Review – HR 128 Introduce – Fentanyl as WMD

Last month, Rep Boebert (R,CO) introduced HR 128, the Fentanyl is a WMD Act. The very short bill would direct the Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction Office of the Department of Homeland Security to treat illicit fentanyl as a weapon of mass destruction. No funding authorization is provided in this legislation.

HR 128 is identical to HR 7190 that was introduced by Boebert in February of last year. No action was taken on that bill.

Moving Forward

While Boebert is not a member of the House Homeland Security Committee to which this bill was assigned for consideration, this session one of her eight cosponsors {Rep Ogles (R,TN)} is a member. This means that there may be sufficient influence to see the bill considered in Committee. I would expect there to be significant bipartisan opposition to the bill were it to be considered, but there could be enough votes for the Committee to favorably recommend the bill to the full House.

Commentary

While fentanyl may broadly fall within the scope of the definition of the term ‘weapon of mass destruction’, there is nothing within the current scope or mission of the Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction Office that would help the federal government reduce the flow of that drug, or it’s precursors, into this country. Either the sponsors of this bill are unaware of the mission of the CWMD Office, or this legislation is just another bit of political grandstanding. In my opinion, while I would not be surprised at these particular congresscritters being uniformed, I suspect the latter.

 

For more information about the provisions of this bill, including additional commentary on future of the CWMD Office, see my article at CFSN Detailed Analysis - https://patrickcoyle.substack.com/p/hr-128-introduce - subscription required.

Review - HR 8197 Introduced – CBWC Sanctions

Last month, Rep Banks (R,IN) introduced HR 8197, the Countering Beijing’s Weaponization of Fentanyl Act. The bill would make various revisions to the Chemical and Biological Weapons Control and Warfare Elimination (CBWCE) Act of 1991 to make the international distribution of fentanyl or its precursors by a country an act of chemical or biological warfare which would require the imposition of Presidential sanctions. No new funding is authorized by this bill.

Moving Forward

Banks is not a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee to which this bill was assigned primary consideration. This means that there is little chance that there is sufficient influence to see the bill considered in Committee. I suspect that there would be limited, partisan support, for opening this can of worms in that Committee. Broader support would be likely if the bill were to make it to the floor of the House.

Commentary

This bill would, if passed into law, water down the importance of the CBWCE by effectively making it a drug trafficking bill. Having said that, the sanctions that the bill would require and allow the President to impose would certainly seem to be appropriate, though I am not sure how effective they would be against China. I think this bill would be more effective if it were rewritten as a stand-alone measure with no reference to the CWBCE. It should also be expanded to include such drugs as heroin and cocaine.

 

For more details about the provisions of this bill, see my article at CFSN Detailed Analysis - https://patrickcoyle.substack.com/p/hr-8197-introduced - subscription required.