In the Senate: The Western Hemisphere Drug Policy Commission Act of 2010
On December 7th, Senators Robert Menendez (D-NJ), Dick Lugar (R-IN) and Patrick Leahy (D-VT) introduced the "House initiative sponsored by Congressman Elliot Engel (D-NY) and Connie Mack (R-FL) that was passed by the House of Representatives on December 8, 2009. The purpose of the bipartisan bill is "to evaluate U.S. policies and programs aimed at reducing illicit drug supply and demand and recommend a multiyear counternarcotics strategy to address the escalating security crisis in the hemisphere fueled by the illicit narcotics trade." While the new piece of legislation in the Senate is very similar to the House's version, the second component, a recommendation for a multiyear interagency counternarcotics strategy for the Western Hemisphere, did not appear in the version passed by the House. This added component appears to come from S.3172, the "Counternarcotics and Citizen Security for the Americas Act of 2010" (PDF), which was introduced by Senators Menendez and John Kerry (D-Massachusetts) in March 2010. The Senate version of the bill also allows more time for the formation of the Commission (60 days vs. 30 days) and provides more time for the production of a report that would detail the findings, conclusions and recommendations of the Commission (18 months vs. 12 months). Yet, the new bill appropriates far less resources to the Commission to carry out its duties ($250,000 vs. $2,000,000). According to Senator Menendez, "we need a comprehensive and smart policy that looks at both the supply and demand side of the issue -- domestic prevention and treatment programs, as well as a long-term multiyear counternarcotics strategy -- and that ultimately succeeds in turning around this epidemic of drugs and crime that is destroying families, communities, and undermining the rule of law both at home and abroad." Senator Lugar noted, "I am especially interested in efforts to bolster the role of the U.S. military and the intelligence community to help combat cartels headquartered in Mexico with reach in Central American countries, Venezuela and throughout the Region. New approaches might include ways to jointly deploy aviation, surveillance and intelligence assets where necessary." Below is a summary of the bill from the press release on Senator Menendez's website. You can read the full text of S.4011 here.
- The bill creates an independent commission which will be charged with reviewing and evaluating U.S. policy regarding illicit drug supply reduction and interdiction in the Western Hemisphere, along with foreign and domestic demand reduction policies and programs. The commission is also charged with identifying policy and program options to improve existing international and domestic counternarcotics policy;
- The Commission will recommend a multiyear interagency counternarcotics strategy for the Western Hemisphere that describes the assistance required to achieve regional counternarcotics goals and a methodology for countering shifts in production and transit routes by producers and traffickers due to pressure from counternarcotics efforts;
- The commission will be composed of 10 members – 2 executive branch employees appointed by the President and 2 appointed by each of the following congressional leaders: the Senate Majority Leader, the Senate Minority Leader, the Speaker of the House, and the House Minority Leader.