Illicit Captagon Trafficking Suppression Act of 2023

Floor Speech

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Mr. HILL. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Texas, and I certainly thank my good friend from New York, the ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, for his collaboration on this bill, H.R. 4681, the Illicit Captagon Trafficking Suppression Act.

I appreciate Mr. Moskowitz, my partner and collaborator in drafting this measure. With the help of Mr. McCaul from Texas and Mr. Meeks from New York, this bill passed the House Foreign Affairs Committee 44-0. It is a key follow-up to my CAPTAGON Act of 2022, which was enacted into law as a part of the National Defense Authorization Act of that year.

This measure would further press the Assad regime in Syria by imposing new sanctions to directly target individuals and networks associated with the production and trafficking of this dangerous drug, captagon, and the resulting illicit finance.

This illegal drug trafficking is being orchestrated by Assad's relatives, leaders in his security forces, and those affiliated with Iran-backed terror group Hezbollah. These sanctions and a successful U.S.-led captagon strategy are necessary in order to disrupt the illicit funds to the Assad regime and Hezbollah.

Mr. Speaker, this drug is exiting Syria by way of Lebanon and the Syrian ports to the Mediterranean. It has been found in Europe. It has been found manufactured in Europe. Most of it passes across the land border in Jordan and finds its way to the Gulf, where it is addicting citizens in Jordan, it is addicting citizens in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and that illicit money is fueling terrorism in the region.

For 12 years, Assad, with his terror partners, Iran and Russia, have murdered and imprisoned Syrians, bombed hospitals, and gassed his own citizens. Since 2018, narcotic production and trafficking in Syria have turned Syria and the Assad regime from simply a broken, failed state of mass murder to a narco-state, with Assad's crimes against his own citizens expanding to drug trafficking.

If we fail to stop captagon's trade, then the Assad regime will continue to drive the ongoing conflict in his country, provide a lifeline to extremist groups, and permit our adversaries such as Iran, Russia, and China to strengthen their engagement in Syria, posing a larger threat to Israel and other allies in the region.

To enhance greater stability in the Middle East, the U.S. Government must continue to work with our allies and partners in the region and in Europe to increase pressure on stopping the proliferation of this drug.

In 2023, following the State Department's initiation of the U.S. captagon strategy, I traveled to the region. I visited the area three times, and captagon was an essential topic on each trip. Everybody I visited with, from a diplomatic point of view, wanted to talk about the impact of captagon.

Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and Iraq directly have seen captagon trade infiltrate their borders. Egypt, Israel, and Turkey all express concern about the money fueling terrorism.

While I commend the Biden Treasury Department and the United Kingdom jointly for using Caesar sanctions last spring to sanction individuals for captagon, it is important we step up our efforts and add specific targeted sanctions like those contained in this bill for the production and trafficking of this drug.

This bill is an important component in pushing back against diplomatic normalization with the Assad regime, pushing back on the intense terror leadership of Iran in every aspect and conflict in the region, and standing in full support of our ally Israel.

Mr. Speaker, I encourage my colleagues to support this legislation. I thank my colleagues on the House Financial Services Committee and Foreign Affairs Committee for helping bring this bill to the House floor.

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