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The Chamber Republicans quickly move to pass a legislation that would lead to tougher judgments for people convicted of crimes related to Fentanil, pressure on Democrats divided into the bill during the previous Congress.
The leadership Wednesday reached the GOP’s Haltanyl Fentanyl Fentanyl Act for a plant voting this week. The bill would definitely classify Fentanyl -like substances on list 1, a category reserved for the most dangerous drugs.
“Fentanyl Halt’s law is based on the efforts of President Trump … to secure our borders, southern and northern borders and maintain illicit drugs,” said President Mike Johnson on Wednesday (R-La .) During a press conference. “Republicans are taking decisive, strong and immediate actions to free the North -American communities of this poison.”
Fentanyil -related substances were temporarily classified as list 1 during Trump’s first administration and legislators have expanded their order several times.
The same bill approved in 2023 with the support of 74 Democrats from the House, but the majority of the party voted against, highlighting intrapartia divisions.
The Biden administration supported the bill, but stopped in the Democrat controlled Senate.
The Senate bill has bipartisan support, including the main sponsor of Senator Martin Heinrich (DN.M), as well as the Democratic Maggie Hassan (NH), Ruben Gallego (Ariz.), Jeanne Shaheen (NH) and Mark Kelly (Ariz.), And Senator Angus King (I-Maine), who cauce with the Democrats.
However, democratic legislators and public health experts have expressed concern for the bill to repeat the errors of the notorious war on drugs, promoting mass incarceration on prevention, treatment and recovery programs.
Republicans frequently frame the Fentanyl crisis in terms of security and immigration and border security, two areas exposed as democratic weaknesses during the last election.
After gaining control of the White House and both Congress chambers, Republicans seek to paint Democrats in a corner supporting a bill that they previously opposed or were accused of allowing Fentanyl to continue flooding the country and cause more dead.
Republicans said they were waiting for more Democrats to vote the legislation this time. But in the midst of anger for the dismantling of the Federal Agencies of the Trump administration by Elon Musk and his efficiency team of the Government Department, it is unclear if this will happen.
Representative Jim McGovern (D-Mass.) He said that if President Trump was serious to stop the Fentanil, he would not have forgiven Ross Ulbricht, the founder of the Dark Web Mark Marketplace Silk Road, who was condemned by charges, including the Capital whitening and drug trafficking.
“Do you know what would help end the illegal fentanyl problem here? Would Donald Trump have not forgive a drug kingpin, essentially, who brought illegal Fentanyl to our country that was sentenced to life in prison in prison In a federal court, “McGovern said to the house floor. “If we are serious here about talking about trying with Fentanyl, we should at least be able to say what the President did.”
Republicans say that the substances related to Fentanil and Fentanil are pouring on the border. They called the legislation a way to solve the failures of the Biden administration, so they said they were enough efforts to stop immigrant drug traffickers without documentation on the border.
“We sincerely look forward to the Democrats joining the Casa Republicans to vote yes,” said representative Lisa McClain (R-Mich) during a press conference on Wednesday. “Last time, more than 100 Democrats voted against this bill. We will see if they have changed their tune. Today they have the opportunity to save lives. ”
The legislation, introduced by representative Morgan Griffith (R-VA.), Aims to curb deaths by overdose and protect Americans giving the law forces the tools needed to combat these drugs.
“We all recognize the danger that these (substances related to Fentanyl) present to the American public,” Griffith said.
Democrats agree that Congress needs to combat the country’s opioid epidemic, but they argue that the solution to the bill to put more people in prison is not the answer. They said that the bill will not make the difference in reduction of Fentanyl’s overdose.
The Diana Deette representative (D-Colo.), The member of the ranking of the Sub-Committee of Energy and Commerce Health, said during a meeting of the Rules Committee on Tuesday night that the Republicans were “recovering the same path that did not go Instead of the Senate the last congress. ”
Degette said that the bill does not provide the agencies of the law or public health agencies any new resource to detect or intercept illegal drugs in the legal ports of entry.
“Most … believe that the best way of this crisis is through incarceration, which is simply not a viable or effective strategy,” said Degette.
By 2022, more than 109,000 people died by drug overdose; About 76,000 of which were killed by synthetic opioids, largely illicit of substances related to Fentanil or Fentanil.
The deaths from overdose slightly decreased by 2023, but synthetic opioids still killed about 75,000 people.
The Trump administration temporarily classified the substances related to Fentanil as Annex 1 drugs, a drug reserved category with a high potential for abuse and without medical use accepted.
Fentanyl himself is approved by drug and food administration for medical use, so this is a drug of Annex 2. The bill would be reduced to Fentanyl’s illicit copies.
Congress renewed the temporary classification by 2020 and again every two years, more recently at the end of 2024. The law would make the programming order permanent.
