Did chuck schumer shut in the law in nineteen ninety six , about blowing up narco boats
This fact-check may be outdated. Consider refreshing it to get the most current information.
Executive summary
Chuck Schumer was publicly linked to the Maritime Drug Law Enforcement Act (MLDEA) from the 1980s and voted for counter‑drug authorities, but the blanket claim that he “shut in the law in 1996 about blowing up narco boats” misstates the record: the MLDEA was enacted in 1986, has been amended (including changes noted in 1996), and the available reporting does not show the statute expressly authorizing indiscriminate military “blowing up” of drug boats or that Schumer authored a 1996 law to that effect [1] [2].
1. What the headlines say versus what the law actually is
Multiple partisan outlets and social posts have asserted that Schumer “wrote” a law that makes it legal to blow drug boats out of the water, pointing to the Maritime Drug Law Enforcement Act and to Schumer’s vote in favor of counterdrug measures [1] [3] [4]; Wikipedia confirms the MLDEA was enacted in 1986 as part of larger anti‑drug legislation and that it has been amended over time, including a 1996 revision that expanded U.S. authority in maritime cases [2].
2. Authorship and voting record: Schumer’s connection
At least some contemporary accounts and social posts attribute authorship or sponsorship of the MLDEA to Schumer and note that he supported the legislation in the 1980s; conservative outlets and aggregators repeat that Schumer “voted ‘Yes’” on the MLDEA or other anti‑drug measures [3] [5] [1]. The public record assembled by those sources links Schumer to the 1986 statute, but the materials provided do not include the original bill text, congressional record excerpts, or a definitive legislative authorship citation within these sources to settle the precise drafting credit beyond the claims cited [1] [3].
3. Does the statute “authorize the military to fire on drug boats”?
Some narratives claim the MLDEA authorizes the military to fire on drug smuggling boats; other reporting and commentary dispute that reading, saying the MLDEA “does NOT authorize the military to fire on boats” [3] [6]. The materials here show disagreement among outlets: PJ Media and social posts assert authorization for force [3], while rebuttals on social media and commentary assert that that claim is incorrect [6]. Wikipedia and the provided sources note that the MLDEA addressed jurisdictional gaps at sea and was amended in 1996 to extend U.S. authorities, but none of the provided sources contain the statutory text or a legal analysis conclusively proving the statute itself grants a standing military license to “blow up” vessels [2].
4. Later political signals: Schumer’s public position on strikes
Recent reporting shows Schumer participating in efforts to constrain executive military action against drug traffickers: Newsweek notes he co‑sponsored a resolution directing the president to refrain from using armed forces in such operations “unless specifically authorized” by Congress—an explicit signal against open‑ended executive strikes at sea [7]. That contemporary behavior undercuts the narrative that Schumer has always favored unrestrained military strikes; it shows him supporting legislative limits on the executive’s use of armed forces in counterdrug operations [7].
5. Legal and factual limits of the available reporting
The assembled sources document the political claims and counterclaims—statements that Schumer “wrote” or voted for maritime drug authorities and rebuttals that the MLDEA does not authorize use of military fire—but they do not include the full statutory language of the MLDEA, the 1996 amendment text, or authoritative legal analyses that would definitively answer whether the statute itself permits the military to sink vessels or use lethal force in all circumstances [1] [3] [6] [2]. Absent the primary legal texts or a federal legal opinion in the supplied reporting, any definitive legal conclusion about an explicit authorization to “blow up narco boats” would be beyond what these sources substantiate [2].
6. Bottom line
It is accurate that Chuck Schumer has been tied to the Maritime Drug Law Enforcement Act and associated counterdrug votes from the 1980s and that the law was amended over time (including changes noted in 1996), but the claim framed as Schumer having “shut in the law in 1996, about blowing up narco boats” simplifies and misstates the record: the statute’s existence and amendments are documented, but the supplied reporting does not prove the MLDEA expressly authorizes wholesale military destruction of vessels nor that Schumer authored a 1996 law specifically legalizing such strikes; moreover, Schumer has publicly supported limits on executive military strikes in recent debates [1] [2] [7].