Support for Patients and Communities Reauthorization Act
Floor Speech
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Mr. PFLUGER. Mr. Speaker, I thank Chair Guthrie, as well as Chair Rodgers for their work on this bill. I rise in strong support of H.R. 4531, the Support for Patients and Communities Reauthorization Act, the SUPPORT Act.
Looking back, it was originally created in 2018 as a significant investment in overdose prevention. There is an urgent need to actually reauthorize the SUPPORT Act, with nearly 110,000 annual overdose deaths in this country last year. This reauthorization ensures that individuals seeking assistance for substance use disorders have access to critical lifesaving treatments, recovery support services, prevention programming, and long-term recovery services.
I draw attention to an emerging public health concern addressed by this legislation, the illicit use of xylazine. Xylazine is a veterinary tranquilizer that has become drug traffickers' preferred substance for cutting fentanyl. Xylazine's current ease of access--as it can just be purchased online for as little as $6 per kilogram--directly threatens our communities.
DEA Administrator Milgram warned that ``Xylazine is making the deadliest drug threat our country has ever faced, fentanyl, even deadlier.''
To counter this growing threat, the bill proposes scheduling illicit xylazine under schedule III of the Controlled Substances Act, while safeguarding--and this is important--crucial access for veterinary use and the livestock industry.
The fentanyl crisis has already inflicted severe damage on treatment clinics and public health agencies throughout our entire country. Adding another highly toxic substance to the illicit drug supply only intensifies the crisis. Congress must take action against this emerging threat.
I am pleased that the SUPPORT Act builds upon the collaboration of Congressman Panetta and I with the agricultural and veterinary industries and law enforcement to ensure this legislation cracks down on illicit uses of xylazine while preserving its critical role within agriculture and veterinary medicine.
I urge my colleagues to support the SUPPORT Act. This is not just legislation. It is a response to help save lives within our communities.
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