Illicit Captagon Trafficking Suppression Act of 2023

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 4681) to provide for the imposition of sanctions with respect to illicit captagon trafficking, as amended.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and to include extraneous material on this measure.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of this important bipartisan legislation to combat the illicit captagon trade, and I thank the gentleman from Arkansas (Mr. Hill) for introducing it.

In recent years, captagon, a highly addictive amphetamine-type stimulant drug, has flooded the Middle East. Captagon makes its users aggressive and dangerous, increasing their capacity to commit crimes and acts of violence.

In recent years, we have seen a sudden, drastic rise in captagon smuggling and usage throughout the Middle East. The brutal Iran-backed Assad regime in Syria is one of the main producers of captagon in the region. These war criminals are using narcotrafficking to evade global sanctions and fund their atrocities.

Since 2011, hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians have died because of the Assad regime's unrelenting brutality. This is a regime that, with the support of Russia, Iran, and Hezbollah, tortures men, women, and children on an unthinkable scale. The Assad regime has repeatedly used chemical weapons against the Syrian people.

In response to these crimes, the United States and many of our partners imposed overwhelming sanctions on the Assad regime, but the Assad regime found a workaround in the illicit drug trade. They are further destabilizing the Middle East by flooding our partner countries with drugs, and they are using the profits to stay afloat, despite our existing sanctions.

That is why the legislation we are considering today is so important. It provides updated sanctions authorities to make sure we are cutting off all forms of financing used by the Assad regime and its criminal associates.

This legislation would impose sanctions on anyone engaged in the production or proliferation of captagon, and it requires a report on whether Syrian and Hezbollah leaders should be sanctioned under this bill.

We must act now to cut off the financial lifeline that the illicit production of captagon provides the Assad regime.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

House of Representatives,

Committee on the Judiciary,

Washington, DC, March 20, 2024.

Hon. Michael McCaul,

Chairman, Committee on Foreign Affairs,

House of Representatives, Washington, DC.

Dear Chairman McCaul: I write regarding H.R. 4681, the

Illicit Captagon Trafficking Suppression Act of 2023.

Provisions of this bill fall within the Judiciary Committee's

Rule X jurisdiction, and I appreciate that you consulted with

us on those provisions. The Judiciary Committee agrees that

it shall be discharged from further consideration of the bill

so that it may proceed expeditiously to the House floor.

The Committee takes this action with the understanding that

forgoing further consideration of this measure does not in

any way alter the Committee's jurisdiction or waive any

future jurisdictional claim over these provisions or their

subject matter. We also reserve the right to seek appointment

of an appropriate number of conferees in the event of a

conference with the Senate involving this measure or similar

legislation.

I ask that you please include this letter in your

committee's report to accompany this legislation or insert

this letter in the Congressional Record during consideration

of H.R. 4681 on the House floor. I appreciate the cooperative

manner in which our committees have worked on this matter,

and I look forward to working collaboratively in the future

on matters of shared jurisdiction. Thank you for your

attention to this matter.

Sincerely,

Jim Jordan,

Chairman.

Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Arkansas (Mr. Hill), vice chairman of the Financial Services Committee, a member of the Foreign Affairs Committee, and the author of this bill.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time for closing.

Mr. Speaker, the captagon threat is new to many of us, but the speed at which this drug trade has grown in the last few years is alarming.

Creating new sanctions, specific to this drug trade, is necessary to stem this threat before it can grow even more dangerous. It is also essential to stopping the cash flow to the Assad regime.

This bipartisan legislation is a key tool in our efforts to counter the Assad regime and its Russian and Iranian backers.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to join me in support of this bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Texas, and I certainly thank my good friend from New York, the ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, for his collaboration on this bill, H.R. 4681, the Illicit Captagon Trafficking Suppression Act.

I appreciate Mr. Moskowitz, my partner and collaborator in drafting this measure. With the help of Mr. McCaul from Texas and Mr. Meeks from New York, this bill passed the House Foreign Affairs Committee 44-0. It is a key follow-up to my CAPTAGON Act of 2022, which was enacted into law as a part of the National Defense Authorization Act of that year.

This measure would further press the Assad regime in Syria by imposing new sanctions to directly target individuals and networks associated with the production and trafficking of this dangerous drug, captagon, and the resulting illicit finance.

This illegal drug trafficking is being orchestrated by Assad's relatives, leaders in his security forces, and those affiliated with Iran-backed terror group Hezbollah. These sanctions and a successful U.S.-led captagon strategy are necessary in order to disrupt the illicit funds to the Assad regime and Hezbollah.

