U.S. Reps. Bryan Steil (R-WI) and Liz Cheney (R-WY) led 115 Republicans in urging President Joe Biden to immediately stem the influx of fentanyl coming into the United States from its southern border and from China.
The members also requested that the Biden administration support making permanent the Schedule 1 classification for fentanyl-related substances that is set to expire on Feb. 18, according to a Feb. 11 letter they sent to the president.
“Fentanyl kills more people age 18-45 than car accidents, suicide or COVID-19,” Rep. Steil said in a statement he released on Feb. 10 with several of his colleagues. “We cannot stand by and watch as Americans are being killed by the flood of fentanyl-related substances coming into our country.
“It is past time for President Biden to take seriously the need to secure our border, and make permanent fentanyl-related substances Schedule 1 classification,” he said.
Fentanyl and fentanyl-related substances are stoking America’s overdose epidemic, and are responsible for 64 percent of total U.S. overdose deaths, according to the lawmakers’ letter, which noted that fentanyl is a lethal synthetic opioid that’s 100 times more potent than morphine and 50 times more potent than heroin.
“The opioid epidemic continues to cause families pain in Wyoming and across the country. I am proud to join my colleagues in urging the Biden administration to make permanent the Schedule I classification of fentanyl and fentanyl-related substances in order to protect our communities from the scourge of fentanyl coming from China and across our southern border,” said Rep. Cheney. “Too many have suffered because of this epidemic, and it is time to secure our border and do everything we can to stop these dangerous substances from impacting our communities.”
Maintaining the Schedule 1 classification for fentanyl-related substances will ensure that law enforcement continues to have necessary tools available to combat the opioid crisis, and enables them to “take swift action” against drug traffickers, the members wrote.
Among the congressmen who signed the letter and provided comments for the jointly released statement were U.S. Reps. Sam Graves (R-MO), Michael Burgess (R-TX), Ashley Hinson (R-IA), Dan Newhouse (R-WA), Andrew Garbarino (R-NY), David Valadao (R-CA), Kelly Armstrong (R-ND), John Moolenaar (R-MI), Dave Joyce (R-OH), Troy Balderson (R-OH), Stephanie Bice (R-OK), Jackie Walorski (R-IN), Tom Emmer (R-MN), and Tom Rice (R-SC).
“The president needs to start taking real steps to secure our border and stop the fentanyl epidemic,” Rep. Graves said. “He can start by building the wall and making fentanyl’s Schedule 1 classification permanent.”
“It is irresponsible for House Democrats and the Biden administration to repeatedly deflect and ignore calls to address this and assist our law enforcement communities who are on the front lines,” said Rep. Newhouse, who noted that he recently introduced legislation that would restart construction of the border wall in the Southwest.
“We are in the middle of a public health crisis,” said Rep. Burgess. “It is time for this administration to stop ignoring the border crisis and step up to address the overdose epidemic.”
“We have to meaningfully crack down on synthetic drug abuse and stop the mass pain and suffering it is causing American families,” added Rep. Hinson.
Rep. Joyce called synthetic opioids like fentanyl “weapons-grade poisons” and said it is imperative that Biden “make it easier for law enforcement to seize these dangerous drugs, get them off the streets, and effectively prosecute the criminals that traffic them.”
“With illicit fentanyl flooding across the southern border, every town in Indiana and across the country is a border town,” said Rep. Walorski. “President Biden needs to get tough on the violent cartels and drug traffickers that are preying on Americans.”