Protecting Innocent Lives From Fentanyl

Floor Speech

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Mr. CLINE. Mr. Speaker, the communities throughout the Sixth Congressional District of Virginia and, in fact, every community across our Nation are now border communities because of the deadly fentanyl pouring through our open borders under the failed leadership of President Joe Biden and Secretary Mayorkas.

Since October, Customs and Border Patrol agents have seized over 14,000 pounds of fentanyl, enough to kill over 3.1 billion people. Even in western Virginia, drug cartels have been caught smuggling rainbow- colored fentanyl with the intent of targeting our children.

Just last year, roughly 75,000 people died of drug overdoses from synthetic opioids, largely illicit fentanyl or fentanyl-related substances.

That is why, today, the House will be voting for the HALT Fentanyl Act because enough is enough.

This legislation would raise penalties for fentanyl traffickers under the Controlled Substances Act, support research to understand the devastating mental health effects of fentanyl-related substances, and supply law enforcement with the resources needed to keep this drug off our streets.

While our President has no plans to fix open borders or stop deadly fentanyl from being smuggled into our interior, the House will take action today to protect innocent lives by passing this important legislation.

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