[House Hearing, 118 Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]




 
                    THE FENTANYL CRISIS IN AMERICA:
                    INACTION IS NO LONGER AN OPTION

=======================================================================

                                HEARING

                               BEFORE THE

       SUBCOMMITTEE ON CRIME AND FEDERAL GOVERNMENT SURVEILLANCE

                                 OF THE

                       COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY

                     U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                    ONE HUNDRED EIGHTEENTH CONGRESS

                             FIRST SESSION

                               __________

                        WEDNESDAY, MARCH 1, 2023

                               __________

                            Serial No. 118-5

                               __________

         Printed for the use of the Committee on the Judiciary
         
         
         
         [GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
         
         


               Available via: http://judiciary.house.gov        
               
               
                             ______

             U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE 
 51-493                WASHINGTON : 2023
         
               
               
                       COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY

                        JIM JORDAN, Ohio, Chair

DARRELL ISSA, California             JERROLD NADLER, New York, Ranking 
KEN BUCK, Colorado                       Member
MATT GAETZ, Florida                  ZOE LOFGREN, California
MIKE JOHNSON, Louisiana              SHEILA JACKSON LEE, Texas
ANDY BIGGS, Arizona                  STEVE COHEN, Tennessee
TOM McCLINTOCK, California           HENRY C. ``HANK'' JOHNSON, Jr., 
TOM TIFFANY, Wisconsin                   Georgia
THOMAS MASSIE, Kentucky              ADAM SCHIFF, California
CHIP ROY, Texas                      DAVID N. CICILLINE, Rhode Island
DAN BISHOP, North Carolina           ERIC SWALWELL, California
VICTORIA SPARTZ, Indiana             TED LIEU, California
SCOTT FITZGERALD, Wisconsin          PRAMILA JAYAPAL, Washington
CLIFF BENTZ, Oregon                  J. LUIS CORREA, California
BEN CLINE, Virginia                  MARY GAY SCANLON, Pennsylvania
LANCE GOODEN, Texas                  JOE NEGUSE, Colorado
JEFF VAN DREW, New Jersey            LUCY McBATH, Georgia
TROY NEHLS, Texas                    MADELEINE DEAN, Pennsylvania
BARRY MOORE, Alabama                 VERONICA ESCOBAR, Texas
KEVIN KILEY, California              DEBORAH ROSS, North Carolina
HARRIET HAGEMAN, Wyoming             CORI BUSH, Missouri
NATHANIEL MORAN, Texas               GLENN IVEY, Maryland
LAUREL LEE, Florida
WESLEY HUNT, Texas
RUSSELL FRY, South Carolina
                                 ------                                

                   SUBCOMMITTEE ON CRIME AND FEDERAL
                        GOVERNMENT SURVEILLANCE

                       ANDY BIGGS, Arizona, Chair

MATT GAETZ, Florida,                 SHEILA JACKSON LEE, Texas, Ranking 
TOM TIFFANY, Wisconsin                   Member
TROY NEHLS, Texas                    LUCY McBATH, Georgia
BARRY MOORE, Alabama                 MADELEINE DEAN, Pennsylvania
KEVIN KILEY, California              CORI BUSH, Missouri
LAUREL LEE, Florida                  STEVE COHEN, Tennessee
RUSSELL FRY, South Carolina          DAVID N. CICILLINE, Rhode Island

               CHRISTOPHER HIXON, Majority Staff Director
          AMY RUTKIN, Minority Staff Director & Chief of Staff
                            C O N T E N T S

                              ----------                              

                        Wednesday, March 1, 2023

                                                                   Page

                           OPENING STATEMENTS

The Honorable Andy Biggs, Chair of the Subcommittee on Crime and 
  Federal Government Surveillance from the State of Arizona......     1
The Honorable Sheila Jackson Lee, Ranking Member of the 
  Subcommittee on Crime and Federal Government Surveillance from 
  the State of Texas.............................................     4
The Honorable Jerrold Nadler, Ranking Member of the Committee on 
  the Judiciary from the State of New York.......................     7

                               WITNESSES

Dr. Timothy Westlake, Emergency Physician
  Oral Testimony.................................................     9
  Prepared Testimony.............................................    12
Erin Rachwal, Founder, Love, Logan Foundation
  Oral Testimony.................................................    25
  Prepared Testimony.............................................    27
Dr. Jeffrey A. Singer, Senior Fellow in Health Policy Studies, 
  CATO Institute
  Oral Testimony.................................................    37
  Prepared Testimony.............................................    39
Derek Maltz, Special Agent in Charge, DEA's Special Operations 
  Division, Retired
  Oral Testimony.................................................    43
  Prepared Testimony.............................................    46

          LETTERS, STATEMENTS, ETC. SUBMITTED FOR THE HEARING

All items submitted for the record by the Members of the 
  Committee on the Judiciary and Subcommittee on Crime and 
  Federal Government Surveillance are listed below...............   153

Statement from Don Holman, submitted by the Honorable Andy Biggs, 
  Chair of the Subcommittee on Crime and Federal Government 
  Surveillance from the State of Arizona, for the record
Materials submitted by the Honorable Sheila Jackson Lee, Ranking 
  Member of the Subcommittee on Crime and Federal Government 
  Surveillance from the State of Texas, for the record
    A letter from the Law Enforcement Action Partnership, signed 
        by a coalition of current and former law enforcement 
        officers, judges, and public safety professionals, 
        December 15, 2002
    A statement from Jason Pye, Director, Rule of Law Initiative, 
        Due Process Institute
    A letter from Jillian E. Snider, Policy Director, Criminal 
        Justice and Civil Liberties, R Street Institute
    A letter from Mazen Saleh, Policy Director, Integrated Harm 
        Reduction, R Street Institute
    CATO Institute Briefing Paper entitled, ``Overdose Prevention 
        Center,'' February 28, 2023
A report entitled, ``South Carolina Drug Overdose,'' submitted by 
  the Honorable Russell Fry, a Member of the Subcommittee on 
  Crime and Federal Government Surveillance from the State of 
  Texas, for the record

                 QUESTIONS AND RESPONSES FOR THE RECORD

Questions from the Honorable Cori Bush, a Member of the 
  Subcommittee on Crime and Federal Government Surveillance from 
  the State of Missouri, for the record
    Response from Dr. Jeffrey A. Singer, Senior Fellow in Health 
        Policy Studies, CATO Institute, to the Honorable Cori 
        Bush, a Member of the Subcommittee on Crime and Federal 
        Government Surveillance from the State of Missouri


    THE FENTANYL CRISIS IN AMERICA: INACTION IS NO LONGER AN OPTION

                              ----------                              


                        Wednesday, March 1, 2023

                        House of Representatives

       Subcommittee on Crime and Federal Government Surveillance

                       Committee on the Judiciary

                             Washington, DC

    The Subcommittee met, pursuant to notice, at 9 a.m., in 
Room 2141, Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. Andy Biggs 
[Chair of the Subcommittee] presiding.
    Members present: Representatives Biggs, Gaetz, Tiffany, 
Nehls, Moore, Kiley, Lee of Florida, Fry, Lee of Texas, McBath, 
Dean, Bush, Cohen, and Cicilline.
    Mr. Biggs. [Presiding.] The Subcommittee will come to 
order.
    We have asked Congressman Barry Moore of Alabama to lead us 
in the Pledge of Allegiance.
    All. I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States 
of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one 
Nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for 
all.
    Mr. Biggs. Thank you, Representative Moore.
    Without objection, the Chair is authorized to declare a 
recess at any time.
    Everyone, we welcome you to today's hearing on the fentanyl 
crisis in America.
    I will now recognize myself for an opening statement.
    I thank the Members and witnesses for coming today.
    As you know, this is the first hearing of this Subcommittee 
this Congress, and I welcome our new and returning Members.
    The business before us today is this hearing which is 
entitled, ``The Fentanyl Crisis in America: Inaction is No 
Longer an Option.'' I hope my colleagues will agree that 
inaction is truly no longer an option concerning this crisis.
    The first wave of opioid deaths began in the late 1990's 
with an increase in overdose deaths involving prescription 
opioids. The second wave began in 2010 with a noticeable rise 
in overdose deaths involving heroin. The third, most recent, 
and deadliest wave began in 2013 with a sharp increase in 
overdose deaths involving synthetic opioids, particularly 
illicitly manufactured fentanyl, and related substances. Just 
two milligrams of fentanyl, the amount that fits on the tip of 
a pencil, is considered a potentially lethal dose.
    As a Committee, we began looking at this crisis years ago. 
We have heard from too many parents who have tragically lost 
their children to this poison. Between 1999 and 2020, 
approximately 564,000 people died from overdoses involving an 
opioid prescription or illicit. In 2021, however, overdose 
deaths surpassed 100,000, with 67 percent of those deaths 
involving fentanyl. Let that sink in. It took 20 years to 
record a total of 564,000 opioid overdose deaths, and in just 
1one year, we saw over 100,000 opioid overdose deaths.
    You will hear today how communities across this country are 
suffering from this poison. During the last four years, while 
we have seen these overdose deaths rise, our colleagues across 
the aisle have been presented with opportunities to permanently 
schedule fentanyl-related substances in a bipartisan manner. 
Instead, they have punted the problem by temporarily scheduling 
fentanyl-
related substances. It is long past time for Congress to 
permanently schedule fentanyl analogs and other related 
substances.
    Unfortunately, my home State of Arizona has become the 
entry point for much of the illicit fentanyl entering our 
country. Over half of the fentanyl pills seized by the DEA last 
year were seized in Arizona.
    Two weeks ago, law enforcement seized enough fentanyl to 
kill nearly 800,000 people.
    If we can roll that video?
    [Video.]
    This was seized in the Tempe suburb of the Phoenix metro 
area. This was found in just one pickup truck.
    An individual traveling nearly 150 miles from the border 
was involved in a single vehicle accident, an auto accident, 
not a drug bust. When law enforcement arrived, they found 286 
pounds, 1.3 million pills, of fentanyl.
    Just this week, another 232 pounds of fentanyl worth $3 
million was seized by San Diego Border Patrol from a car in San 
Clemente, California--75 miles from the border--most of which 
were pills.
    I commend that these drugs were seized, but this just makes 
me more concerned about how many more of these hundreds-of-
pounds hauls we never identify that reach their point of 
distribution--the point where it can enter American towns, 
often through the mail via sales that occur on social media.
    Now, I know our Democrat friends want us to believe that 
farcical notion that all the fentanyl crossing our borders is 
coming in through our ports of entry. They have said as much in 
recent hearings. They want you to believe that we are doing a 
good job detecting and seizing it before it can enter the 
country and destroy and take American lives. That is simply not 
true.
    I remind them that it is the fentanyl that is actually 
seized that is found at legal border-crossing points or 
interior checkpoints. That does not account for fentanyl that 
is not seized. In fact, in talking to CBP and other DEA 
officials, I have been told that the actual amount seized is 
estimated to be somewhere between 10-15 percent of the overall 
amount of fentanyl that is being introduced into the United 
States.
    If we are being honest, it is the fentanyl that is not 
seized, obviously, that is killing and endangering our children 
and other members of our society. To ignore the smuggling that 
occurs between our ports of entry is simply irresponsible and 
dangerous.
    Just last month, Chief Patrol Agent John Modlin of the 
Tucson sector testified that, quote,

        Last year, we seized about 700 pounds of fentanyl. To give you 
        an idea, that's enough to kill everyone in Arizona 21 times or 
        half the population of the United States.

