Halt All Lethal Trafficking of Fentanyl Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. CARTER of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of the HALT Fentanyl Act, which permanently extends President Trump's 2018 schedule I classification of fentanyl-related substances.

Mr. Speaker, the United States is facing a poisoning epidemic, and it is caused by illicit fentanyl and its related substances that are pouring over our borders and into our communities.

In 2023, under the Biden-Harris administration, more than 107,000 people died of drug overdoses, roughly 75,000 of whom died from synthetic opioids, largely illicit fentanyl, or fentanyl-related substances.

Included in that number is a family from Georgia who lost their two sons, 22-year-old Gannon and 19-year-old Max, to fentanyl poisoning.

We cannot allow this lawlessness and tragedy to continue to tear our communities apart. That is why we must stop deadly fentanyl from flooding across our borders and crack down on traffickers.

President Trump has already made progress by securing our borders, and Congress must support him in this critical effort. That is why Congress must pass the HALT Fentanyl Act that is before us today.

Mr. Speaker, let's pass this bill, secure our borders, stem the tide of the growing fentanyl crisis, and save lives.

Again, Mr. Speaker, this is fentanyl poisoning. We are not talking about addiction here. We are talking about one pill, one pill that poisons, and that kills people. That is what my colleagues are trying to prevent here.

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