Reps. Stephanie Murphy and González-Colón Secure Language to Combat Drug Trafficking in the U.S. Caribbean Border

Statement

The U.S. House of Representatives approved this week H.R. 3351, the Financial Services and General Government Appropriations Act, 2020, which includes report language secured by Congresswomen Stephanie Murphy (D-FL) and Jenniffer González-Colón (R-PR) to combat drug trafficking in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Specifically, the language directs the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) to revise the Caribbean Border Counternarcotics Strategy, last published in 2015.

Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands--the United States' Caribbean border--have long been exploited as both a destination and a transshipment point for illicit drugs shipped to the mainland, endangering the lives of Americans in the two territories and the continental U.S. In the report language, the House Appropriation Committee expresses concerns regarding narcotics trafficking and related violence in the two territories, home to approximately 3.3 million American citizens, and the effect such illicit activities have on U.S. States, especially communities along the eastern seaboard like Florida.

To address these threats, the House Appropriations Committee directed ONDCP in 2014 to publish a biennial Caribbean Border Counternarcotics Strategy. In January 2015, ONDCP published the first such strategy, articulating the U.S. framework for reducing the threats associated with drugs in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. However, ONDCP has not updated the document since, despite the congressional requirement that it be published every two years. By contrast, the National Southwest Border Counternarcotics Strategy was most recently updated in 2016.

The language secured by Reps. Murphy and González-Colón in this year's Financial Services Appropriations bill requires ONDCP to publish an updated Caribbean Border Counternarcotics Strategy within 180 days of enactment of the Act. It further directs ONDCP to include that strategy in forthcoming versions of the National Drug Control Strategy, just as it is required to do for the Southwest Border & Northern Border Counternarcotics strategies.

"We need a clear strategy to combat the threat from criminal networks that use Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands as a transit route to the mainland U.S. As communities in Florida and across the country continue to be devastated by drug abuse and drug-related violence, this bipartisan effort will ensure we have a coordinated approach to combat drug trafficking," said Murphy, a former national security specialist at the Department of Defense.

"As the United States moves to secure its borders, it is imperative that we confront the threats posed by criminal and drug trafficking organizations in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, the only two U.S. jurisdictions geographically located within the transit zone. The Caribbean Border Counternarcotics Strategy will help us achieve just that by delineating the federal government's framework for reducing drug-related threats in the region." stated Jenniffer González-Colón.

"I thank Congresswoman Murphy for her support on the efforts to fight crime and achieve state and federal tools to address these threats. My priority since day one has been working on the approval and requirement of specific strategies to combat the illegal drug trafficking in Puerto Rico and guarantee the public safety of the citizens of the island. Today we add this new achievement that we trust will be approved in the Senate "added Congresswoman González-Colón.

This is not the first time Reps. González-Colón and Murphy have joined efforts to strengthen the federal government's counterdrug efforts.

In October 2018, Rep. González-Colón led a bipartisan letter urging ONDCP to update the geographically-focused strategies accompanying the National Drug Control Strategy, namely the National Southwest Border Counternarcotic Strategy, the National Northern Border Counternarcotics Strategy, and the Caribbean Border Counternarcotic Strategy. Congresswoman Murphy joined as a cosigner.

Source