    Fifty-two percent of that was encountered, so the majority 
of that was encountered in the field, predominantly being 
backpacked across the border. I'm going to emphasize that: 
Fifty-two percent came across being backpacked across at the 
border. The other 48 percent was caught at the administrative 
check point.
    Will you roll the other tape, please?
    The video you are about to see takes place in Arivaca, just 
a few miles off Nogales, about 70 miles as the crow flies 
southwest of Tucson--nowhere near a port of entry, you can see. 
This is ranchland.
    [Video.]
    Those backpacks are not because they are going to go 
camping in the desert. They are bringing in illicit drugs.
    According to CBP statistics, December was the worst month 
in our Nation's history for illegal migration, as measured by 
encounters of people, and a huge percentage of the drugs 
apprehended that month were between the ports of entry.
    When we talk about being between the ports of entry, we 
refer to drugs not found at a port of entry. In fact, nearly 
9,000 pounds of drugs, or 44 percent of that month's seizures, 
were found between the ports of entry--contrary to what you 
hear from our colleagues across the aisle.
    Jobe Dickinson, president of the Border Security Alliance, 
hit the nail on the head when he said that the cartels have, 
quote,

         . . . developed a multi-pronged approach as to how to smuggle 
        illegal drugs into this country. They don't just use one 
        avenue, such as the ports of entry. They also use established 
        smuggling routes and remote parts of the borders to get more 
        drugs across.

    Cartels are smart enough to avoid sending their inventory 
through our X-ray and drug-sniffing dogs at the border. They 
walk it through the gaping, unguarded holes in our border. The 
No. 1 sector for opioid smuggling is the Tucson sector.
    Combating this poison and those who smuggle, manufacture, 
and sell it should be a bipartisan issue. We need to act 
together to stop this scourge.
    I recognize in our audience today, Mr. Donald Holman. He 
previously testified on this topic more than three years ago. 
Tragically, like the Rachwals and too many parents across 
America, he and his family have been forever impacted by this 
crisis. Mr. Holman lost his son Garrett in 2017 after he took a 
synthetic opioid delivered through the mail. Since then, Mr. 
Holman has courageously been a tireless advocate to keep these 
dangerous drugs out of our communities.
    I ask unanimous consent to enter a statement from Mr. 
Holman into the record, and I thank him for his presence here 
today.
    Entered into the record.
    Mr. Biggs. At this point, I now recognize the Ranking 
Member, the gentlewoman from Texas, Ms. Jackson Lee, for her 
opening statement.
    Ms. Jackson Lee. Good morning, Mr. Chair, and good morning 
to my colleagues.
    This is a very important moment, a very serious moment, and 
a moment of reasoned bipartisan to fight the scourge of 
fentanyl.
    Let me, as I begin, take this opportunity at the outset to 
express my condolences, Ms. Rachwal, for the tragic loss of 
your son Logan. Thank you for courage of being here. It is not 
easy for a mother to speak of the loss of her son.
    It is not the same thing, but I spent time with the mothers 
in Uvalde, and it is simply painful. So, your presence here 
today is a stark reminder, as I said as I walked into this 
room, that we must be determined to fight the scourge of 
fentanyl. We must break the cycle as well of drug addiction, 
and we must stop the loss of life from this deadly and terrible 
plague. Thank you for your presence here today.
    We must also, as we go forward in this illicit fentanyl, 
work with our families, work with the Nation, on drug demands 
fueled by addiction. We must require the Federal Government to 
acknowledge the lessons that they have previously learned, and 
they must embrace and work bipartisan and include and embrace 
inclusive strategies that involve aggressive interdiction and 
community-based treatment. We should not leave families alone. 
They must have support.
    The unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic contributed to the rise 
in fentanyl-related overdoses beginning in 2019, as treatment, 
recovery, and prevention services were interrupted and schools, 
jobs, and mental health support halted, especially for those 
suffering from substance abuse disorders.
    While the previous administration was focused on China and 
building a wall on the southern border, fentanyl came in 
through the front door and exploded in this country. It is 
recognizable that China has a major involvement with fentanyl, 
communicating with Mexico. That is, of course, a response that 
we have to deal with as it relates to that interaction.
    In 2021, fentanyl was linked to more than 1,600 fatal 
overdoses in Texas, with African Americans becoming the face of 
a second national wave of fentanyl-related overdoses. Around 
the country, many faces were the faces of fentanyl overdoses.
    Newly released data shows a heightened rate of overdoses in 
our minority communities, especially among seniors, 
disproportionately affected by fentanyl addiction, despite an 
overall decline of overdose rates.
    Far from the inaction, as they hearing title implies, the 
Biden Administration and Congress have both taken decisive 
steps to address the scourge of fentanyl. To disrupt the supply 
chain of fentanyl, Democrats passed the Fiscal Year 2023 
omnibus spending package, which included $60 million to hire 
125 additional CBP officers and support personnel at ports of 
entry and $70 million to strengthen nonintrusive inspection 
systems to scan vehicles.
    I have just come back from the border, and talking to our 
very fine officers, they are working without ceasing. They are 
going more than the extra mile. We need to give them the 
resources they need to be the Superman, Batman, and Mighty Man 
at the border, to be able to assure that fentanyl has a stop 
sign before it comes into this country.
    This investment in interdiction resources is critical 
because the fentanyl supply chain crosses an ocean and several 
international borders, as I have said. China, and increasingly, 
India, export most of the chemical precursors to Mexico that 
are used in the early stages of fentanyl production, where 
Mexican cartels produce illicit fentanyl products for smuggling 
to the United States.
    That is why the Biden Administration is working with the 
Mexican government through several initiatives and redoubling 
diplomatic efforts to engage China to interrupt the deadly 
supply chain.
    Contrary to some expressed opinion, the Mexican cartels 
primarily use U.S. citizens to drive vehicles and trucks filled 
with hard-to-detect packages of synthesized fentanyl through 
lawful ports of entry, while couriers carry and send packages 
through the U.S. mail and private carriers. We have got to 
stomp that out.
    There is one major danger posed by the illicit supply of 
fentanyl that is particularly troubling: Production of fake or 
counterfeit pills which have been found in every State and hold 
an often deadly secret. It has to be a collective effort.
    Last year, DEA agents said four out of every 10 pills on 
Houston's streets were laced with fentanyl, leading users, 
including teenagers, to die without knowing what they took. 
That is why I intend to introduce a bill that will provide 
grant funding for teachers and other schools to have the 
necessary adverse drugs that help and other overdose reversal 
drugs on hand and receive training to administer them properly. 
My bill will also provide enhanced penalties that do not 
include mandatory minimums for online sales for the 
manufacturers of fake pills if death or serious bodily injury 
occurs.
    To educate the public, particularly young people and their 
parents, the Biden Administration launched the One Pill Can 
Kill public awareness campaign to raise awareness of the 
dangers of fake prescription pills laced with fentanyl.
    Because the cartels mass produce fake pills to resemble 
other Schedule II prescription opioids, such as OxyContin and 
Percocet; depressants such as Xanax, or stimulants like 
Adderall. Even careful users of illegal drugs can be drawn into 
the web of the fentanyl trade with deadly consequences.
    The hard truth is that we can only temporarily disrupt the 
supply of illicit fentanyl temporarily before another cartel 
trafficking method or analog moves in to take over the market 
that addiction creates. There is scientific basis to this. We 
are well aware of this chain of events.
    We can disrupt the flow, but we must also reduce the 
demand. For far too long, our country has chosen the wrong 
approach in fighting drug abuse alone. We have left parents and 
families and communities alone.
    Criminalizing addiction, when people need treatment, is a 
difficult and challenging pathway, and it impacts all our 
communities--young and communities of color. That is why in the 
last Congress we passed the Rural Opioid Abuse Prevention Act, 
which several Republicans who sit on this very Subcommittee 
voted against. That legislation provided funding to rural 
communities to combat the fentanyl crisis that they were 
facing, in addition to $104 million in grants and assistance 
the Biden Administration allocated to a Rural Communities 
Opioid Response Program. I can assure you that those rural 
communities welcomed this help that they had not gotten before.
    It is important to stress that we must not make the same 
mistakes with fentanyl and the now related substances of the 
synthetic opioids that we have seen happen before and have not 
gotten the job done. We have got to get the job done. We cannot 
have mothers coming to tell us the story of their beloved and 
beautiful child.
    As we learned through the crack epidemic of the 1980's, 
followed by amphetamine in the 1990's, and prescription drugs, 
and back to heroin once again, we cannot incarcerate our way 
out of this, out of the scourge of fentanyl and synthetic 
opioids.
    I am concerned that banning the entire class of fentanyl-
related substances without safeguards significantly may impact 
what we have to do in research and finding a way to stop this 
addiction.
    I am really opposed to the expansion of mandatory 
minimums--penalties that prevent judges from considering the 
unique facts and circumstances of that addicted person who 
comes before them. According to the most recent statistics from 
the U.S. Sentencing Commission, there are already significant 
racial disparities in the prosecution of fentanyl trafficking 
cases for people of color, comprising more than 78 percent of 
those sentenced in 2021. The same is true for Federal 
convictions involving fentanyl analogs, of which 86 percent of 
those people were people of color. We must also be reminded 
that people who are young are the victims, and we must save 
them because they must have a future.
    Of those prosecuted for fentanyl trafficking, less than 
five percent received a guideline increase for a leadership or 
supervisory role, and less than 10 percent of those prosecuted 
for fentanyl analog trafficking received a leadership or 
supervisory increase.
    There is no doubt that we are currently experiencing a 
crisis, but it is a crisis that Congress and the Biden 
Administration have responded to with urgency and clear eyes. I 
would certainly like to emphasize that we should do so on this 
Committee.
    Just a statistic: In the past year, CBP seized over 260,000 
pounds of illicit drugs at the border, including more than 
13,000 pounds of fentanyl. In December 2022, as we passed the 
fiscal year, as reported, we did $60 million and supported 
another $70 million to strengthen nonintrusive inspection 
systems that scan vehicles and cargo to disrupt the flow of 
drugs.
    We are working intensely. Of course, the Customs and Border 
Protection data shows that, since fiscal 2020, more than 90 
percent of fentanyl, heroin, and amphetamine seizures occurred 
at U.S. ports of entry, with almost 97 percent of all fentanyl 
seizures happening at ports of entry this fiscal year.
    We are working to stop the death. In 2021, U.S. citizens 
accounted for 86.3 percent of fentanyl trafficking convictions 
compared to just 8.9 percent of undocumented migrants.
    Let's get the facts to save lives. Therefore, let's work 
together.
    I look forward to hearing from our witnesses today, and I 
hope to have an earnest discussion about solutions to reduce 
the supply of fentanyl and combat and prevent addiction and 
overdoses. We must save lives.
    I yield back.
    Mr. Biggs. The gentlelady yields back.
    Without objection, all other opening statements will be 
included in the record.
    Oh, I'm sorry. I'm sorry, Mr. Chair--Mr. Ranking Member. 
Mr. Nadler, the former ``Mr. Chair,'' I now recognize you for 
your opening statement.
    Mr. Nadler. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
    Mr. Chair, according to the Centers for Disease Control and 
Prevention, over 100,000 Americans are dying of drug overdoses 
each year. Most of these deaths are from fentanyl.
    The seriousness of the fentanyl crisis cannot be denied. 
That is why Democrats have been working on solutions to address 
fentanyl trafficking, addiction, and overdose since it emerged 
as a threat to our communities.
    Last Congress, under a Democratic majority, we passed 
multiple bills to address the opioid epidemic. We passed the 
Rural Opioid Abuse Prevention Act, which expanded grant 
eligibility to fund pilot programs in rural that focus on 
reducing overdose deaths.
    We passed the bipartisan FENTANYL Results Act, which 
authorizes two State Department program that combat global drug 
trafficking.
    As part of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, we enacted 
two bills that make it easier for providers to offer addiction 
treatments that combine medication with other services.
    We passed the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which 
included $430 million to modernize our ports of entry and help 
improve CBP's ability to detect illicit drugs.
    Much of these legislations were bipartisan, but the 
Republicans on this Subcommittee seem to have forgotten that 
work, and some of them actively opposed it. They titled this 
hearing, ``The Fentanyl Crisis in America: Inaction is No 
Longer an Option.'' Republicans suggest that there has been no 
action to address this crisis, but they could not be more 
wrong.
    There has been action in Congress and by the Biden 
Administration. Some Republicans would prefer different 
actions. Some Republicans want to incarcerate our way out of 
this problem, but we know from past experience that this simply 
does not work.
    Drug prosecutions generally catch low-level dealers, but 
very rarely reach the leaders of trafficking organizations. 
Since cartel leaders can often recruit new dealers, more 
arrests and longer sentences for low-level dealers does not 
stop the flow of drugs into our communities.
    Other Republicans say tough immigration policies and a 
border wall will stop fentanyl, but the facts are not on their 
side. While it is true that a great deal of fentanyl comes into 
the United States from Mexico, it is overwhelmingly U.S. 
citizens, not migrants, who are bringing it in.
    Fentanyl is not carried across the border in the middle of 
the desert generally. It is driven in commercial trucks and 
passenger vehicles passing through legal ports of entry. That's 
why Democrats have supported investments in more law 
enforcement tools to detect illicit drugs.
    The fentanyl crisis cannot be used as another justification 
for mass incarceration or an excuse for harsh immigration 
policies that do nothing to prevent addiction. While fentanyl 
is especially deadly, addiction and overdose are not new. We 
must learn from the failures of our past to treat the fentanyl 
crisis not as a crime problem, but as a public health problem. 
We must get to the root causes of addiction and substance 
abuse, or we will end the war on fentanyl, only to have a war 
on the next, even deadlier drug.
    We have begun to better understand the nature of addiction, 
and the public health approach is beginning to take hold. We 
have shifted the focus from how we lock more people up to how 
do we save more lives. This shift has led us to get overdose 
prevention drugs, like naloxone or Narcan, to more first 
responders, to more community members. These drugs are saving 
hundreds of thousands of lives.
    We are also making sure that those who do come into the 
criminal justice system because of their addiction receive 
appropriate treatment, whether through diversion programs that 
help people rejoin the community without incarceration or 
through treatment while incarcerated.
    These programs are not just about helping individuals 
suffering from addiction. They improve our communities because 
those who receive treatment are less likely to commit crime and 
more likely to find employment.
    Fentanyl continues to be a crisis, but it is a crisis that 
Members of both parties are working to address. Today, I hope 
we can explore more actions that we might take together to 
prevent addiction and get to the root causes of drug abuse. I 
welcome my colleagues' concern about this issue, and I hope 
they are sincere in their interest in joining this effort.
    Thank you, Mr. Chair, and I yield back the balance of my 
time.
    Mr. Biggs. Thank you, Ranking Member Nadler.
    Without objection all other opening statements will be 
included in the record.
    Mr. Biggs. We will now introduce today's witnesses.
    Today, we will first hear from Dr. Tim Westlake, who is an 
emergency room physician, the immediate past Chair of the 
Wisconsin Medical Examining Board, a former member of the 
Wisconsin Controlled Substance Board, and former member of the 
Governor's Task Force on Opioid Abuse.
    Thank you for being here, Dr. Westlake.
    After Dr. Westlake, we will hear from Ms. Erin Rachwal, 
who, tragically, lost her son Logan to fentanyl poisoning on 
Valentine's Day 2021. Since then, she and her family have 
founded the Love Logan Foundation, which seeks to raise 
awareness and educate on drug addiction and mental health.
    We appreciate you and your husband being here today. Thank 
you for coming.
    We will, then, hear from Dr. Jeffrey Singer, who is a 
senior fellow at the CATO Institute, president emeritus and 
founder of Valley Surgical Clinics, Ltd., the largest and 
oldest group private surgical practice in Arizona, who has been 
in private practice as a general surgeon for more than 35 
years.
    Then, he will be followed by Mr. Derek Maltz, a former 
Special Agent in Charge at the DEA, the Drug Enforcement 
Administration. He is a national security and public safety 
expert who retired from the DEA after 28 years of service, 
including 10 years overseeing the Department of Justice Special 
Operations Division. He also previously served as chief of the 
New York Drug Enforcement Task Force.
    We welcome all our witnesses here today. We thank you for 
appearing.
    We will begin now by swearing you in; if each of you would 
please rise and raise your right hand.
    Do each of you swear or affirm, under penalty of perjury, 
that the testimony you are about to give is true and correct to 
the best of your knowledge, information, and belief, so help 
you God?
    The record will reflect the witnesses answered in the 
affirmative.
    Thank you. You may be seated.
    Please know that your written testimony will be entered 
into the record in its entirety. Accordingly, we ask that you 
summarize your testimony in five minutes.
    The microphones in front of you have a clock and a series 
of lights on them. When the lights turn yellow, you should 
begin to conclude your statement. When the light turns red, 
your time has expired.
    If you hear me tap just a little bit, that means you are 
getting close, and we want to respect your statement and your 
time, but we do also want to make sure that we stay within that 
five minutes, if possible.
    Our first witness will be Dr. Tim Westlake.
    Dr. Westlake?

