Halt All Lethal Trafficking of Fentanyl Act

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. FITZGERALD. Mr. Chair, I rise in strong support of H.R. 467, the HALT Fentanyl Act.

This critical legislation accomplishes a top legislative priority I have been advocating since coming to Congress, which would permanently classify fentanyl-related substances as Schedule I drugs.

I'd like to share two moving stories of constituents from my district taken from their families too soon. Archie Badura, of Oconomowoc, tragically passed away at the age of 19, due to an accidental overdose in 2014. Since then, his mother, Lauri Badura has dedicated herself to advocate on behalf of those struggling with mental health and substance abuse and started a grassroots organization called, ``Saving Others For Archie'' to help fight the opioid epidemic. Logan Rachwal (Rockwall), of Pewaukee, who was also 19 and a freshman at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, passed away in 2021 from an overdose of three different forms of fentanyl, His parents, Erin and Rick Rachwal, also started an organization, the Love, Logan Foundation, to work to end the stigma surrounding mental health and substance abuse disorder and raise awareness of the dangers of fentanyl and other illicit substances.

As a father and grandfather, this issue hits close to home. No parent should have to experience the pain the Badura and Rachwal families have had to endure. We need strong congressional action on fentanyl, and we need the permanent designation of fentanyl-related substances to Schedule I. I want to thank Congressman Griffith for leading this effort alongside Congressman Latta.

I strongly urge my colleagues to support this legislation.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source