119-HR1238

Bill is currently in: House
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House Senate President

119th CONGRESS

1st Session

H. R. 1238

1. Short title
2. Findings
3. Issuance of letters of marque and reprisal

1. Short title

This Act may be cited as the "Cartel Marque and Reprisal Authorization Act of 2025".

2. Findings

The Congress finds the following:

(1) - Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution grants the Congress the power to grant letters of marque and reprisal to punish, deter, and prevent the acts of aggression and depredations and other acts of war committed by cartel conspirators.

(2) - Cartels present an unusual and extraordinary threat to national security and foreign policy of the United States.

3. Issuance of letters of marque and reprisal

(a) Authority of President - The President of the United States is authorized and requested to commission, under officially issued letters of marque and reprisal, so many of privately armed and equipped persons and entities as, in the judgment of the President, the service may require, with suitable instructions to the leaders thereof, to employ all means reasonably necessary to seize outside the geographic boundaries of the United States and its territories the person and property of any individual who the President determines is a member of a cartel, a member of a cartel-linked organization, or a conspirator associated with a cartel or a cartel-linked organization, who is responsible for an act of aggression against the United States.

(b) Security Bonds - No letter of marque and reprisal shall be issued by the President without requiring the posting of a security bond in such amount as the President shall determine is sufficient to ensure that the letter be executed according to the terms and conditions thereof.

(c) Definition of cartel - In this section, the term "cartel" means an organization that—

(1) - is described in section 1 of the executive order titled "Designating Cartels And Other Organizations As Foreign Terrorist Organizations and Specially Designated Global Terrorists" and dated January 20, 2025; or

(2) - is a "transnational criminal organization" under the meaning given that term in section 3003(5) of the Public Law 118–50 (21 U.S.C. 2341(5)).