               STATEMENT OF DR. TIMOTHY WESTLAKE

    Dr. Westlake. Chair Biggs, distinguished Members of the 
Subcommittee, thank you for inviting me to testify and for your 
leadership.
    Let me start by clarifying what fentanyl-related substances 
are and why scheduling them as a class is a critical policy 
tool.
    Fentanyl-related substances, or FRSs, are highly active 
opioids almost identical to fentanyl, except for a tiny 
difference in their chemical structure created by changing a 
single chemical ingredient during synthesis in Chinese labs. 
The result of this tweak is a new, potent opioid with the same 
deadly effects as fentanyl and, without FRS class scheduling, 
would be legal, until causing numerous deaths, raising them on 
the radar to be scheduled reactively by DEA.
    Strong FRS scheduling penalties will not stop users from 
using or traffickers from trafficking. The only thing it does 
is stop chemical companies from legally producing them, which 
has, in fact, halted the very existence of new FRSs.
    For me, an emergency physician, telling parents, 
tragically, on more than one occasion, even friends, that their 
child will never come home is the worst part of my job. 
Inspiration for FRS class scheduling reform arose out of the 
tragedy of my friend Lauri Badura's son Archie.
    Archie was an altar server with my daughters. It started 
with prescription opioids, then snorting heroin, and 
unknowingly, fentanyl. I resuscitated Archie on his second-to-
last overdose. At that time, I pulled out a body bag, laid it 
down next to him, and warned him that that is where he would 
end up if he didn't accept help. He stayed clean for six 
months, until illicit fentanyl ended his life. One of the last 
things my friend Lauri saw of her son Archie was him being 
zipped up into a body bag.
    Motivated to act by hundreds of such deaths, FRS scheduling 
legislation which is proactive and not reactive, as had 
previously been the case, came together quickly and was enacted 
with a unanimous vote in the Wisconsin State Legislature in 
2017. Almost immediately, DEA adopted it as national policy, 
but only temporarily.
    Before that, scheduling new fentanyls was like a lethal 
game of Whac-A-Mole. We literally had to wait for people to die 
before action could be taken.
    So, why isn't the Wisconsin law permanent Federal law yet? 
Some who oppose point to the recent spike in deaths from 
illicit fentanyl as proof that it doesn't work. In reality, 
this is a misunderstanding and confabulation of the facts.
    FRS scheduling does not address illicit fentanyl. It was 
never designed to do so. Rather, it removed the incentive for 
legal Chinese chemical companies to create new FRSs; thus, 
stopping them from ever existing in the first place.
    There is no quick and easy solution to the scourge of 
illicit fentanyl. The solution to FRSs is a simple legislative 
fix. At its core, it is not an extension of the war on drugs, 
or a law enforcement tool designed to put criminals in jail. 
There has been a total of eight Federal prosecutions under the 
language, half of whom already had known ties to drug cartels.
    However, if Schedule I penalties were removed for FRS 
trafficking, then it would reincentivize their creation and 
significantly weaken the law's most powerful, proactive, and 
preventative effects. It truly is the ultimate form of overdose 
prevention and harm reduction.
    To be clear, there has never been a prosecution for a non-
bioactive FRS. Why is this? It's because there are no non-
bioactive FRSs. All fentanyl-related substances encountered and 
researched to date have been found to have potent opioid 
activity. One of them that was recently investigated is 7,000 
times more potent than morphine.
    It is interesting to note that the major groups opposing 
scheduling are, in fact, mainly criminal justice reform and 
drug-legalization-based activist organizations. There is a time 
and a place for criminal justice reform, but FRS scheduling is 
neither.
    Concerns raised about negative impact on research are 
purely theoretical and have already been addressed by 
discussions with stakeholders. These proposed research 
accommodations that have been signed off on are supported by 
the very agencies and organizations representing academic 
scientific research in the U.S., including the National 
Institutes of Drug Abuse, the National Institutes of Health, 
the Department of Health and Human Services, and the FDA. These 
agreed-upon accommodations would significantly loosen 
researchers' directions into studying all Schedule I 
substances, not just FRSs, and open promising areas of 
substance abuse research.
    In conclusion, for five years now, FRS class scheduling has 
been Federal policy, albeit temporary. I could not be more 
pleased about that and the big impact my small ideas had. 
According to NFLIS, the National Forensic Laboratory 
Information System, in a matter of a few short years, the 
creation and distribution of new FRSs from China has ground to 
a halt. For comparison, in New York City alone in 2016-2017, 
there were 900 deaths from FRS poisons. In the devastating 
battle we are in against the scourge of fentanyl, the 
elimination of related substances that had previously escaped 
our scheduling and made their way to devastated communities 
across the Nation is surely one bright spot.
    Fentanyls are so toxic and lethal that they can be 
classified and actually have been used as chemical weapons. The 
lethal dose is merely two milligrams, which is the equivalent 
of five grains of sand. This means that one teaspoon can kill 
2,000 people. That is the amount that's in this packet of 
sugar. This is why our kids are dying. Imagine trying to have a 
lab in a basement or in a garage to mix this into 4,000 doses 
and have it been effective.
    FRS schedule reform is only temporary until Congress takes 
action to make it permanent. It's imperative we work together 
to deploy every successful harm-reduction tool in our arsenal. 
I urge you to permanently close the spigot of FRSs. The fact is 
you can't die from ingesting something that wasn't created--
    Mr. Biggs. Dr. Westlake, thank you.
    Dr. Westlake. --nor can you be incarcerated for trafficking 
something that does not exist. That is the beauty and 
simplicity of FRS scheduling.
    Thank you for your time, and I look forward to answering 
questions.
    [The prepared statement of Dr. Westlake follows:]
    
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    Mr. Biggs. Thank you. Thank you so much, Dr. Westlake. We 
appreciate your testimony.
    Now, Ms. Rachwal, I recognize you for five minutes.

