Eradicating Narcotic Drugs and Formulating Effective New Tools to Address National Yearly Losses of Life Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. GUEST. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of S. 206, the END FENTANYL Act. I am a proud sponsor of the House companion bill. I thank my friend, Senator Rick Scott, for leading this bipartisan effort in the United States Senate. I also thank Congressman David Trone for co-leading this legislation in the House.

This bill would require the United States Customs and Border Protection, CBP, to regularly review and update their inspection practices at ports of entry. It would also require them to respond to any new or innovative smuggling methods. This bill would require CBP to brief Congress on new inspection practices. The goal of this bill is to ensure that CBP is employing the most up-to-date methods to interdict and prevent illegal activities, such as the smuggling of deadly narcotics like fentanyl into our country.

As Chairman Green said, this bill was introduced in direct response to a 2019 Government Accountability Office report, which found that CBP's inspection techniques were not uniform across different ports of entry and in some cases found that they were entirely outdated. The GAO report determined: ``Because CBP has not updated many of its policies-- in a few cases for almost 20 years--they do not always reflect changes in technology or processes, such as those for conducting searches and handling fentanyl.''

Mr. Speaker, the END FENTANYL Act will be a valuable tool in our fight against the deadly scourge of fentanyl, which has devastated families and communities across our country. From May of 2022 to May of 2023, the U.S. suffered over 112,000 overdose deaths, with many of those deaths being attributed directly or indirectly to the use of fentanyl. Fentanyl poisoning is now the leading cause of death for Americans between the ages of 18 and 45.

As cartels continue to develop new methods to traffic these deadly drugs in the United States, this bill will ensure that CBP responds to any new smuggling techniques in a uniform manner, with the most up-to- date and effective practices.

In closing, this bill will save lives and is a first step to securing our border from those smuggling drugs into our communities. I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting S. 206.

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