Halt All Lethal Trafficking of Fentanyl Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. GRIFFITH. Mr. Speaker, I thank the chairman of the committee for yielding me time.

My colleagues on the other side cry: Action, action. However, in February of 2025, there will be no action unless we pass H.R. 27, the HALT Fentanyl Act.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of this bill, H.R. 27, the HALT Fentanyl Act, that I have championed along with my colleague and good friend, Representative Latta from Ohio. We have worked on this bill for 4 years.

This bill is critical to stop the trafficking of fentanyl analogues into our country by giving the law enforcement officers the tools they need and also allowing streamlined research into these substances.

This bill has the support of multiple law enforcement agencies and other groups to pass the bill as it is.

This week, the Trump administration released a statement in support of the HALT Fentanyl Act. Last Congress, the Biden administration even supported various provisions in the bill, specifically making fentanyl analogues permanently schedule I and allowing more research into them.

The bill passed with wide bipartisan support last Congress. It wasn't just one Member on the other side of the aisle who joined me, Mr. Speaker. There were 74 Members who voted in favor of this bill.

This is one small step to solve the opioid crisis in this country. We cannot let the temporary scheduling expire at the end of March.

To those who don't know, we have some law right now that helps protect us, but at the end of March, it is gone. We can't do that.

The Senate introduced an identical version of this bill with broad bipartisan support. With the passage of this bill, I am hopeful that H.R. 27 will quickly move through the Senate and get to the President's desk to become law.

Mr. Speaker, I encourage all my colleagues to support this bill so that we can actually have action and not rhetoric.

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