                   STATEMENT OF ERIN RACHWAL

    Ms. Rachwal. Good morning, Chair Biggs and distinguished 
Members of the Subcommittee.
    Thank you for providing me to share our views on 
permanently scheduling FRSs and how it relates to our story.
    My husband and I are here today because we are grieving 
parents walking through an unimaginable experience. We are 
founders of the Love, Logan Foundation and we reside in 
Wisconsin. I'm a mom of two beautiful boys and I'm also a 
licensed clinical therapist, and I've built a thriving private 
practice working with families and children in mental health.
    Through our advocacy, we have hopes for change and actions, 
so that other families will not have to suffer the needless and 
grievous loss of child or loved one to fentanyl poisoning. We 
recently established this 501(3)(c) [sic] nonprofit after 
losing our oldest son, Logan, forever 19, to a fake pill 
containing fentanyl.
    Logan died on Valentine's Day. We received the call that no 
parent ever wants to get. Logan was found dead in his dorm room 
at the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, in his freshman 
year. His toxicology report showed three different forms of 
fentanyl--three different forms. He was poisoned.
    Even though my profession is so focused on helping people 
in various areas of mental health, I, as his mom, did not even 
know about fentanyl poisoning or the severity or lethality of 
it until his tragic death.
    Unfortunately, we have met way too many parents who have 
lost children to this deadly poison. They were all unaware, as 
we also were.
    Logan, he was a kind, caring, smart, and creative young man 
who had his whole life ahead of him. He had a great sense of 
humor. He loved animals and played baseball for many years.
    Being a mom of two beautiful boys was the most important 
thing in the world to me. We raised Logan and younger brother 
Caden in a nurturing and loving home. We vacationed and we 
camped. We celebrated birthdays. We went to church. We played 
sports. We spent consistent time together.
    I tell you these things about our family to make the point 
that no family is immune to this danger. This could happen to 
your family. Fentanyl does not discriminate. It is a poison.
    Logan went to college in the fall of 2020 and he, 
tragically, never finished out his freshman year. His brother 
Caden, just 14 months younger, experiences daily battles of 
depression and trauma and side effects from his death. For all 
of us, losing Logan was like a bomb going off in the middle of 
our family that we had built our life around. This explosion 
killed our son and killed Caden's brother. The aftermath of a 
completely unexpected and devastating death like this is 
unexplainable until you actually experience it. This problem, 
this weapon is called fentanyl.
    Through our grieving process over the past two years, we 
have realized the impact this crisis has had on our Nation. 
Today, I sit here, not only on behalf of Logan and our family, 
but also for every single family in this country that has 
suffered the loss of this tragic drug.
    There is an urgent need to confront the growing threat of 
fen-
tanyl from every angle in our country. According to the DEA, 
fentanyl is now the leading cause of death in the United States 
for people ages 18-45, and the kids are getting younger. These 
are the ages when young adults, when Logan should have been 
thriving and excelling, but, instead, thousands of them are 
dying with increasing numbers. Death leaves no opportunity to 
recover. These kids are not able to learn from their mistakes, 
as they once used to.
    We have connected with families all over the country 
through our devastation, and we have learned that coming 
together is a powerful way to change lives and change laws and 
take political action against those who are killing our 
children.
    The temporary scheduling of FRS has shown to deter the 
creation of new FRSs, which is one clear way in protecting our 
country. Therefore, we know permanent scheduling of these 
substances is a solid shield we have to fight the fentanyl 
crisis. If you are questioning whether this bill should be 
passed, I'm going to ask you: How can you focus on theoretical 
rights of criminals over the rights of our children--children 
just like my son Logan?
    Permanent scheduling symbolizes a proactive and bipartisan 
approach to this crisis. United we stand; divided we fall. 
``United we stand; divided we fall''--this is a phrase that has 
been used for hundreds of years to inspire unity and 
collaboration. Its once concept lies in the collectivist notion 
that, if individual members of a group work on their own 
instead of together, they are doomed to fail, and we all will 
be defeated.
    Do you believe in any way that our country is being 
defeated by this poison developed in Chinese and cartel labs? 
I'm going to ask that question one more time. Do you believe in 
any way that our country is being defeated by this poison 
developed in Chinese and cartel labs?
    Mr. Biggs. Ms. Rachwal, if you could please--
    Ms. Rachwal. I can tell you that I believe we are, and many 
other--many others do as well. Wisconsin parents of Cade, 
forever 18; Ryan, 23; Nick; Sylvia; Katrina; Tyler, Archie, 
Miguel; Sam; McKenzie; Ryan.
    To connect with a young adult around Logan's age, most 
parents simply go out to dinner, visit, call, text, Facetime, 
vacation, or spend a holiday. To connect with our son Logan, we 
have to look at a sunset, a rainbow, listen to a song, look at 
a picture, or wear his fingerprint around our neck. This is 
what fentanyl does. It changes everything--our past, present, 
and future.
    In conclusion, our family's story, Logan's story, is just 
one of tens of thousands that have occurred and will keep 
occurring if we do not take action to slow down and, 
ultimately, stop the explosion of this deadly poison.
    We hope by sharing our experience we can give meaning to 
Logan's ultimately untimely loss and honor his life and leave a 
significant legacy to protect other families from this 
devastation.
    Thank you for your time and opportunity to tell our story.
    [The prepared statement of Ms. Rachwal follows:]
    
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    Mr. Biggs. Thank you, Ms. Rachwal.
    Dr. Singer, you are recognized for five minutes.

               STATEMENT OF DR. JEFFREY A. SINGER

    Dr. Singer. Thank you, Chair Biggs.
    My deepest condolences to the Rachwals.
    Members of the Committee, I've submitted written testimony 
which I'll summarize here.
    Leaders and commentators often refer to the fentanyl 
overdose crisis as an epidemic or an invasion, but these are 
inappropriate metaphors. Fentanyl is not a viral pathogen that 
jumps from host to host or a hunter seeking a defenseless prey. 
The influx of fentanyl is a response to market demand.
    More crucially, fentanyl is just the latest manifestation 
of what drug policy analysts call ``the iron law of 
prohibition.'' The shorthand version of the law states, the 
harder the law enforcement, the harder the drug. Prohibition 
incentivizes the creation of more potent drugs that are easier 
to smuggle in smaller sizes and can be subdivided into more 
units to sell. The iron law is why cannabis THC concentration 
has grown over the years. It is what brought crack cocaine to 
the cocaine market. It is why fentanyl replaced heroin as the 
primary cause of overdose deaths in the United States.
    Fentanyl-related overdose deaths started rising in 2012. By 
2016, they eclipsed deaths from heroin and diverted 
prescription pain pills. By 2017, fentanyl was found in more 
than 50 percent of opioid-related overdose deaths, and by 2022, 
as we know, it was involved in roughly 90 percent.
    Now, we are getting troubling reports about the veterinary 
tranquilizer xylazine, which users call ``tranq,'' becoming an 
additive to fentanyl and other illicit narcotics. This 
tranquilizer greatly potentiates the opioid's effects, 
producing powerful highs. Adding this potentiator, again, 
enables illicit opioids to be smuggled in smaller sizes and be 
subdivided into more units.
    Xylazine makes blood vessels constrict, and if it gets into 
the tissues surrounding blood vessels, it can cause tissue 
death and deadly soft tissue ulcers. Some ulcers become so 
severe, so severely affected, that surgeons must perform 
lifesaving limb amputations. What makes xylazine even more 
deadly is that it's not an opioid, and overdoses from it which 
make people stop breathing cannot be reversed with naloxone.
    The iron law hasn't stopped with tranq. In 2019, health 
departments in Europe and the U.S. began seeing the synthetic 
opioid nitazene in overdose toxicology studies. Last fall, the 
Tennessee Department of Health reported nitazene-related 
overdose deaths increased fourfold between 2019 and 2021.
    Ciba-Geigy developed nitazenes in the 1950's, but never 
brought them to market. They're estimated to be roughly 20 
times more potent than fentanyl. Fortunately, naloxone reverses 
nitazene overdoses, but it might require multiple doses.
    Because most health departments haven't been testing for 
nitazenes, we're unaware if nitazenes are becoming more 
prevalent among black market drugs. I wouldn't be surprised if 
two or three years from now we're talking about the nitazene 
crisis instead of the fentanyl crisis.
    Border closures, lockdowns, and other pandemic policies 
made it more challenging to transport opium to drug dealers to 
process into heroin. Pandemic-related supply chain problems 
created shortages of the commercial chemical acetic anhydride 
that is used to complete the process.
    On the other hand, fentanyl and fentanyl analogs can be 
easily made in clandestine labs by modifying its fundamental 
ingredient, piperidine, which is in abundant supply. Because 
fentanyl and its analogs are entirely synthetic, drug cartels 
don't need to rely on growing and transporting opium.
    All these factors made it an easy business decision for the 
drug cartels to switch out heroin for fentanyl. With pandemic 
policies relaxed, it still makes sense for the cartels to stick 
with what works.
    Adding fentanyl analogs to Schedule I is ill-advised. 
First, many fentanyl analogs are medically used to control pain 
and assisting anesthesia, such as sufentanil, alfentanil, and 
remifentanil. An outright ban on developing a category of 
fentanyl analogs will stifle advances in therapeutic research. 
Besides, placing a drug on schedule will not deter drug 
cartels. Heroin has been on Schedule I for more than 50 years 
and it's not deterred heroin trafficking. There's no evidence 
that placing fentanyl analogs on Schedule I drugs will work any 
better to reduce overdose deaths.
    Threatening drug dealers with life in prison or the death 
penalty is also unlikely to deter the drug trade. Most drug 
dealers already factor in the risk of death when they get into 
the business and are, correctly, more afraid of getting killed 
by rivals than by the U.S. Department of Justice.
    Prohibition makes the black market dangerous because people 
who buy drugs can never be sure of the drug's purity, dosage, 
or even if it is the drug they think they are buying. As a 
parent and grandparent, my heart breaks whenever I hear stories 
of teenagers who thought they were buying Percocet, or 
something like that, on the black market, and died because of 
an overdose because the pill contained fentanyl. Those young 
people were not seeking and did not know they were buying 
fentanyl. The black market killed those youngsters.
    I urge the Subcommittee to avoid doubling down on policies 
that will not only fail to stem the flow of illicit fentanyl, 
but will fuel the development of even more deadly replacements.
    Thank you very much.
    [The prepared statement of Dr. Singer follows:]
    
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    Mr. Biggs. Thank you, Dr. Singer.
    Now, we recognize Mr. Maltz for your five minutes.

