Extending Temporary Emergency Scheduling of Fentanyl Analogues Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. FITZGERALD. Madam Speaker, I rise today to express my disappointment with H.R. 2630.

What is happening down at our southern border is actually a crisis, and it is multiplying a crisis that has plagued this country for many years, and that is the opioid epidemic.

Customs and Border Patrol agents have seized more than 4,900 pounds of fentanyl during the first 5 months of fiscal year 2021, already surpassing the total from last year.

Mexican cartels are increasingly responsible for producing the supply of fentanyl into the U.S. market. China, we forget about China. China remains a key source of supply for the chemicals that the Mexican cartels are using to produce the fentanyl; all of this being smuggled into the U.S. through our western States.

Madam Speaker, I introduced, along with Senator Johnson, the SOFA Act to permanently designate fentanyl as a schedule I drug, closing a loophole in current law that makes it difficult to prosecute crimes involving some synthetic opioids.

The GAO report released last week on class-wide scheduling of fentanyl-related substances found fewer law enforcement encounters with fentanyl, and reduced incentives for cartels to circumvent the law through new and existing fentanyl substances.

While I plan to support this bill--I think everybody will--a 5-month extension is not nearly long enough. I urge Democrats to come back to the table to find a solution that will permanently keep fentanyl as a schedule I drug.

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