The Congressional Record is a unique source of public documentation. It started in 1873, documenting nearly all the major and minor policies being discussed and debated.
“FENTANYL EPIDEMIC WREAKS HAVOC” mentioning the U.S. Dept of State was published in the in the House section section on pages H2591-H2592 on May 24.
The State Department is responsibly for international relations with a budget of more than $50 billion. Tenure at the State Dept. is increasingly tenuous and it's seen as an extension of the President's will, ambitions and flaws.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
FENTANYL EPIDEMIC WREAKS HAVOC
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of January 9, 2023, the gentleman from Alabama (Mr. Strong) is recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the majority leader.
General Leave
Mr. STRONG. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and to include extraneous material on the subject of this Special Order.
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Burlison). Is there objection to the request of the gentleman from Alabama?
There was no objection.
Mr. STRONG. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, I rise today because fentanyl is an epidemic in America. In counties and cities across America, families are being destroyed by fentanyl overdoses. Doctors and nurses in emergency departments throughout our country see it every day. Paramedics, emergency medical technicians, police officers, and deputy sheriffs see it on the front line.
China provides precursors to Mexico, who, in turn, produces this deadly drug. We have seen what happens next. Every day mules illegally cross the U.S. border by the thousands, bringing fentanyl to communities across our country. It is killing 300 people every day.
The Secretary of Homeland Security has testified before Members of this body that we have operational control of the southern border. Americans know the truth. At this rate, fentanyl is on track to steal an entire generation from our country.
As a first responder, licensed emergency medical technician for more than 34 years, I have seen it up close. I have personally had to shoot Narcan up the noses of children in an effort to save their lives. That is something that no child should have to experience and no parent should have to witness.
According to the CDC, fentanyl is 50 times stronger than heroin and 100 times stronger than morphine. So far in fiscal year 2023, Customs and Border Patrol have seized over 17,000 pounds of fentanyl coming across the southern border. Again, in 2023, Customs and Border Patrol have seized 17,000 pounds of fentanyl coming across the southern border.
This year Madison County, Alabama, which I represent, is reporting 25 confirmed fentanyl overdoses through the coroner's office with 35 suspected overdose cases pending.
The devastation this drug is leaving as it infects the United States is something to be mourned. I can say this gruesome nature of fentanyl is destroying lives, families, and communities. It does not discriminate.
More and more often we see other dangerous drugs such as methamphetamine, heroin, cocaine, and even marijuana, being laced with fentanyl without the knowledge of the user.
In the wake of surge in illegal immigration and drug smuggling at the southern border, we are at risk to witness unprecedented spikes in fentanyl overdoses. Fentanyl is already running rampant in our country, and we must take action. My concerns reflect those of my own constituents and countless others around the United States, especially those who live and have been forever changed by fentanyl.
To solve problems, you must first admit you have one. We have gotten here because of this administration's reckless border policies. I am proud of the legislation that we have come together to advance in the House this Congress. We must continue to look for ways to equip law enforcement with essential tools to stop the spread of fentanyl and give us the support we need on more research of this vicious drug.
Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Utah (Mr. Owens).
Mr. OWENS. Mr. Speaker, I am proud to join my friend, Representative Dale Strong, and many of my Republican colleagues today in full support of the HALT Fentanyl Act.
Last year, the Drug Enforcement Administration seized 379 million deadly doses of fentanyl. This week 30,000 fentanyl pills, enough to kill 1.8 million people, were recovered in Utah during a routine traffic stop.
This deadly drug is pouring across our southern border and wreaking havoc in communities across the country.
Fentanyl is now the number one cause of death for young people aged 18 to 45 and poses more danger to young Americans than COVID, car accidents, and suicide combined.
The Biden administration and open-border Democrats have for 2 years ignored the border security crisis and the surge in drug trafficking. America's misery has become the Democrats' political strategy.
The HALT Fentanyl Act delivers on one of the House Republicans' pledges under our Commitment to America, a Nation that is safe.