                    STATEMENT OF DEREK MALTZ

    Mr. Maltz. Chair Biggs, Ranking Member Jackson Lee, and 
distinguished Members of the Committee, thank you very much for 
the opportunity to speak today on the fentanyl growing crisis 
that is killing our kids at record levels.
    I'm not here representing DEA. I'm a private citizen who 
cares deeply about the private people in America and our 
national security.
    The President should immediately declare a national 
security and public health emergency. Let's make that clear. 
Because we have chemical substances all over our streets. These 
are not overdoses. This not a red or a blue issue. It's a red, 
white, and blue issue. Every American should care.
    As the leader of DEA's Special Operations Division for the 
last 10 years of my career, I had really nice optics on the 
growing Mexican cartels and, also, the growing role of the 
Chinese criminal networks that have been doing a bombing 
campaign on our country with synthetic drugs. They are being 
made in labs in China. They're also being made in labs in 
Mexico at record levels.
    This is a game-changer for America. This is different. This 
is not the same opioid crisis. The Chinese criminals are 
providing critical money-laundering services, and they're also 
providing the mass amount of chemicals to make the poison. The 
Cartel Jalisco New Generation and the Sinaloa Cartel are the 
enemy of our children.
    In my view, fentanyl is a chemical weapon, and the narco-
terrorists in Mexico are destroying our country. They need to 
be held accountable, even if it means using our U.S. military. 
The cartels are taking total advantage of weak security at the 
porous border, killing more Americans than any terrorist 
organization in the history of the country.
    After my DEA career, I've been supporting law enforcement 
agencies and working closely with families like the Rachwals. 
We are working hard to spread awareness and save lives.
    I teamed up with the Lost Voices of Fentanyl, and you'll 
see the collages of all the dead kids that we've made over the 
years--in all an effort to get awareness and save lives.
    I teamed up, also, with other people in America that care 
about our country.
    As highlighted earlier by the Chair, and also, the work 
done last week in Phoenix, Arizona and throughout Arizona, 4.5 
million fake pills--remember what the DEA Administrator said--
six out of those 10 pills have a potentially fatal dose of 
fentanyl. Sheila Jackson Lee, Ranking Member, the four pills, 
that's outdated. She updated it to six.
    So, according to the DEA, this is a crisis like we've never 
seen. We cannot expect to end this poisoning crisis with law 
enforcement alone. Addicted people need help. Mental illness is 
on the rise, and kids are, sadly, turning to these pills for 
help. They're using social media platforms to get what they 
need. It's as simple as ordering food. The cartels have invaded 
our homes. They are supposed to learn from mistakes, not die 
from mistakes.
    So, the question to everybody in America: Where the hell is 
the Department of Education? Where are the public service 
announcements? Why can't the White House team up with 
professional athletes and celebrities to get video reels to the 
kids on social media, because that's what they'll see and 
that's what they'll respond to? Protecting the kids must be No. 
1.
    There are armies of families who are dedicating every day 
working throughout America, spreading awareness, presenting at 
schools, starting nonprofits with their own money, making 
billboards of their deceased loved ones.
    There must be a true coordinated U.S. task force using 
authorities and capabilities with accountability for results. 
You can't just give them money; you've got to ask them: Where 
are the results? Are the death rates going down? If not, you 
have to change.
    The cartels in Mexico have evolved quickly from drug 
cartels to transnational criminals, to now terrorists like 
we've never seen ever. Al Quaeda, ISIS, Hezbollah, they're not 
killing this amount of Americans.
    There's positive movement from families and State attorney 
generals and congressional Members to declare cartels 
terrorists and, also, fentanyl, a weapon of mass destruction, 
which I fully support.
    The cartels use the latest technology, weapon systems. They 
take total advantage of antiquated laws. They control the 
government of Mexico--infiltrating, intimidating, placing the 
highest-ranking officials on their payroll.
    Look what happened last week in the Eastern District of New 
York. The FBI equivalent in Mexico convicted, sent to life. 
He's going to be sent to life--prison for life because of his 
role with the cartels. Sorry, ladies and gentlemen, you can no 
longer rely on the corrupt, soft-on-crime leaders in Mexico to 
save our kids.
    What keeps me motivated is the courageous, selfless, 
inspiring families like the Rachwals, who lost loved ones, but 
they fight daily. Look at the amazing work of the Families 
Against Fentanyl. They're the ones going through the CDC data. 
They're the ones telling America about the rising rates of 
these kids dying. Isn't that the job of the U.S. Government? 
What am I missing?
    CDC, where are the accurate and timely stats on fentanyl 
deaths? During COVID, we saw it every night on TV. The crisis 
needs an Operation Warp Speed.
    Kings County, Washington, the medical examiner, 35 dead in 
the first 21 days. They don't have enough cooler space out 
there.
    San Diego, 25 percent increase in fentanyl-related deaths 
in five years.
    As the younger kids are dying, every parent is wondering: 
Why is there a sense of urgency from the White House? Where's 
the leadership on this fentanyl poisoning crisis? Why are 
social media companies able to get away with killing the kids 
on their platforms? Why is it that this continues?
    Dr. Gupta--almost done--Dr. Gupta: This is the worst drug 
crisis in the history of the country. He said it's unacceptable 
to him and the President. He also said it's a direct and 
surging threat to national security and public health--public 
health.
    So, I ask, if it's a new era of drug trafficking, where's 
the new era of aggressive action to destroy the production 
labs?
    Thank you very much, Chair, and I apologize for going over, 
but it's a very important topic.
    [The prepared statement of Mr. Maltz follows:]
    
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    Mr. Biggs. Thank you, Mr. Maltz.
    Now, we will proceed with the five-minute rule for 
questioning.
    I will recognize the gentleman from Texas, Mr. Nehls.
    Mr. Nehls. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
    Dr. Singer, in your testimony you State, quote,

        Fentanyl is just the latest manifestation of what drug policy 
        analysts calls ``the iron law of prohibition.''

        ``The harder the law enforcement, the harder the law.'' 
        Enforcing prohibition incentivizes those who market prohibited 
        substances to develop more potent forms that are easier to 
        smuggle.

    Doctor, I was a law enforcement officer; served in it for 
30 years. I was the sheriff of Fort Bend County for eight 
years, a large agency.
    I can tell you, sir, in my humble opinion, you, sir, are 
wrong.
    This here is Jose Alvarez. He is out of Mexico. Roadside 
investigation, Highway 59 North in my county, Hamilton, Texas, 
one of my officers located 10 bundles containing 10,000 tablets 
of fentanyl.
    I want to explain something: That law enforcement across 
this country, we save lives. Two milligrams of fentanyl, one 
lethal dose. Five milligrams--look at the chart.
    Are you telling me, sir, that we should not have saved 
those 25,000 lives that this fentanyl would have killed?
    Dr. Singer. I'm telling you that there's another 25,000 
lethal doses right behind that one--
    Mr. Nehls. I want to show you another example. This is Mr. 
Luis Garza. Garza was followed by my officers, Beasley, Texas, 
Highway 59 North. During this investigation, my officers 
located five containers of 10,000 Xanax tablets--Xanax tablets 
that were discovered to contain fentanyl.
    Should law enforcement not have protected 25,000 lives that 
these tablets would have killed?
    Dr. Singer. I must say--
    Mr. Nehls. Just say yes or no.
    Dr. Singer. Yes, they should have.
    Mr. Nehls. In your testimony, you State, quote, 
``Threatening drug dealers with life imprisonment or the death 
penalty is also unlikely to deter the drug trade,'' end quote.
    Mr. Nadler was up here just a few minutes ago. I'm 
paraphrasing him. He says: We can't incarcerate ourselves out 
of this problem.
    I'm agreeing with you. I realize that individuals, these 
drug cartels, drug dealers, they are risking their lives being 
involved in this business. I understand that.
    I support President Trump and his recent comments related 
to making the sale and distribution of fentanyl a capital crime 
and the use of the death penalty. I believe this strategy will 
address this serious problem. Maybe it won't solve the problem, 
but I believe that, if you start strapping a few of these 
ruthless bastards to a gurney and start filling them with the 
same drug they were selling to kill Americans, it would me 
bring a great deal of satisfaction.
    I want to thank those that are here. Ms. Rachwal, for 
Logan, I am so sorry.
    I had dinner with a gentleman last night who lost his 27-
year-old son--lost his 27-year-old son. He was shaking when I 
was having a conversation with him. I told him I'm going to be 
here today; I'm sorry for your loss.
    I will do everything in my power to secure our southern 
border, to support our law enforcement, to make America first, 
to make America great again, and stop this deadly drug from 
making its way into our communities.
    Thank you. I yield back. Oh, I yield my time.
    Mr. Biggs. Thank you for yielding and thank you for your 
questioning.
    I want to make this point because I think it needs to be 
made, based on some of the statements from my friends about 
this issue, who I think are sincerely concerned as well.
    The movement of illegal aliens across our southern border 
is unbelievably--I mean, we are talking over two million 
encounters last year, not to mention a million known gotaways.
    The Border Patrol is distracted by dealing with those 
individuals that are surrendering. A million people, as I 
showed in the video earlier, coming across in camo and 
backpacks. They are not coming on holiday. They are coming to 
poison our children and our citizens.
    The Border Patrol vacancy that occurs because we have--I 
know some of you are very familiar with Arizona, the Tohono 
O'odham Reservation, 62 linear miles on the border--62 linear 
miles. Basically, times where no one is there to patrol because 
they are dealing with the surrenders and gotaways.
    Please remember that. This is coming and pouring across our 
southern border.
    With that, the time is expired, and I will yield to the 
gentlelady, the Ranking Member from Texas, Ms. Jackson Lee.
    Ms. Jackson Lee. I will always say that we need to do this 
in a fully bipartisan-embracing way.
    Ms. Rachwal, I want to, as I listened to you, and as well 
in the other room, and as well read your statement, I think we 
should put on the record Logan was kind, caring, smart, and 
creative. He loved animals. The plight that he faced really 
should be something that we can find common ground. As I 
indicated, I am interested in the manufacturing, online, where 
it gets directly in the hands of a beautiful, young man like 
Logan.
    So, you listened to Mr. Maltz, and I understand that you 
are a clinical therapist. What about the videos, the 
involvement of education, professionals? What about just 
getting on the airwaves and making a major campaign? Can that 
help?
    Ms. Rachwal. I believe that everything needs to be done to 
help this problem. Yes, we have to hit it at all angles. 
Absolutely education.
    I spoke in front of about 120 young kids yesterday morning, 
and over half of the room had never even heard about fentanyl. 
Probably 95 percent never heard about Narcan or naloxone.
    So, education is huge. It's important, just important as 
this and the border. I believe it has to be hit from all 
angles.
    Ms. Jackson Lee. Well, we need to take you up on the offer, 
and let me also offer my sympathy to your husband as well. We 
need to take up the loud megaphone, and I think that is what I 
hear you saying.
    Dr. Singer, we need to do this in the right way. So, I need 
you to be as focused and precise on this question about dealing 
with fentanyl in a manner that is going to be effective.
    The question of research and the medical use, can you 
explain how important? That is, even this scourge of the 
epidemic of attacking our Nation in terms of addiction and 
death. How do you interject the fentanyl research, so that we 
can be common-sense-focused to save lives, but to deal with the 
research that medicine needs to do?
    Dr. Singer. Thank you, Representative Jackson Lee.
    Yes, actually, as we know from past experience, classifying 
a particular category of a fentanyl analog as Schedule I, 
meaning no accepted medical use, basically, cuts off any 
opportunity to do research on the drug going forward. I think 
nobody can ever know that there's not going to be something 
good discovered.
    We cutoff psychedelics 50 years ago for research, and just 
now we're starting to realize them in many useful--there are 
many lives that could have been saved over the last 50 years, 
but research was completely suppressed. The FDA is about to 
finally legalize MDMA maybe this year.
    Marijuana is still Schedule I. Could anybody with a 
straight face that it has no accepted medical use?