Mr. Speaker, this drug is exiting Syria by way of Lebanon and the Syrian ports to the Mediterranean. It has been found in Europe. It has been found manufactured in Europe. Most of it passes across the land border in Jordan and finds its way to the Gulf, where it is addicting citizens in Jordan, it is addicting citizens in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and that illicit money is fueling terrorism in the region.

For 12 years, Assad, with his terror partners, Iran and Russia, have murdered and imprisoned Syrians, bombed hospitals, and gassed his own citizens. Since 2018, narcotic production and trafficking in Syria have turned Syria and the Assad regime from simply a broken, failed state of mass murder to a narco-state, with Assad's crimes against his own citizens expanding to drug trafficking.

If we fail to stop captagon's trade, then the Assad regime will continue to drive the ongoing conflict in his country, provide a lifeline to extremist groups, and permit our adversaries such as Iran, Russia, and China to strengthen their engagement in Syria, posing a larger threat to Israel and other allies in the region.

To enhance greater stability in the Middle East, the U.S. Government must continue to work with our allies and partners in the region and in Europe to increase pressure on stopping the proliferation of this drug.

In 2023, following the State Department's initiation of the U.S. captagon strategy, I traveled to the region. I visited the area three times, and captagon was an essential topic on each trip. Everybody I visited with, from a diplomatic point of view, wanted to talk about the impact of captagon.

Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and Iraq directly have seen captagon trade infiltrate their borders. Egypt, Israel, and Turkey all express concern about the money fueling terrorism.

While I commend the Biden Treasury Department and the United Kingdom jointly for using Caesar sanctions last spring to sanction individuals for captagon, it is important we step up our efforts and add specific targeted sanctions like those contained in this bill for the production and trafficking of this drug.

This bill is an important component in pushing back against diplomatic normalization with the Assad regime, pushing back on the intense terror leadership of Iran in every aspect and conflict in the region, and standing in full support of our ally Israel.

Mr. Speaker, I encourage my colleagues to support this legislation. I thank my colleagues on the House Financial Services Committee and Foreign Affairs Committee for helping bring this bill to the House floor.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 4681, and I thank my friend and colleague, Congressman French Hill, for introducing this measure.

For years, the Assad regime has fueled its brutal and oppressive campaign against the Syrian people through the revenue of a drug trafficking network estimated to be worth billions of dollars.

Syria remains the largest producer of captagon, a dangerous and highly addictive amphetamine popular in the Middle East, and Assad's regime, affiliates, and criminal networks have used that trade to enrich themselves and fuel their war machine.

The Biden administration has taken significant steps to improve our coordination with allies and partners to interdict and disrupt the illicit network responsible for distributing captagon, but more can be done.

This measure builds on previous efforts to mandate sanctions on individuals and entities responsible for captagon trafficking as well as congressional reporting mandates to inform this body on what steps the United States is taking to counter these criminal efforts.

Disrupting Syria's narcotics trade is key to eliminating Assad's remaining financial lifeline, and this legislation is critical to that effort.

Mr. Speaker, I encourage all my colleagues to join me in supporting this measure, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time for closing.

Under the Assad regime, Syria has turned into a narco-state, utilizing the proceeds from the illicit captagon drug network to fuel its brutal war on the Syrian people.

This legislation builds on the Biden administration's efforts to coordinate with our allies and partners to dismantle the captagon trade network, mandating additional sanctions on individuals and entities responsible for captagon trafficking, and requires reporting requirements to the United States Congress on the administration's efforts.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting H.R. 4681, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I was unable to cast my vote for Roll Call Votes Nos. 124 through 134. Had I been present, I would have voted: ``Nay'' on Roll Call Vote No. 124, Motion on Ordering the Previous Question on H. Res. 1149; ``No'' on Roll Call Vote No. 125, H. Res. 1149; ``Yea'' on Roll Call Vote No. 126, H.R. 6245; ``Yea'' on Roll Call Vote No. 127, H.R. 6015; ``Yea'' on Roll Call Vote No. 128, H.R. 5917; ``Yea'' on Roll Call Vote No. 129, H.R. 4681; ``Yea'' on Roll Call Vote No. 130, H.R. 6603; ``Yea'' on Roll Call Vote No. 131, H.R. 5826; ``Yea'' on Roll Call Vote No. 132, H.R. 3033; ``Yea'' on Roll Call Vote No. 133, H. Res. 288; and ``Yea'' on Roll Call Vote No. 134, H. Res. 883.

Mr. Speaker, I was necessarily absent from one vote today. Had I been present, I would have voted YEA on Roll Call No. 129.