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Floor Speech
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Mr. MARSHALL. Mr. President, I recall the first time I sat down with the late great Senator Bob Dole after I had been elected to Congress. And the purpose of that meeting was to get to know the Senator, but I had a big issue I was getting ready to vote on, and I wanted to get his advice. As I presented to him the legislation I was going to be voting on the next day, he stopped and looked at me, and he said: Roger, what you need to do is just go back to Kansas and listen to the people of Kansas. They will tell you the answer to that question.
So this August was no different than any break I have had. Like many of my colleagues, we went back to our home States. I went from Wathena to Wichita, from small towns to big cities, from the inner city to rural America; and we listened. We sat down with unions, small businesses, big businesses, folks from financial services, and farmers and ranchers. We sat down with leaders from public schools and private schools.
We had roundtables. We did multiple roundtables on childcare, homelessness. We sat down with multiple minority business owners, and we talked about the challenges they had, specifically about access to capital. We did roundtables on nutrition and healthcare.
In Abilene, KS, we celebrated the 70th anniversary of the Small Business Administration, founded by our 34th President of the United States, Kansans' own Dwight David Eisenhower; we participated in a DHS human trafficking event and in history. I thought I had seen all the history from Kansas, but we found two more locations that were underground railroads where they particularly housed freedom seekers-- one in the Quindaro Ruins of Kansas City, KS, and the John Brown cabin in Osawatomie.
But of all the things we did that I think is important was our fentanyl awareness campaign: One Pill Can Kill.
I am often asked about going from being a physician to a Senator and what is the difference. And I would describe that as a physician, I could impact maybe 30, 40, 50 people in one day; but as a U.S. Senator, I have the opportunity to impact thousands of people and to save lives. In this case, that is exactly what the goal of this One Pill Can Kill campaign was.
We thought that as kids return to school would be an ideal time to get out that message that, indeed, one pill--one fake pill laced with fentanyl--can kill. Our entire Kansas delegation participated, and I am grateful for their support. We had over 100 Kansas organizations actively participate as well, reaching out to their own networks. From law enforcement, the KBI was outstanding, the sheriffs; our community health centers; colleges; high schools; health departments--anyone we could get to, to get that message out that one pill can kill.
Every day, our staff did an incredible job of arming every one of the organizations with information to help get that word out. It resulted in thousands of social media posts across the State, and I am grateful for the local media--the newspapers, the radios, the television stations--that resulted in hundreds of articles that, indeed, one pill can kill.
And I think the story is easy to tell, and that is what we tried to do was just tell the story of fentanyl, how the cartel is alive and well across the State of Kansas; that they are lacing Xanax, Adderall, and Percocet with fentanyl, and even marijuana they are lacing with it; that this is now the No. 1 killer of young adults.
I am sad to say that most every day, we lose a Kansan to fentanyl poisoning. In fact, we are using Narcan 10, 15, 20 times a day. I talked to a fireman in Kansas City who said every day they are making runs because of fentanyl.
And again, we just wanted to share the story of where fentanyl is being sold, how its sold, its deceptiveness, and the efforts required to combat it.
I will just close with this: It is easier to get a fentanyl tablet and cheaper to get a fentanyl tablet delivered to your home than it is to order a piece of pizza. For a dollar a pill, you can now get fentanyl delivered to your home. And all it takes is just one of those pills to kill.
For the sake of our children, I pray that we can secure our borders, that we would stop the influx of fentanyl into Kansas and the rest of this country. And in doing so, we can save literally hundreds, if not thousands, of lives. Our weeklong campaign pushed us closer to that goal.
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