    (1)  Just as a matter of principle, to completely block research 
into a certain area because you've decided in advance that it's not 
going to lead to anything positive, I don't know how anybody could ever 
know that. They probably laughed at people who suggested you can get 
penicillin from a bread mold, but we did.
    (2)  I think it's a distraction to focus on permanently outlawing 
FRSs because, as Dr. Westlake himself admitted, it did nothing to lower 
the overdose crisis. We're here to be focused on why people are dying 
from fentanyl overdoses, and this is sort of like a little shiny object 
on the side.

    So, we get rid of FRSs. Meanwhile, I think the next thing 
we're going to be dealing with is nitazenes or tranq. We're 
already hearing in the East Coast cities, we're hearing 
horrible stories about xylazine making its way into, into 
fentanyl and the other products.
    Ms. Jackson Lee. Let me pose some other questions.
    Dr. Westlake indicated that the creation of new fentanyl-
related substance had ground to a halt internationally. Do you 
agree with that proposition?
    Dr. Singer. I really don't know you could say that. Just 
like it's been said on this Committee that we don't know how 
many smugglers have smuggled in--
    Ms. Jackson Lee. Then, my last point is the drugs that 
provide the adverse reaction, I'll call it, and other drugs, 
how important it is that our communities have access to that--
schools, police, et cetera?
    Dr. Singer. Are you talking about reversal?
    Ms. Jackson Lee. Yes.
    Mr. Biggs. The gentlelady's time has expired, but you can 
answer the question.
    Ms. Jackson Lee. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
    Dr. Singer. I think it's very important that drugs that 
block or are antidotes to the opioid-related overdose deaths 
are made readily available. Naloxone has been around since the 
1960's. There's good reason to believe from recent reports from 
the Food and Drug Administration they may actually make it 
available over the counter this coming month of March. So, 
let's hope they do.
    Ms. Jackson Lee. I will engage with you on that. Thank you 
so very much. I think it is very important.
    Mr. Biggs. Thank you.
    The gentlelady's time has expired, but I am going to 
recognize her for a point of personal privilege to introduce a 
guest she has.
    Ms. Jackson Lee. I am delighted. I know that she will take 
this information and we will collaborate together. I am 
delighted to have Councilmember Carolyn Evans-Shabazz, who 
represents what we call District D, for destination, in 
Houston, Texas, who is here to advocate for children, for 
economic involvement or investment, and to represent the city 
of Houston.
    Thank you so very much for being here.
    Mr. Biggs. Thank you and welcome.
    [Applause.]
    We are glad to have you with us today.
    The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Alabama, Mr. Moore.
    Mr. Moore. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
    Certainly, I appreciate all the witnesses being here today.
    Ms. Rachwal, we are certainly--our condolences to you and 
your family for the loss of Logan.
    Thank you all for being here.
    It takes a lot of courage to do what you did today, but I 
think, more than anything, that is an opportunity from a person 
standpoint to reach so many children in this country who need 
to hear that story coming from a mom's mouth and telling it 
like it is out there. So, thank you again for being here and we 
appreciate that.
    Mr. Maltz, I have been to the border a couple or three 
times. The one thing that I think that the Biden border 
policies have done, they have created--we have an invasion on 
the southern border, five million people since he has been in 
office, encounters.
    The one thing that I noticed, and it kind of concerned me--
I don't know if you have heard this--but there is a price now 
for human beings to be shipped across our southern border. They 
are dealing with the cartels. So, the prices we heard were 
about--well, this is a few years ago--but last week, the 
testimony in Yuma, Arizona, it is now $6,000 a head, if you 
want to come into the U.S. from Mexico or Guatemala, any of the 
Triangle Nations. If you are coming from Russia, it is up to 
$19,000. A hundred countries, I think 106 countries come 
through Yuma.
    The thing now, you know, we talk about securing those 
points of entry on the border. I assume we are spending some 
money and doing that wisely, but the thing is the porous border 
between those ports of entry, the cartels have figured this 
out.
    So, I was told--and I don't know if you have heard us, and 
maybe you can help shed some light--but many of these people 
don't have the money to come to the U.S. So, they cut a deal 
with the cartel, and there is one of two options. They either 
are going to be indentured servants or slaves; they are going 
to make payments to the cartel. The other option was 
backpacking heroin, cocaine, or fentanyl across the U.S. 
southern border.
    Have you heard of any of those stories? We are just trying 
to get to the bottom of what these policies are doing and (1) 
why we are seeing such an influx of people, and (2) drugs.
    Mr. Maltz. Thank you for the question.
    I mean, the cartels run a multibillion-dollar enterprise. 
As you pointed out, there are some experts that suggest they're 
making more money from the migrant smuggling now than drug 
smuggling.
    They are doing whatever it takes to get their poisonous 
drugs into this country because they want to drive addiction, 
and they also want to make as much money as they can.
    So, I have talked to Homeland Security experts that, 
obviously, are very concerned for the national security of the 
country, because we've never seen anything like this in the 
history of the country. I just want to make it clear to 
everyone in the room: This is nothing we've ever seen.
    So, there are so many migrants coming in, and it's just 
unknown. We don't know what we don't know. That's why I get a 
kick out of this POE concept, because there's more deaths in 
America than we've ever seen. There are more seizures at the 
POE and the border that we've ever seen. There's more seizures 
throughout America by law enforcement than we've ever seen.
    So, obviously, yes, putting some more X-ray machines at the 
POE is really awesome. I appreciate that. That's not going to 
stop the tsunami of deadly drugs coming into this country. 
That's why we've got to destroy those production labs and can't 
rely on Mexico to do it.
    Mr. Moore. That is a very valid point.
    Richard Nixon, 50 years ago, he started the war on drugs 
with just over 6,000 deaths in this country. We had 107,000 
people die last year from fentanyl poisoning. Unfortunately, 
many of them are young and they are getting younger, 18-45, I 
think.
    So, you talk about they will stop at nothing. We actually 
at one spot on the border--do you all remember the two little 
girls they dropped over the border, the 3-year-old and the 5-
year-old? They climbed up a ladder at the top of that wall--I 
don't know, it is 14-15 feet--and the cartel dropped those two 
children.
    As the Border Agents--we went to that spot--as the Border 
Agents ran to that spot, there was an opening one mile away 
where they were shipping their drugs through. So, they used 
those children as decoys.
    That is what they are doing with these migrants. They will 
send them in waves across the southern border. As the CBP, we 
are now--the CBP is now nothing more than a concierge service. 
They can't focus on stopping the drugs because they are too 
busy trying to process people in and get them to the points of 
entry, or wherever they have got to take them to get them 
shipped in a bus to somewhere in our country.
    Anyway, I want to thank you for being here, sir; all of you 
for being here.
    Mr. Chair, I will yield the remainder of my time to you.
    Mr. Biggs. Thank you, Mr. Moore.
    So, we heard about that U.S. citizens are driving and 
bringing fentanyl up. They are coming through the ports of 
entry. Now, why is that? Because the cartels are hiring U.S. 
citizens, because it is easier for a U.S. citizen to actually 
drive through a port of entry than a foreign national.
    It is the cartel that is controlling it. Even our testimony 
last week said there is nobody that enters the U.S. without the 
cartel controlling it.
    I will give you an example. We went out in this ridiculous 
caravan the other night to go to the border. As I got in that 
caravan, I said, ``Nobody's coming because the cartel would see 
30 cars coming and they're not going to allow anybody to 
come.'' Nobody came--not until everybody had gone, and then, 
they started to flow again.
    Ladies and gentlemen, we don't even control our own 
southern border.
    I regret to tell you that we have been called for votes on 
the floor.
    I would ask our witnesses to please--you may take a recess. 
We will probably be back here in about 45 minutes. We are going 
to be in a recess for 45 minutes, and then, we will continue 
the hearing. Thank you.
    We are in recess.
    [Recess.]
    Mr. Biggs. Subcommittee is called to order.
    Thank you for being back here. Our recess lasted a little 
bit longer than we anticipated due to votes.
    I now yield five minutes to the gentleman from Florida, Mr. 
Gaetz.
    Mr. Gaetz. Dr. Singer, in your testimony you talked about 
the market demand for fentanyl, for drugs generally, but 
specifically for fentanyl. I guess I wanted to assess the 
utility of that analysis in the context of a drug that is often 
spliced into other things that people are using.
    Did your son seek out fentanyl? Was he part of the market 
demand for fentanyl?
    Dr. Singer. Absolutely not. He bought a pill on Snapchat, a 
blue perc 30, and it had fentanyl in it.
    Mr. Gaetz. Mr. Maltz, in your extensive experience at DEA, 
do you find that fentanyl is being laced into what people 
believe to be Percocet?
    Mr. Maltz. A hundred percent, yes.
    Mr. Gaetz. Xanax as well?
    Mr. Maltz. Yes, sir.
    Mr. Gaetz. And marijuana?
    Mr. Maltz. There are cases of marijuana. Don't know the 
extent of that. There have been fatalities reported with 
fentanyl in marijuana, yes.
    Mr. Gaetz. MDMA and ecstasy, do you see--
    Mr. Maltz. Not sure about too much of that. Definitely in 
heroin, cocaine, and methamphetamines. More importantly, it is 
the pure fentanyl that is in the pills and the powder.
    They are making these pills, millions of them every day. 
There are pill press locations.
    Mr. Gaetz. I get if someone, I get that you would think 
about something as an overdose if someone was seeking out 
fentanyl, they believed they were taking a certain amount of 
it. They end up taking more and they end up overdosing.
    If someone thinks that they are using a different 
substance, that doesn't strike me as an overdose, that strikes 
me as a poisoning.
    Mr. Maltz. Yes.
    Mr. Gaetz. Dr. Singer, I would love your thoughts on it 
because--
    Dr. Singer. Yes.
    Mr. Gaetz. --probably on the Republican side I am the 
easiest to concur that the war on drugs is one that has been 
won by drugs.
    Dr. Singer. Yes. Well, Congressman Gaetz, maybe you 
misunderstood me. There is, there are some people who actually 
want fentanyl. For the most part it is prohibition and the 
black market that it created that is responsible for this. 
Because as I mentioned about the iron law of prohibition, that 
is what incentivizes the cartels to come up with more potent 
forms.
    So, initially, around 2012 or so we were seeing fentanyl 
appear as a mixture with heroin to increase, to boost its 
potency so that they could smuggle it in smaller amounts and 
sell it into more units.
    Then it really got accelerated when the cartels realized it 
