Providing for Consideration of H.R. Global Respect Act; Providing for Consideration of H.R. Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act of Providing for Consideration of H.R. Bioeconomy Research and Development Act of and for Other Purposes

Floor Speech

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Mrs. CAMMACK. Madam Speaker, I rise today to oppose the previous question so that we can immediately consider H.R. 6184, the HALT Fentanyl Act.

Unless you have been living under a rock, you know that we are in what many are calling the third wave of the American opioid epidemic which has taken hundreds of thousands of lives.

In fact, the leading cause of death in America today for folks between the ages of 18 and 45 is fentanyl. It is not COVID. It is not climate change. No, it is fentanyl. And we know for a fact that every single Member of this Chamber represents districts that are being significantly impacted by the gross influx of narcotics in our communities.

You know, last March, I stood here on this very floor next to my husband's SWAT vest as our colleagues on the left worked to defund, and ultimately did defund our police. I stated then that Members of Congress should be required to do ride-alongs with local law enforcement so that they may see firsthand the very dangerous challenges that our law enforcement officers face on a daily basis. To date, not a single one has taken me up on that challenge.

However, I have done several ride-alongs, as well as three trips to the southwest border. Had our Democrat colleagues taken me up on our ride-along challenge they would have seen firsthand the drugs that are free-flowing across the southwest border, courtesy of trafficker-in- chief Biden, into our communities.

It is not hard to find examples of this. In fact, here is one from my own backyard, Marion County, Florida. This brick of fentanyl was found just last year. Months after this very drug bust, I took my local sheriffs to the southwest border to see firsthand for themselves the crisis unfolding there.

It was on this trip that a Homeland Security Investigations agent took one look at this photo and said, you know, that is a product of a border cartel: 984 grams of fentanyl--984 grams of fentanyl. That is enough to kill a half a million people. That is what this brick was that was found in Marion County, Florida, that came from the border.

So while I am incredibly grateful to our law enforcement officers, and proud of Sheriff Billy Woods and his entire department in Marion County for their incredible work on this case, it must be recognized that no single department can stop the tidal wave of drugs coming across the border.

It is a fact that we cannot defend our hometowns if we cannot defend the homeland, and that is why border security is so important.

To my colleagues on the left, you can pretend that there is no crisis on the border, but we know, and you know that is a lie.

You can look the other way as mothers and fathers and families are grieving from family members falling victim to the addiction of fentanyl; many who have succumbed.

You can lie to yourselves, but you can't lie to the American people any longer.

Today is an opportunity for us all to take a stand against the horrific opioid epidemic that has gripped our Nation. We have the opportunity to take a stand for families who have painfully suffered at the hands of fentanyl's vise grip.

Today is an opportunity to put people above politics. This bill will make the emergency class-wide scheduling order for fentanyl-related substances permanent. That is why this is so important. That is why this is above politics and a political agenda.

I commend the great work that my friend, the gentleman from Virginia, has done on this important work. And I urge my colleagues to defeat the previous question so that we can immediately consider his bill, the HALT Fentanyl Act.

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