Senate Committee Passes Hassan-Backed Bipartisan Bills to Strengthen Border Security and Target Fentanyl Trafficking

WASHINGTON – Today, the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee advanced Senator Maggie Hassan and colleagues’ legislation to strengthen border security, including by targeting fentanyl trafficking. The Committee also passed a number of additional bipartisan bills that Senator Hassan worked on.

"The bipartisan bills that we passed today will strengthen law enforcement’s efforts to protect border security, including by intercepting illegal fentanyl that too often crosses the border and makes its way to communities in New Hampshire and across the country," said Senator Maggie Hassan. "I am glad to work with my Republican and Democratic colleagues alike to strengthen border security and target fentanyl trafficking, and I urge the Senate to pass these important bills.”

The Senate Committee passed the following Hassan-backed bipartisan bills to strengthen border security:

1. The END FENTANYL Act, which Senator Hassan joined in introducing, would help law enforcement at the border stop drug smuggling by requiring the Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to update its policies at least once every three years to ensure drug interdiction guidance is up to date.
2. The Transnational Criminal Investigative Unit Stipend Act, which Senator Hassan joined in introducing, would authorize the existing Transnational Criminal Investigative Units (TCIUs) in law. These units operate as teams of foreign law enforcement officers based in 13 countries around the world, prosecuting transnational criminal activity, helping identify gang members and drug dealers, and collecting and sharing intelligence on transnational criminal organizations.
3. The Safeguarding the Homeland from Threats Posed by Unmanned Aircraft Systems Act, which Senator Hassan joined in introducing, would significantly enhance our country’s ability to counter the threat posed by unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), commonly known as drones.
4. The Non-Intrusive Inspection Expansion Act, which Senator Hassan cosponsored, would help CBP Officers to more quickly and effectively screen vehicles and large amounts of cargo using non-intrusive inspection systems, which help to find and stop illegal fentanyl trafficking.
5. The Enhancing DHS Drug Seizures Act, which Senator Hassan cosponsored, would ensure that the Department of the Homeland Security is efficiently using existing resources and expanding available tools to stop the flow of deadly and illicit drugs like fentanyl into our country.

In addition, the committee passed several additional Hassan-backed bipartisan bills:

1. The CONSULT Act of 2022, which Senator Hassan joined in introducing, would increase federal oversight to help prevent national security consulting firms from contracting both with the United States and countries like Russia and China.
2. The Disaster Management Cost Modernization Act, which Senator Hassan introduced, would allow state and local governments to use disaster management funding to cover multiple disasters, and use any additional resources after a disaster to build future capacity for disaster response.
3. The Quantum Computer Cybersecurity Preparedness Act, which Senator Hassan introduced, would strengthen national security by preparing the federal government’s defenses against quantum-computing-enabled data breaches.

###