is easier to synthesize. You don't have to rely on the opium 
poppy being shipped. The reason why we are seeing so many 
innocent people who are, for example, buying a Percocet they 
think, even Prince, Prince he liked to use vicodin. His dealer, 
he thought his dealer got him vicodin but the toxicology 
reports showed he died of a fentanyl overdose.
    It wasn't in those cases that people were seeking fentanyl, 
it is that this is what happens when you have a black market.
    Mr. Gaetz. Sure.
    Dr. Singer. So, is that--
    Mr. Gaetz. I wanted to ask you a little bit about those 
relationships between the dealers and the users. I found a 
tweet of yours from back in 2019 where you say when people 
cross political borders, they are not violating anyone's 
rights, given that they are simply exercising their natural God 
given rights of freedom of travel, economic liberty, freedom of 
contract, and freedom of association.
    When you say freedom of contract are you talking about the 
contract between the drug traffickers and the users?
    Dr. Singer. No. I'm talking about a contract, for example, 
between a farmer and somebody who has, is offering to work on 
their farm and help pick crops, for example.
    Mr. Gaetz. I am glad you mentioned the farmer, because we 
were just in Yuma, Arizona, and we met with a lot of the 
growers. These are, like, third, fifth generation growers. What 
they tell us about their freedoms and their property rights, 
property rights that I think Cato cares deeply about, is that 
they get violated by migrants who defecate in their fields, who 
create contamination for the food supply.
    These are not insurable losses. So, they just have to eat 
these losses.
    Does the violation of the property rights of the farmers 
you mention concern you?
    Dr. Singer. Of course, that would be trespassing on private 
property, so.
    Mr. Gaetz. Right. Don't you think that the open borders 
policies that you have advocated for increase the frequency of 
that violation of people's property rights?
    Dr. Singer. People have no right to come on someone else's 
property without their permission.
    I am not here as an immigration expert, but I can tell you 
as a libertarian, the overarching principle is that our 
fundamental, inalienable rights are not limited to people in 
the United States. It is a human phenomenon, all humans. All 
humans have the right to freedom of movement.
    Mr. Gaetz. Not across somebody else's property; right?
    Dr. Singer. I beg your pardon?
    Mr. Gaetz. Not across somebody's private property.
    Dr. Singer. Not private property, no.
    Mr. Gaetz. Do you believe that everybody in the world has 
freedom of movement across our border?
    Dr. Singer. Unfortunately, no.
    Mr. Gaetz. You would like that to be the case?
    Dr. Singer. Well, I think borders are for governments and 
not for people.
    Mr. Gaetz. I don't know, Doctor.
    Dr. Singer. Borders define where--
    Mr. Gaetz. See, I would observe that governments have to 
govern the conduct of people, and that the role of our 
government is to secure our border. That if it is open, it is 
the property rights we are concerned about and the life and 
health of our fellow Americans that continues to degrade.
    I appreciate the colloquy and appreciate all the witnesses 
being here. I yield back.
    Mr. Biggs. The gentleman's time has expired.
    I call upon and recognize the gentlelady from Pennsylvania, 
Ms. Dean.
    Ms. Dean. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
    I want to thank all our witnesses for testifying today for 
this important discussion. First, let me extend my sincere 
sympathies to the Rachwal family for your indescribable loss of 
Logan, to you and your husband, and your son, I am very sorry 
for the loss of your beautiful boy.
    You have lived a nightmare that many parents fear. My 
family faced the diabolical opioid crisis ravaging this country 
because our middle son was addicted to opioids. We went through 
an awful lot of trauma around that, and misunderstanding, 
misunderstanding him and what was affecting him. He is now 10 
years in recovery.
    I think it is really only but for timing, perhaps, that we 
didn't lose him to fentanyl, because 10 years ago it was not so 
prevalent.
    So, God bless you, and God bless Logan. I want you to know 
that we have a bipartisan new caucus, and it is bipartisan, to 
work in a bipartisan way. It is called the Bipartisan Fentanyl 
Prevention Caucus. So, I am delighted to join Rep. Issa, Rep. 
Neguse, as well as Rep. Calvert to work on this issue to save 
lives.
    During both the Trump and Biden Administrations the Federal 
Government noted increasing numbers of overdose deaths. People 
have said it here today, 108,000 in 2021, 70 percent of those 
involving fentanyl poisoning.
    So, treating fentanyl and related substances with severity, 
as the Biden Administration and the Trump Administration did, 
is one step. Just last year, Congress authorized $60 million 
for additional CDP officers, and $70 million for inspection 
technologies. All those things are what we must do. We know 
that much of these substances is coming through legal ports of 
entry.
    The result of that investment was an additional 13,000 
pounds of fentanyl seized.
    So, I wanted to just ask you, Ms. Rachwal, if you would 
like to say just a little bit about Logan. Then I was going to 
ask Dr. Singer for some public health recommendations.
    Ms. Rachwal. Well, obviously Logan, thank you, Logan was 
very young when he passed. He was 19. So, he was our second, 
our oldest son. He was a real good kid. He was a vulnerable 
kid. We sort of felt like we, obviously, lost out on so much of 
his life.
    Logan the night he passed he was upset, he was distraught. 
He was extremely upset. His girlfriend and him were fighting. 
He was on Facetime and took the pill while his girlfriend, was 
on Facetime with her.
    He sought out the pill on social media. That is how he 
passed.
    Ms. Dean. I am very, very sorry. This Committee has heard 
from other parents who have lost the indescribable, heart-
crushing loss.
    Dr. Singer, in your testimony you talked about the natural, 
sadly, natural progression of this drug crisis. This one began 
with pharmaceuticals, evolved to heroin, then fentanyl, now 
synthetics. Now we're even talking about tranq and some other 
horrific substances.
    What are the right public health solutions?
    I really believe we have to think outside the box. We can't 
be afraid to embrace that this, that people, not just addicts, 
but those who are addicted and those who are just experimenting 
are at grave risk of death.
    So, what are the public health things we should be doing?
    Dr. Singer. Thank you for that question.
    In fact, what we need to do is instead of just focusing on 
the supply side, we need to focus on protecting people who are 
using drugs from the dangers of fentanyl and other even more 
deadly contaminants.
    I have a chapter, actually, in the Cato Handbook for Policy 
Makers that was just released that dealt with this. Among the 
things that this Committee could do is, for example, our drug 
paraphernalia laws, make it illegal for a person to hand out a 
fentanyl test strip. Or now they make xylazine test strips for 
tranq because that is considered drug paraphernalia as testing 
equipment.
    Many States are changing their laws to allow that, both Red 
and Blue States. South Dakota did last week. Arizona did a year 
ago. There are also Federal paraphernalia laws.
    Another very important thing in my opinion is for this 
Committee to consider even repealing or amending 21 U.S.C. 856, 
also called the ``Crack House Statute.'' I have a policy brief 
that came out yesterday about this.
    Overdose prevention centers have existed throughout the 
developed world since 1986 when they first started in 
Switzerland. They are in 16 countries. There are 147 of them in 
91 locations. We are an outlier. Thirty-eight are in Canada, 25 
are in Germany, 14 in Switzerland. We are an outlier because 
our Federal law prohibits people from helping their neighbors 
by setting up centers, so they can be brought inside and use in 
a safe environment, and have people standing by with naloxone.
    Ms. Dean. I see my time has expired. I thank you both for 
the conversation.
    I couldn't agree with you more. I have said to people in my 
district--
    Mr. Biggs. The gentlelady's time has expired.
    Ms. Dean. I agree with your recommendations. Thank you.
    Mr. Biggs. Thank you.
    The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Wisconsin, Mr. 
Tiffany.
    Mr. Tiffany. Thank you very much.
    Ms. Rachwal, you make all of us Wisconsoners proud.
    Do you know the statistics from 2019-2021, there was nearly 
a doubling of the number of deaths in Wisconsin from fentanyl. 
Is any State exempt from this in your travels?
    Ms. Rachwal. I agree with you, Mr. Tiffany, what I believe 
in those two years, Wisconsin's percentage was about 97 percent 
increase. In my opinion, with the experience that we have, 
which I feel is probably early in its stages because Logan it 
has been very recent, but I think every single State is 
experiencing an increase.
    Our kids are at risk. Every single kid is at risk. Even if 
there are kids that we are not seeing, some kids are not dying 
but they are dealing with addiction issues as well very young 
because these cartels, these pills are, they are being made to 
drive addiction. That is what they want, they want these kids 
to be addicted. It is a business.
    So, but I do believe it is everywhere.
    Mr. Tiffany. Is this why you said everything has to be done 
to try to get this under control?
    Ms. Rachwal. Absolutely. If we miss one little loophole, 
that is why we are seeing numbers go up. There is some things 
being done, but everything has to be done. It has to be done at 
every angle.
    Mr. Tiffany. Dr. Westlake, it is also good to have you from 
the great State of Wisconsin here also. I want to thank you.
    I voted for the Hope agenda in Wisconsin which you helped 
put together which was really groundbreaking, wasn't it in 
America?
    Dr. Westlake. Yes.
    Mr. Tiffany. First of its kind.
    Dr. Westlake. Yes.
    Mr. Tiffany. What does, you are an emergency room doctor, 
what does death look like from fentanyl?
    Dr. Westlake. Right. So, opioids just cause respiratory 
suppression, so it just, people just stop breathing, and then 
they pass out, and then they turn blue, and then they die if 
not resuscitated.
    Mr. Tiffany. So, it is almost like they are being 
smothered?
    Dr. Westlake. Or, right, or the same thing as an execution. 
It can be the same thing as a chemical execution.
    Mr. Tiffany. So, it is similar to a chemical?
    Dr. Westlake. Right.
    Mr. Tiffany. Many of the critics of FRS scheduling, Dr. 
Westlake, cite concerns with mandatory minimums and sentencing 
guidelines, insisting that this criminal justice framework will 
do nothing to prevent FRS market saturation.
    Could you briefly explain why it is important to 
permanently keep this on Schedule I with the associated 
criminal penalties?
    Dr. Westlake. Great. Yes, thanks for the question.
    So, this, so criminal penalties do not stop use of drugs. 
Drug users are going to use drugs. People with substance abuse 
disorder are going to use drugs.
    Traffickers, as Dr. Singer said, are going to traffic drugs 
regardless of the penalties.
    What this does and what--I know this is novel, and where I 
think this is not some shiny object that is distracting from 
the purpose--this closes up the spigot of fentanyl-related 
substances. So, this targets the legal chemical companies in 
China from stopping creating fentanyl-related substances.
    According to the GAO report in 2021, it has accomplished 
