Halt All Lethal Trafficking of Fentanyl Act

Floor Speech

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Mrs. TRAHAN. Mr. Speaker, I rise to offer amendment 2 on behalf of my colleague, Congresswoman Brittany Pettersen, who welcomed her second son, Sam, last week.

Unfortunately, outdated House rules prevent Congresswoman Pettersen from voting remotely while she recovers and cares for her newborn. I am proud to stand here today to advance the critical amendment that she authored, one that ensures the legislation before us does what it is intended to do: Save lives.

This amendment adds a straightforward but essential guardrail. Before this bill can take effect, the Secretary of Health and Human Services and the Attorney General must certify that it will actually reduce overdose deaths.

Mr. Speaker, we are at a pivotal point in the fight against the opioid crisis. For the first time since 2018, overdose deaths have declined over a 12-month period. That is not by chance. It is because of evidence-based strategies, including many championed by the Bipartisan Mental Health and Substance Use Disorder Task Force.

The investments we have made to disrupt the illicit drug trade, expand access to treatment and recovery support, and make naloxone widely available, they are working. We should be building on this progress, not undermining it.

That is what this amendment ensures. While we have made real strides in this fight, the reality is still devastating: More than 80,000 Americans lost their lives to overdoses in 2024. This crisis remains a national emergency, one that demands a public health response, not a return to failed policies that devastated communities for generations.

Everyone in this Chamber agrees that we must keep fentanyl and other illicit substances out of our neighborhoods, and we have to do it in a way that actually reduces overdose deaths. That is why I urge my colleagues to support this amendment because it guarantees that this bill will save lives. We cannot afford to go backward. Let's keep moving forward.

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Mrs. TRAHAN. Mr. Speaker, may I inquire as to the time remaining.

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Mrs. TRAHAN. Dexter).

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Mrs. TRAHAN. Mr. Speaker, it is a very spirited debate on the other side, but this is on the amendment. This amendment would just make sure that the underlying bill actually does what it is intended to do, which is save lives simply by ensuring that the Secretary of Health and Human Services and the Attorney General certify that this bill will reduce overdose deaths.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues, in order to make this legislation effective, vote ``yes'' on this amendment, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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Mrs. TRAHAN. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

The yeas and nays were ordered.

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