WASHINGTON – Congressman James Comer (R-Ky.) today praised the House of Representatives’ passage of the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) Reauthorization Act of 2024 (H.R. 9598). Congressman Comer introduced this bipartisan legislation to reauthorize the ONDCP and related programs, ensuring federal agencies are properly equipped to hold drug traffickers accountable, particularly at the southwest border. The bipartisan bill will also reauthorize the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas program—which will help local law enforcement in Logan, Simpson, Marion, and Adair County coordinate efforts to take down drug traffickers.

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“Today, the House of Representatives took action to address the drug crisis claiming too many lives across our nation. The Office of National Drug Control Policy plays a key role in combating the fentanyl and drug epidemic devastating communities across the United States. My bipartisan ONDCP Reauthorization Act provides the necessary tools to combat this crisis. It ensures federal agencies responsible for securing the border and prosecuting drug traffickers are effectively using their resources to prevent illicit drugs from pouring across the southwest border. I urge the Senate to act swiftly on this bill so we can deliver it to the president’s desk for signature,” said Congressman Comer.

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Key Provisions of H.R. 9598:

• Reauthorizes the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas (HIDTA) program and the Drug-Free Communities (DFC) program at FY 2024 enacted funding levels through FY 2031.
• Similarly reauthorizes related ONDCP programs including the Drug Court Training and Technical Assistance program, the Model Acts Program, the Community-Based Coalition Enhancement Grants program, and the National Community Anti-Drug Coalition Institute.
• Incorporates key aspects of the HIDTA Reauthorization Act (H.R. 7185), led by Rep. John Duarte (R-Calif.) and Rep. Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.), to bolster local law enforcement resources and temporarily reassign prosecutorial resources to combat fentanyl.
• Codifies the Caribbean Border Counternarcotics Strategy Act (H.R. 920), led by Rep. Jenniffer González-Colón (R-Puerto Rico) and Rep. Stacy Plaskett (D-Virgin Islands), to ensure ONDCP continues to deliver strategies to address drug trafficking in the Caribbean.
• Requires the ONDCP Director to conduct a study on life saving opioid overdose reversal agents.
• Directs the ONDCP Director to coordinate with the Departments of Homeland Security, Justice, and State to ensure appropriate agencies are properly resourced to ensure that traffickers of illicit drugs are held accountable under Title 8 immigration authorities.
• Requires the Secretary of Homeland Security to include in a report to the ONDCP Director the effects of current trends of encounters at the southwest border on CBP’s ability to interdict deadly, illicit drugs.

Original cosponsors are Representatives Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), John Duarte (R-Calif.), Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.), Jenniffer González-Colón (R-Puerto Rico), and Stacey Plaskett (D-U.S. Virgin Islands).