Halt All Lethal Trafficking of Fentanyl Act
Floor Speech
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Mrs. HAYES. Mr. Speaker, the HALT Fentanyl Act would put us on a pathway to adopting the ill-informed practices of the past.
The 1994 crime bill decimated generations by expanding harsh criminal punishment that fell hardest on Black and Brown communities. The bill expanded the school-to-prison pipeline and increased racial disparities in juvenile justice involvement while also contributing to the mass incarceration problem in this Nation.
Individuals convicted under this bill lost access to public housing, Pell grants, and any chance at being rehabilitated in order to become productive members of society, making it even more difficult for them to be integrated back into their communities and perpetuating a cycle of violence.
Mr. Speaker, I grew up in a community like that, plagued by these cycles.
My community was suffering from a public health crisis and Congress abandoned us. There is a difference between a teenager and a trafficker. We cannot make those same mistakes today.
I believe that those trafficking and distributing should be prosecuted. Those poisoning our communities and our kids should be jailed, but addiction is a medical issue. We must include provisions for treatment and harm reduction in any legislation we pass.
This legislation would force the implementation of steep mandatory minimum sentences with no discretion for judges to consider individual cases. There would be no distinction.
The HALT Fentanyl Act also does nothing to provide prevention, treatment, recovery, harm reduction, or even money for law enforcement to do what they are asking them to do in this bill.
We cannot incarcerate our way out of a public health crisis. For this reason, I will be voting ``no.'' I implore my colleagues across the aisle to support a long-term public safety solution that makes meaningful investments to protecting our communities and addressing the public health crisis that we are all faced with right now.
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