will improve drug detection accuracy through DHS Science and Technology Directorate research and providing critical equipment for Federal, State, local, Tribal, and territorial law enforcement dealing with fentanyl, xylazine, and other deadly drugs.

Mr. Speaker, I commend the gentleman from New York (Mr. LaLota) for his work on this legislation. I urge all Members to support it, and I reserve the balance of my time.
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Mr. GIMENEZ. As more and more Americans are negatively impacted by fentanyl and other deadly drugs, it is important to take steps to mitigate and detect the flow of these drugs over our borders. I urge passage of H.R. 8663, which will develop a greater capacity to detect, identify, and disrupt illicit substances. I yield back the balance of my time.

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