Fentanyl

Floor Speech

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Mr. JOYCE of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, in recent years, we have seen the devastating toll of fentanyl and its analogs all across America. A drug that is cheap to manufacture and, unfortunately, incredibly potent, to the point that it is now the leading cause of death for Americans between the ages of 18 and 49; over three decades of life.

Since July, the seizure of fentanyl at our southern border has averaged 2,200 pounds a month, meaning that our Border Patrol agents are now confiscating more fentanyl in a single month than they did in the entirety of 2018.

These are not just statistics in a government report.

Last week, I spoke to the parents who had lost a son to an accidental overdose. A vibrant, intelligent college student who had a mixture of cocaine and fentanyl sold to him, and he lost his life.

As I speak today, the first responders, police officers, and coroners in Pennsylvania tell me stories about how potent these drugs have become and how a single dose of Narcan is often no longer enough medication to revive a person who is suffering from an overdose.

These drugs are increasing in potency and, unfortunately, in affordability as drug cartels in Mexico have begun to manufacture and sell these drugs for the cost of a cup of coffee.

The human cost of this epidemic has been staggering, and it is in our rural areas that constituents are suffering the most.

We must recommit ourselves to the unfinished work of addressing this crisis. We need to invest in our communities and give our police officers and medical professionals the tools that they need to save lives and protect our neighborhoods and communities.

Unless we in Congress act, the fentanyl analogues that have become so deadly will become legal on American streets in just 3 days. The clock is ticking.

Our constituents are counting on us to address this issue. They are counting on us to permanently ban fentanyl analogues that have claimed thousands of American lives.

We need to work together to address this issue and ban permanently the fentanyl analogues that have taken such a grave toll on all American communities.

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