The HALT Fentanyl Act will permanently classify fentanyl-related substances into schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act and close the criminal code loophole to apply the current minimum sentencing for illicit drugs to fentanyl.
It also empowers law enforcement with the tools needed to keep these dangerous drugs off our streets.
It will support research efforts to understand the effects of fentanyl-related substances on the health of Americans.
The House GOP recently passed Secure the Border Act--the strongest border security legislative package in America's history--to address the border security crisis, increase Border Patrol agents, and to end the flow of deadly fentanyl.
These two landmark pieces of legislation will finally tackle the ever-worsening catastrophe at the border, save American lives from deadly drugs, and support our law enforcement officers who risk their lives to protect and serve our communities.
I urge the Biden administration and my colleagues across the aisle to support these commonsense, innovative solutions to our Nation's most pressing challenges.
Mr. STRONG. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Cloud).
{time} 1930
Mr. CLOUD. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Alabama for putting this Special Order hour together and for the great work he is doing to represent Alabama.
Mr. Speaker, everyone knows that our government spending is completely out of control and that Congress has too often prioritized wants over needs while American families continue to struggle. It needs to stop now.
House Republicans are prioritizing good governance and are actively working to put this country back on the path of fiscal responsibility.
We did our job when we passed the Limit, Save, Grow Act weeks ago to responsibly raise the debt ceiling and, far more importantly, to cut out-of-control spending and burdensome regulations on American workers, industries, and the creative industry that this Nation has.
We are fighting for policies that put more money back in the pockets of hardworking Americans. We want to save the American people money by cutting funding for woke, weaponized spending and cutting inflationary spending by $1 trillion in the first year and almost $5 trillion over the next 10 years.
We want to protect the American people from being the target of 87,000 new agents hired by the IRS.
We want to ensure that the American people have reliable energy.
Just a couple of years ago, we were energy dominant. We do not want to enter the world where because of the green new delusion that benefits China, the leftist elite, and big corporations--we do not want to live in that world where the American people have to wonder if they have a reliable source of energy.
We want to guarantee that the American people who either choose not to attend college--they go into a field of their choosing--and people who responsibly have paid off their student loans won't be footing the bill for those who go to elite universities and often take career paths that don't lead to good jobs or a sustainable future.
What do Biden and the left want? More government, more spending, more inflation, more corporate subsidies, and less freedom.
We have made it clear that cutting woke, weaponized spending is a must to govern our Nation responsibly. Our Nation cannot afford it.
There are so many examples. We want to strengthen our border. We want safe communities. We want to solve the fentanyl crisis.
We just heard a lot of talking from the left that the sky will fall if we get back to fiscal responsibility. Just today, the U.S. Embassy in Brazil put out this tweet of a video of our Embassy teaching people how to say their proper pronouns. That is not the role of the State Department.
The State Department helps to ensure that we have strong national security and that we have strong allies, and in the words of one of the people who responded to it: I identify as a U.S. taxpayer, and I would like you to stop funding this craziness.
Mr. Speaker, we are focused on getting back to good governance. We are focused on putting this country back on the path of responsibility. I urge the administration to come to the table sooner rather than later to address this debt ceiling and issue the beginning steps of getting this country back in order.
This is our moment. This country's fiscal future is on the brink, and the success of the American worker is on the brink. We need to hold the line.
Mr. STRONG. Mr. Speaker, I thank the Congressman for his remarks.
Mr. Speaker, I yield to the distinguished gentleman from Texas (Mr. Babin).
Mr. BABIN. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate and thank the gentleman from Alabama for having this Special Order hour.
Mr. Speaker, we are here tonight to shed light on the fentanyl crisis that continues ravaging communities nationwide. I must say, I am infuriated when I think about this.
More than 100,000 Americans overdose each year, most dying from fentanyl poisoning and fentanyl-laced drugs. It is estimated that China is fully responsible for nearly all the illicit fentanyl in the United States. Beijing has literally launched a chemical war on the United States of America.
Instead of demanding accountability, the administration under Biden continues promoting policies that actually increase our dependency on China, the very nation working tirelessly to ensure our annihilation.
