Hearing of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee - Chairman Johnson's Opening Statement on "Border Security and America's Heroin Epidemic: the Impact of the Trafficking and Abuse of Heroin and Prescription Opioids in Wisconsin"

Hearing

Over the last 15 months, this committee has spent a great deal of time studying and describing
the realities related to American border security. Today will mark the 16th hearing focused on
border security and our third hearing highlighting the rising heroin epidemic across this
country. These topics are closely related, as it is my belief that the primary root cause of our
unsecure border is America's insatiable demand for drugs.

The accumulated testimony and information that forms the committee's record indicates that
America's borders are not secure. One key indicator of our insecure border is the fact that,
according to testimony before this committee, we interdict less than 10 percent of illegal drugs
coming across our southwest border and somewhere between 11-18 percent coming in through
our maritime borders. The declining price of heroin--from a nationwide average of $3,260 per
gram of pure heroin in 1981 to $100 per gram on the streets of Milwaukee today--is a metric
that proves the point.

In Wisconsin, this translates to one "hit" of heroin costing anywhere from $10 to $12 in
Milwaukee and $18 to $20 in Green Bay. These low prices and the relative ease of access have
had devastating effects in the state. While Wisconsin averaged only 27 heroin deaths from 2000
to 2007, by 2014 more than 250 heroin-related deaths occurred in Wisconsin. In Milwaukee
County alone, 109 heroin-related deaths occurred in 2015. In fact, last November, it was
reported that six people died in Milwaukee in a 24-hour period due to prescription medication or
heroin overdoses.

Mexican transnational criminal organizations, which represent the greatest criminal drug threat
in the U.S., generate $19-$29 billion per year in U.S. drug sales. A kilogram of heroin costs
around $5,000 to produce in Mexico and can be sold to U.S. dealers for as much as
$80,000. This is enough to motivate the cartels to find a way, any way, to penetrate our
borders. Once these drugs cross the border, they are sent to distribution hubs in such places as
Phoenix, Arizona, or Chicago, Illinois. From there, street gangs further disseminate the drugs
into local communities throughout America. In Wisconsin, Milwaukee-based traffickers often
travel several times a week to bring in 100-150 gram quantities of heroin from Chicago.

In order to address the heroin and opioid epidemic, we must secure our borders. If our borders
remain porous, as they are today, supply will continue to increase, prices will continue to fall,
and Wisconsinites will continue to use these deadly narcotics that destroy the lives of not only
those who use the drug, but also their family members and loved ones.

Today, Attorney General Schimel, Senator Erbenbach, and Representative Nygren will explain
what is being done at the state level to address root causes. The Wisconsin legislature hasunanimously passed 17 bills as part of the Heroin Opiate Prevention and Education (HOPE)
Agenda, 16 of which have been signed into law. At a federal level, I was happy to support the
Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act to battle the opioid epidemic in March and earlier
this month I introduced legislation to reduce the pressure doctors currently face that may lead to
overprescribing painkillers. These bills will go a long way in addressing our public health crisis,
but until we increase the security at our borders, the problem will persist.

I thank all of our witnesses for appearing today and for sharing their stories, and I look forward
to your testimony.

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