HR5918-119

1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Protect Law Enforcement Task Forces Act.

2. Findings Congress finds the following: Established in 1982, the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) has been the centerpiece of the Attorney General’s strategy to combat transnational organized crime and to reduce the availability of illicit narcotics in the Nation by using a prosecutor-led, multi-agency approach to enforcement through concentrated, coordinated, long-term enterprise investigations of transnational organized crime, money laundering, and major drug trafficking networks. OCDETF is the largest anti-crime task force in the country with its own Executive Office and its accountability for over 500 Federal prosecutors, 1,200 Federal agents, and some 5,000 State and local police. The program has 9 regions and 19 strike forces around the country to coordinate investigations and prosecutions by bringing together Federal, State, and local law enforcement for multi-jurisdictional operations, while the OCDETF Fusion Center (OFC) leads on intelligence sharing. OCDETF implements a nationwide strategy combining priority targeting, coordination, intelligence sharing, and directed resourcing to have the greatest impact disrupting and dismantling command and control elements of criminal organizations. OCDETF has one of the best returns on investment in Federal law enforcement, as demonstrated by the following: In fiscal year 2022, OCDETF brought in $524 million in cash and property seizures and forfeitures. In fiscal year 2023, OCDETF brought in $423 million, almost offsetting its funding. Since OCDETF’s inception, tens of thousands of arrests have been made, and hundreds of tons of narcotics and billions in currency, real property, and conveyances have all been seized proving how, in its current structure, OCDETF is a legitimate and effective initiative that has successfully lowered crime in cities across the United States.

3. Interagency task force Beginning not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Attorney General, acting through the Director of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces, and in coordination with other agencies of the Department of Justice, including the Drug Enforcement Administration, shall structure the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (in this section, referred to as Task Forces) to combat transnational organized crime and to reduce the availability of illicit narcotics in the United States by using a prosecutor-led, multi-agency approach to enforcement. For the purpose of subsection (a), the following are covered agencies: Department of the Treasury. Department of Homeland Security. U.S. Postal Service. Department of Labor. Department of State. Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, the Attorney General, acting through the Director of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces, in conjunction with the head of each covered agency, shall submit a joint report on the successes of the Task Forces to— the Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate; the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate; the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate; the Committee on the Judiciary of the House of Representatives; the Committee on Homeland Security of the House of Representatives; and the Committee on Appropriations of the House of Representatives. The report submitted under paragraph (1) shall be— submitted in unclassified form, to the greatest extent possible, with a classified annex only if necessary; and in the case of the unclassified portion of the report, posted on the public website of the Department of Justice and each covered agency included in the Task Forces. This Act shall have no force or effect after January 20, 2029. In this Act, Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces refers to the task forces established by and under the direction of the Attorney General and announced on October 14, 1982, in the Remarks Announcing Federal Initiatives Against Drug Trafficking and Organized Crime.