Press Releases

For Immediate Release                                          Contact: Tionee Scotland
December 6, 2024                                                         202-808-6129

PRESS STATEMENT

PLASKETT ANNOUNCES HOUSE PASSAGE OF CARIBBEAN BORDER COUNTERNARCOTICS STRATEGY ACT

Washington, D.C. – Congresswoman Stacey E. Plaskett released the following statement:

“I am pleased to share that this week H.R. 920, the Caribbean Border Counternarcotics Strategy Act, which I co-sponsored with my Republican colleague and fellow Caribbean sister, Congresswoman Jenniffer Gonzalez-Colon has passed the House of Representatives as part of the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) Reauthorization Act of 2024 (H.R. 9598) by a vote of 399 to 1. This bipartisan legislation reauthorizes the ONDCP and related programs, ensuring federal agencies are properly equipped to hold drug traffickers accountable. I am proud to be one of six original co-sponsors of this critically important package.

“My bill, the Caribbean Border Counternarcotics Strategy Act, provides statutory authority to require the ONDCP to include a Caribbean Border Counternarcotics Strategy in its National Drug Control Strategy. This strategy must include measures for preventing the illegal trafficking of drugs through the Caribbean region into the United States, including measures to combat drug trafficking and drug-related violent crime in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.”

Other Key Provisions of H.R. 9598:

• Reauthorizes the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas (HIDTA) program and the Drug-Free Communities (DFC) program at FY 2024 enacted funding levels through FY 2031.
• Similarly reauthorizes related ONDCP programs including the Drug Court Training and Technical Assistance program, the Model Acts Program, the Community-Based Coalition Enhancement Grants program, and the National Community Anti-Drug Coalition Institute.
• Incorporates key aspects of the HIDTA Reauthorization Act (H.R. 7185), led by Rep. Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.) and Rep. John Duarte (R-Calif.), to bolster local law enforcement resources and temporarily reassign prosecutorial resources to combat fentanyl.
• Requires the ONDCP Director to conduct a study on life saving opioid overdose reversal agents.
• Directs the ONDCP Director to coordinate with the Departments of Homeland Security, Justice, and State to ensure appropriate agencies are properly resourced to ensure that traffickers of illicit drugs are held accountable under Title 8 immigration authorities.

“We are well aware of the violence and destruction drug trafficking has exacted in our region.  The loss of lives, opportunities and the social structure to these issues must be combatted with multiple tools.  This legislation is an important one.  This past weekend in discussions with Prime Ministers in the Caribbean region that problem was echoed. I would like to thank Congresswoman Gonzalez-Colon, Chairman James Comer, Ranking Member Jamie Raskin and their teams for their willingness to work across the aisle to advance this legislation for the Virgin Islands and the Caribbean region.”

“This legislation must still be passed by the Senate before it can go to the President’s desk for signature into law, I am hopeful that this critical legislation will continue to move with haste.”

###