,i #aaeth ,,congress #b;d ,session ,h4 ,r4 #gjia ,,in ,,the ,,house ,,of ,,representatives ,october #bf1 #bjah,mr4 ,smith of ,new ,jersey 7for himself1 ,mr4 ,suozzi1 ,ms4 ,ros-,lehtinen1 ,miss ,gonzlez-,coln of ,puerto ,rico1 ,mr4 ,poe of ,texas1 ,mr4 ,fleischmann1 ,mr4 ,lance1 ,mr4 ,mac,arthur1 ,mr4 ,lipinski1 ,mr4 ,chabot1 and ,mr4 ,donovan7 introduced the following bill2 which was referred to the ,committee on ,foreign ,affairs ,a ,,bill ,to stop the production of fentanyl and its trafficking into the ,united ,states from the ,people's ,republic of ,china4 #a4 ,short title ,this ,act may be cited as the ,combatting ,illicit ,fentanyl ,act of #bjah4 #b4 ,findings ,congress finds the following3 7#a7 ,america's overdose epidemic is spreading geographically1 is increasing across all demographic groups and the sharp increase in drug overdose deaths in the ,united ,states between #bjae to #bjaf was fueled by a surge in illicit fentanyl1 a highly potent drug about #hj to #ajj times as strong as morphine by weight and is #cj to #dj times stronger than heroin by weight1 as well as fentanyl-related compound analogue overdoses4 7#b7 ,fentanyl began to appear on ,u4,s4 streets in the early #bjjjs1 in recent years it has become a major international drug control issue as overdose deaths from its abuse continue to rise1 with a spike beginning in #bjac4 ,foreign-sourced fentanyl killed more ,americans in #bjaf than all other illicit drugs1 and synthetic opioids such as fentanyl and tramadol accounted for more than #bi1jjj ,u4,s4 drug overdose deaths in #bjag1 according to provisional data from the ,centers for ,disease ,control and ,prevention4 ,illicit fentanyl is not a diverged pharmaceutical product1 is illicitly manufactured1 and is clandestinely distributed and integrated into the illicit drug supply1 usually sold as heroin in powder form1 or as counterfeit opioid or benzodiazepine pills4 7#c7 ,in ,ocean ,county1 ,new ,jersey1 based on data from the ,ocean ,county ,prosecutor's ,office1 in #bjad #aj percent of all overdose deaths had fentanyl in their systems1 and by #bjah that number had risen to #hj percent4 7#d7 ,the ,drug ,enforcement ,administration reports that of the illicit fentanyl class substances and hundreds of other designer drugs it has identified1 the vast majority ''' are manufactured in ,china4 ,in #bjah1 a year-long congressional probe found that illicit fentanyl could easily be bought online from ,chinese labs and mailed to the ,united ,states due to gaps in oversight in the ,united ,states ,postal ,service1 and despite increased cooperation between ,united ,states and ,chinese counter-narcotics agencies1 illicit fentanyl is still shipped to the ,united ,states4 7#e7 ,according to written testimony submitted to ,congress by the ,,rand ,corporation1 regulatory capacity in ,china is inadequate to effectively police its expansive pharmaceutical and chemical industries1 and according to the ,u4,s4-,china ,economic and ,security ,review ,commission1 corrupt practices among local officials limit the effectiveness of regulations and allows criminal actors to facilitate the fentanyl trade4 7#f7 ,in ,june #bjah1 #a4g million worth of ,chinese fentanyl was detected by counternarcotics agents in a ,philadelphia port during a routine inspection1 ,china has publicly gone to great lengths to shirk responsibility for illicit fentanyl emanating out of the country1 and in ,june #bjah1 ,chinese official ,liu ,yuejin blamed the crisis on the ,american people1 saying ,when fewer and fewer ,americans use fentanyl1 there would be no market for it1 ignoring the ,chinese supply of the illicit substance1 and ,china fails to effectively regulate precursor chemicals1 including fentanyl precursors4 7#g7 ,fentanyl lacks a street name1 indicating that this is more of a supply than a demand issue and its intentional use is far outweighed by non-intentional use4 ,on ,september #f1 #bjah1 at a hearing before the ,house ,committee on ,foreign ,affairs ,subcommittee on ,africa1 ,global ,health1 ,global ,human ,rights1 and ,international ,organizations1 expert private witnesses from diverse professional and academic backgrounds all concurred that ,china can do more to stem the flow of fentanyl4 7#h7 ,according to the ,united ,nations ,general ,assembly1 the drug trade poses a threat to development1 peace and security and human rights1 and the ,united ,nations ,convention against ,transnational ,organized ,crime 7the ,palermo ,convention71 a multilateral treaty against transnational organized crime including in the realm of narcotics signed and ratified by ,china which entered into force in #bjjc1 obligates ,states ,parties to ensure effective action by its authorities in the prevention1 detection and punishment of the corruption of public officials4 7#i7 ,combating illicit fentanyl is a top priority of the ,trump ,administration and the ,president has called it outrageous that fentanyl comes from ,china4 ,the ,trump ,administration has both highlighted ,china's role in the crisis and targeted ,chinese manufacturers and traffickers1 and at an ,august #af1 #bjah1 cabinet meeting1 ,president ,trump directed ,attorney ,general ,sessions to step up efforts to stem inflows of fentanyl from ,china4 #c4 ,report 7a7 ,in general ,not later than #ij days after the date of the enactment of this ,act1 and annually thereafter1 the ,secretary of ,state and the ,secretary of ,treasury shall jointly submit to the appropriate congressional committees a report that identifies each person in the ,people's ,republic of ,china and ,chinese government official involved in the production of fentanyl and its trafficking into the ,united ,states4 7b7 ,form ,the report required by subsection 7a7 shall be submitted in unclassified form1 but may contain a classified annex4 7c7 ,appropriate congressional committees defined ,in this section1 the term appropriate congressional committees means-- 7#a7 the ,committee on ,foreign ,affairs1 the ,committee on ,financial ,services1 and the ,committee on ,energy and ,commerce of the ,house of ,representatives2 and 7#b7 the ,committee on ,foreign ,relations1 the ,committee on ,banking1 ,housing1 and ,urban ,affairs1 the ,committee on ,commerce1 ,science1 and ,transportation1 and the ,committee on ,health1 ,education1 and ,pensions of the ,senate4 #d4 ,sense of ,congress ,it is the sense of ,congress that-- 7#a7 the ,president should impose financial sanctions under the ,international ,emergency ,economic ,powers ,act 7#ej ,u4,s4,c4 #agja et seq47 against each person and government official identified in the report required by section #c2 and 7#b7 the ,president should impose sanctions under section #abfc7;b7 of the ,national ,defense ,authorization ,act for ,fiscal ,year #bjag 7#bb ,u4,s4,c4 #bfef note7 against each person and government official identified in the report required by section #c that meet the criteria under paragraph 7#c7 or 7#d7 of section #abfc7;a7 of such ,act4