Report to Congress on the continuing emergency related to the global drug trade

OF THE UNITED STATES CONGRESS:

Section 202(d) of the Emergency Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1622(d)) provides for automatic termination of the emergency unless the President publishes in the Federal Register and transmits to Congress, within 90 days before the anniversary date of the emergency declaration, a notice that the emergency will continue in effect after that anniversary date. Pursuant to this provision, I have sent the attached notice to the Federal Register for publication stating that the national emergency with respect to global drug trafficking declared by Executive Order 14059 of December 15, 2021, is to continue in effect beyond December 15, 2024.

The illegal trafficking of drugs, including fentanyl and other synthetic opioids, into the United States causes the deaths of tens of thousands of Americans each year and countless other non-fatal overdoses that take their tragic human toll. Drug cartels, transnational criminal organizations, and their enablers are the primary sources of the illicit drugs and chemical precursors that fuel the current opioid epidemic, as well as the drug-related violence that harms our communities. The international drug trade-including the illicit production, worldwide sale, and widespread distribution of illicit drugs, the rise of extremely potent drugs such as fentanyl and other synthetic opioids, and the growing role of Internet drug sales-continues to pose an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security, foreign policy, and economy of the United States. Accordingly, I have determined that it is necessary to continue the national emergency declared by Executive Order 14059 with respect to the global trafficking of illicit drugs.

JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR.

Whitehouse/ gnews - RoZ

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