September 25, 2024

House Foreign Affairs Committee Passes Bipartisan Castro-Salazar Bill to Target Fentanyl Precursors, Combat Drug Trafficking into the United States

WASHINGTON — This week, the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee voted unanimously to pass the DISPOSE Act, bipartisan legislation introduced by Congressman Joaquin Castro (TX-20) and Congresswoman María Elvira Salazar (FL-27) that seeks to curb fentanyl trafficking and address the devastating toll of fentanyl addiction. Castro and Salazar are the highest-ranking Democrat and Republican, respectively, on the House Foreign Affairs Committee’s Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere.

“In San Antonio and communities across the world, families have endured unimaginable tragedy as a result of the fentanyl trade,” said Congressman Castro. “The DISPOSE Act is an important step forward to support our neighbors in the Western Hemisphere as they work to curb the trafficking of fentanyl within their own nations. This bill will save lives at home and abroad, and I am honored to work with Chairwoman Salazar and a bipartisan coalition in the House and the Senate as we move this much-needed progress closer to the president’s desk.”

“The fentanyl crisis has become a scourge of the Western Hemisphere,” said Congresswoman Salazar. “By passing the DISPOSE Act, the Foreign Affairs Committee is committing to working with our partners to destroy fentanyl precursor chemicals well before they reach Miami and the rest of the country.”

In 2023 alone, Customs and Border Protection seized over 23,000 pounds of fentanyl at the southern border of the United States. The majority of fentanyl produced in the Western Hemisphere is created using Chinese chemicals that are shipped to the Americas, turned into drugs in clandestine labs, and trafficked into the U.S. by transnational criminal organizations. The DISPOSE Act will address fentanyl trafficking by supporting partner nations in the Western Hemisphere as they work to seize and destroy the precursor chemicals used in fentanyl production.

Specifically, the DISPOSE Act will establish the Precursor Chemical Destruction Initiative to fight drug trafficking with partner nations in the Western Hemisphere. In coordination with international partners, the initiative will:

  • Increase rates of seizure and destruction of listed chemicals in beneficiary countries.
  • Alleviate the backlog of seized chemicals and dispose them in an environmentally safe and effective manner.
  • Ensure that the seized chemicals are not reintroduced into the illicit drug production network within beneficiary countries.
  • Free up storage space for future chemical seizures within beneficiary countries.
  • Reduce the chemicals’ negative environmental impact.

Rep. Greg Stanton (D-AZ), an original cosponsor of the bill, was instrumental in advancing this bill through the Committee. Rep. Salazar is working to get this bill passed by the full House of Representatives. The Senate version of the DISPOSE Act is led by Senators Chuck Grassley (IA), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), and James Risch (ID).

To read the full text of the legislation, click here.