Testing, Rapid Analysis, and Narcotic Quality Research Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. COLLINS. Madam Speaker, I thank my fellow freshman colleague for yielding a few extra minutes, seeing as I am from Georgia and he is from Ohio, and I don't talk as fast.

Madam Speaker, I also thank Representative Caraveo, Chairman Lucas, Ranking Member Lofgren, and the other members of the Science, Space, and Technology Committee who have joined 22 of their colleagues in cosponsoring this commonsense bill.

I rise to call on my colleagues to support H.R. 1734, the TRANQ Research Act. This bill directs the National Institute of Standards and Technology, NIST, to analyze and advance research on dangerous fentanyl additives that are putting our public safety officers' lives at risk, including those who are guarding our borders.

As we have seen, fentanyl has been entering our country at record levels over the past 2 years. Now, we are seeing even more harmful chemicals like tranq being added to an already deadly drug. You see, tranq is a deadly substance. It contains a veterinary tranquilizer, xylazine, which, when combined with fentanyl, becomes deadlier than the fentanyl itself.

These drug traffickers dealing in tranq are following the same playbook that they used when fentanyl first flooded the United States. It took us too long to recognize the dangers of fentanyl once it was first detected, putting the lives of first responders and everyday Americans at risk. These are mistakes we simply can't afford to make with this new drug.

As a matter of fact, the Drug Enforcement Administration reports that between 2020 and 2021, detections of tranq in fentanyl increased nearly 200 percent in the Southern United States. Those numbers continue to rise, and first responders are struggling to keep up.

This bill is one step in fighting dangerous fentanyl additives. By understanding what these additives are, how to test for them, and how to safely handle them, we can better protect our first responders.

NIST has a long history of partnering with State and local agencies to protect frontline workers from dangerous substances. The agency has developed new drug detection and identification tools that are used in the field today. It is also a frequent partner of law enforcement, providing analytical services when they come across new substances.

NIST has also helped create drug handling practices that have become the gold standard for keeping law enforcement officers safe when they have to handle fentanyl and other drugs. These are exactly the kind of efforts we should be making with tranq and other novel synthetic opioids that are hitting the market.

This is a commonsense bill that will allow NIST to focus its work on tranq and help us to better understand the rise of fentanyl additives plaguing our communities.

Madam Speaker, I urge all of my colleagues to support this bill.

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