NORTHERN BORDER COUNTERNARCOTICS STRATEGY ACT OF 2010
July 27, 2010
Mr. SCOTT of Virginia: Mr. Speaker, H.R. 4748, the Northern Border Counternarcotics Strategy Act of 2010, amends the Office of National Drug Control Policy Reauthorization Act of 2006 to require that the director of the National Drug Control Policy submit to Congress a Northern Border Counternarcotics Strategy.
The United States' northern border with Canada is the longest open border in the world, spanning 12 States and over 4,000 miles.
President Obama's recently released Drug Control Strategy describes an increasing amount of drug trafficking and related criminal activity occurring near the Canadian border, including on Indian reservations in that area.
According to a 2010 National Drug Threat Assessment, the amount of drug commonly known as ``ecstasy'' being seized at the northern border has increased almost 600 percent between 2004 and 2009.
The Office of National Drug Control Policy has developed a comprehensive strategy for addressing drugs coming across the southwest border. Congress supported this effort with a directive contained in the 2006 reauthorization bill.
The bill before us extends that directive to our northern border to help bring focus to the efforts to curb illegal drug trafficking and related crimes on the international border between the United States and Canada.
As with the southern border strategy, the northern border strategy will detail the specific rules and coordinate the efforts of law enforcement agencies, including the ONDCP, the Justice Department, and the Homeland Security Departments.
In addition, H.R. 4748 brings in Indian tribes with reservations on or near the Canadian border for a consulting role in implementing the strategy on the reservations.
I would like to commend our colleague, the gentleman from New York (Mr. Owens), whose district spans 250 miles along the border, along the St. Lawrence River and Lake Erie, for his leadership in this important legislation.
I would also like to thank the chairman of the Homeland Security Committee, the gentleman from Mississippi (Mr. Thompson), for his assistance in bringing this bill to the floor.