Wait, there is more. Not only do we know where the drug comes from, but we know how it is getting into the country. About 90 percent of fentanyl flows across and through our open southern border, the same border that President Biden has gone out of his way to destroy and erase.
Who is in control of our border now, bringing this poison into our people? The Mexican drug cartels, that is who.
It only takes 1-16th of a teaspoon of fentanyl to kill a person, an amount so minuscule that it can fit into Abraham Lincoln's ear on a U.S. penny.
I am a healthcare provider, a dentist. I have done hospital dentistry in my career. Fentanyl does not belong on the streets. It belongs in the operating room.
Border Patrol has already seized enough fentanyl this fiscal year alone to kill over 3.1 billion people. So ask yourselves, what kind of President knows this information and continues to look the other way?
We are already witnessing a death toll equivalent to 9/11 every 15 days because of this deadly drug. How many more stories must we hear from parents who are mourning a child who has overdosed on a counterfeit pill that had fentanyl in it? How many more Americans must die for this President to finally act?
Every single Member of Congress should be outraged by Joe Biden's inaction and exacerbation of this horrible crisis. It truly is despicable.
Mr. President, hold China accountable, secure our southern border, and save American lives.
Mr. STRONG. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Moran).
Mr. MORAN. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Alabama for yielding.
Every year, Mr. Speaker, thousands of Americans lose their lives as a result of fentanyl-related overdoses.
I rise today to bring added attention to the fentanyl crisis, a crisis that has affected every corner of America, including the 17 counties in east Texas that I represent.
Since the introduction of this drug in our Nation almost a decade ago, thousands of kids and teenagers have overdosed on this dangerous substance.
Since 2020, over 3,300 Texans have lost their lives in fentanyl-
related overdoses. That is 3,300 too many lives snuffed out before they can fulfill their calling in this life.
Mr. Speaker, before coming to Congress to combat the opioid crisis in Texas, I worked with a small group of other interested parties to help negotiate what became known as the Texas Term Sheet, something that established a settlement structure for opioid-related claims in the State. It worked to ensure that State and local governments, along with regional health districts, could work together to reach global settlements with bad actors and then use that money specifically for activities to combat the expanding causes and effects of opioid addictions. Now, as a Congressman, I continue this fight.
Earlier this year, I introduced legislation that would require the President to impose sanctions on Mexican individuals, such as cartel members and corrupt Mexican officials who are involved with the manufacture, distribution, and transport of illicit fentanyl. It is past time that we hold these individuals personally accountable for their roles in the deaths of thousands of Americans.
Today, I am proud to stand here and express my full support for the HALT Fentanyl Act, which would classify fentanyl-related substances as schedule I narcotics, the most serious and dangerous classification of a drug, and establish a refined process for research on these drugs, ensuring that companies and researchers entrusted with access to these drugs do not abuse this access.
This is a steady and strong step in the right direction, but it is just a small step. There is much more for this Congress to do.
While these measures do not bring back those we have lost, they are a step, as I said, in the right direction to ensure that we do not lose any more lives, any more young lives, any more lives of any age to these lethal drugs.
Let us stand together in this fight. Let us work against this demon of fentanyl.
Mr. STRONG. Mr. Speaker, I thank those who have participated in this Special Order hour.
Mr. Speaker, as I said, I speak firsthand as an emergency medical technician for 34 years in town. We have seen so many things occur, so many families that have been affected.
I can tell you this, as a member of the House Armed Services Committee and also the committees that have gone to the border, you start looking at what we saw firsthand and just trying to protect our country.
We were there at the southern border for about 5 minutes at a point of entry. In less than 5 minutes, here comes a vehicle. What would you imagine? Seventy pounds of cocaine right in front of 12 United States Congressmen.
We went again to McAllen, Texas, and had a full committee hearing--or what was supposed to have been a full committee hearing. It was only Republicans who showed up.
Mr. Speaker, the only way that we can solve problems is to admit that we have a problem and then work together to solve it. It is obvious that we have a problem with thousands of pounds coming across the southern border, and we have to act on it.
Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
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