that. There are relatively no new fentanyl-related substances 
being created.
    So, you have this big, this big faucet of illicit fentanyl, 
which is a huge problem. Right now, the spigot for fentanyl-
related substances is turned off, but it could reopen. I think 
the 2,500 people that died in Florida from fentanyl-related 
substances that were legal in 2016-2017 would disagree that 
fentanyl-related substances are a shiny object.
    Mr. Tiffany. Mr. Maltz, what we basically heard from the 
other side is that immigration is not a problem. We didn't hear 
that in the testimony from Sheriff Dannels, Cochise County, 
Arizona, and the sheriff from Yuma County over the last month.
    Do you agree with the sheriffs that immigration has 
fostered this increase in fentanyl coming across the border?
    Mr. Maltz. A hundred percent. The country is being invaded. 
There are migrants coming from all over 160 countries. They are 
looking to get here for a better life, many of them. OK. We 
also have terrorists, we have rapists, we have sexual 
predators, we have criminals coming over that border every day. 
There over a million got-aways coming into the country.
    Here is the problem, Congressman: The people in this town 
don't listen to the experts that know what they are talking 
about, that have been there on the border.
    Chair Biggs goes down there, like many of you go down 
there, and talk to the experts, not reading it in the 
Washington Post.
    Mr. Tiffany. Sir, I just need my final 15 seconds here. 
Thank you for that.
    If for no other reason, let's set aside the human 
trafficking, and the largest human trafficking network that has 
been set up in the history of the world. Set it aside.
    We have the greatest number of people on the Terror Watch 
List come across our border, correct?
    Mr. Maltz. Yes.
    Mr. Tiffany. Set that aside. If for no other reason, for 
fentanyl we should be securing the border.
    I yield back.
    Mr. Biggs. The gentleman's time has expired.
    The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Tennessee, Mr. 
Cohen.
    Mr. Cohen. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
    First, is it Rachwal? Ms. Rachwal, I was here when you 
testified and was very sorry about your son and his 
circumstances, your husband as well.
    Did the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, after your 
son's overdose do anything to start to inform students about 
drugs and have some type of a public interest program there, 
public information?
    Ms. Rachwal. Did we? I am sorry, did we do?
    Mr. Cohen. Did Wisconsin, Milwaukee, do anything?
    Ms. Rachwal. The university?
    Mr. Cohen. Yes. Yes, ma'am.
    Ms. Rachwal. They did after we respectfully pushed them and 
continued to push them. We were able to get naloxone boxes 
installed across the campus for safety. Then we were also able 
to have them instill a freshman program so that the students 
were aware of what to do, and the signs, had posters up, all 
those kind of things.
    Mr. Cohen. Well, thank you for what you did.
    Do you know if that has been done in other, other colleges?
    Ms. Rachwal. In Wisconsin specifically, 90 percent of the 
University of Wisconsin system does have the naloxone boxes and 
they are following suit with that, but every school is 
different.
    Mr. Cohen. Right.
    Ms. Rachwal. So, it is there is not a uniform approach at 
this point.
    Mr. Cohen. As far as they have an orientation, they tell 
them about drugs and warn them?
    Ms. Rachwal. Correct.
    Mr. Cohen. Who do they have to do that, do you know? Is it 
a policeperson, or is it a community person, an athlete, or 
what?
    Ms. Rachwal. Not an athlete. The police are involved. In 
fact, actually as we speak today here right now, there is a 
program at the university today that we were supposed to speak 
at that our board is actually presenting for us. So, there are 
speaking events that we are involved in, being involved in, but 
also the substance department of the school and the police.
    Mr. Cohen. Thank you. Thank you.
    I don't know who to ask the question to. Maybe Mr. Maltz, 
we can go over the top with your problems, but whatever.
    What works? Dr. Singer, you can answer this, too, or Dr. 
Westlake. What has proven to work to reduce?
    Dr. Singer, you have an answer. Please.
    Dr. Singer. Well, in many other countries they don't have 
our overdoes problem, even though there is a drug problem in a 
lot of Europe. So, for example, in Switzerland, Germany, 
Portugal, France, Spain, and Canada they put much more of an 
emphasis on harm reduction.
    Harm reduction, the concept of harm reduction is to non-
judgmentally do things for people that can make whatever 
choices they are making less dangerous. That comes natural to 
doctors because in this country, and in most of those 
countries, that is largely what they do. When I have a--
    Mr. Cohen. How do you do that? Having Narcan around?
    Dr. Singer. When it comes to drugs, you can, again, make it 
easier for people to get the overdose naloxone. Allow people to 
get test strips to test to see if what they purchased on the 
black market is what they think it is, to see if that's 
fentanyl or xylazine.
    Also, allow--there are many groups in this country that 
want to set up these overdose prevention centers, which have 
been proven. There has not been one overdose taking place.
    There are two that are right now, in defiance of Federal 
law, operating in New York City. They started November 2021. By 
April 2022 they had already reversed 230 overdose deaths. Those 
are 230 people who would have been dead.
    So, but they are not allowed to do that because it 
violates--
    Mr. Cohen. That is the only place they have it is in New 
York City?
    Dr. Singer. I beg your pardon?
    Mr. Cohen. The only place that has that program is in New 
York?
    Dr. Singer. Well, they, in November 2021, the mayor of New 
York, in defiance of 21 U.S.C. 856, permitted a nonprofit 
private harm reduction organization to operate two overdose 
prevention centers. They have been functioning. So far, the 
Justice Department hasn't acted on it.
    Mr. Cohen. OK, thank you.
    You know, I think all of us would like to see this reduced, 
eliminated if possible. Mr. Maltz, I appreciate your work in 
the past.
    I don't know if the idea of the death penalty is a good 
idea because the reality is--and this is just, my guess--I 
don't think people who buy the fentanyl think they are going to 
overdose. So, they buy it. So, they have heard it is a fun 
trip, or a good trip, or whatever.
    I suspect that the people that deal it don't think they are 
going to get caught. Even if you have the death penalty, they 
don't think I'm going to get caught. So, I don't know if that 
is the answer.
    I think we have busted a lot of the cartels, have we not? I 
don't know their names. Is it Pablo Escobar or somebody we got 
and put away?
    Mr. Maltz. Sir, first, I apologize for yelling and 
screaming but, you know what, I have been dealing with the 
families for many years, and there is no action going on in 
this town.
    I will tell you this--
    Mr. Cohen. There will be action.
    Mr. Maltz. I will tell you this--
    Mr. Cohen. There will be action.
    Mr. Maltz. Let me answer, let me answer the question.
    First, I would appreciate it if you stop calling it an 
overdose. It is a poisoning, and it is a war against our kids. 
So, stop with the overdosing.
    That is part of the problem. The American public thinks it 
is a substance that people want to take.
    Mr. Cohen. My time is expired. I yield back.
    Mr. Biggs. Your time has expired.
    Mr. Gaetz. Mr. Chair.
    Mr. Biggs. Are you finished answering the question, Mr. 
Maltz?
    Mr. Maltz. Yes, sir.
    Mr. Gaetz. Mr. Chair.
    Mr. Biggs. Mr. Gaetz.
    Mr. Gaetz. Mr. Chair, I move or I seek unanimous consent 
that Mr. Issa be permitted to sit on the panel for the purpose 
of accepting and yielding of time.
    Mr. Biggs. Without objection.
    Ms. Jackson Lee. Without objection I am ready to allow Mr. 
Issa to be on.
    Mr. Issa, I am joining the caucus that you will be speaking 
of. So, hopefully, you and Congressman Dean will add me to that 
caucus. Thank you.
    Mr. Biggs. Thank you.
    Now, I recognize Mr. Jordan.
    Chair Jordan. Mr. Chair, I yield to Mr. Issa.
    Mr. Biggs. Mr. Issa.
    Mr. Issa. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thank you, 
Chair.
    The title of this hearing should be, ``Inaction Is No 
Longer an Option.''
    So, one of the questions that, you had said was you are 
tired of nothing happening in this town. That is because we 
have had inaction as we have gone from 0-108,000 deaths a year 
with fentanyl.
    In San Diego we have a locker that has 147,000 pounds of 
deadly drug; a third of it is fentanyl. Ten years ago, zero was 
fentanyl and it was mostly marijuana and meth.
    So, when we look at what we need to do, and I will just be 
brief and say what, what would you have us do on a bipartisan 
basis that would be the most effective single item?
    We will start on the left.
    Mr. Maltz. So, Congressman, thanks for the question.
    First, we have to declare this a public health and national 
security emergency from the White House, because it all starts 
at the top.
    Then we have to get celebrities, and professional athletes, 
role models, to start making video reels to get to the kids on 
social media. Because right now on social media that is what 
they are doing all day, and that is why they are dying, because 
they are buying this stuff on social media.
    By the way, sextortion is also very big on social media.
    So, why are the social media companies allowed to 
facilitate the death and destruction of our communities?
    Mr. Issa. OK. I appreciate that because that is one of the 
areas that information simply has--certainly, is not equal to 
the 108,000 deaths.
    From a standpoint of--and I will ask this, I will start at 
the far right here now--when someone knowingly produces a pill 
that looks like one kind of drug, but is, in fact, fentanyl, in 
California they have had the novel attempt to, in fact, have, 
when someone dies of it, have it be considered murder because 
it is a knowing act.
    Would you support a Federal law that made it, in fact, by 
definition, murder to produce deadly fentanyl pill that appears 
to be something else?
    Ms. Rachwal. Congressman, yes, absolutely.
    If I took a drink and I got something poisoned in the drink 
and died, that would be murder. Correct?
    Mr. Issa. Correct.
    So, those are two areas.
    Third, of course, is we have two partners in this. We are 
the third partner because we are the buyer. Certainly, we have 
to do our part. This is where information and getting beyond 
just ignoring it is important.
    Let me just ask you two questions: Mexico is currently 
enjoying a gain success of billions of dollars that is 
corroding the very ability of their government to manage their 
country, because the cartels have more money than the 
government. That is coming out of China where the precursors 
come out.
    So, the question I have for all of you is, as we are 
advertising, as we are increasing the crimes, what actions 
should be taken to stem the flow from China through Mexico? 
Yes?
    Dr. Westlake. Again, so when you look at the spigot of 
elicit fentanyl, that is a huge issue. I am not here to really 
focus on that. I am focusing on fentanyl-related substances. 
One thing Congress can do tomorrow is permanently close that 
loophole.
    Mr. Issa. Yes, sir?
    Dr. Singer. Congressman Issa, we have been doing the same 
thing over and over again for 50 years, since President Nixon 
declared war on drugs, and expecting a different result each 
time. Doing it even harder and causing even more people to be 
imprisoned, and damaging relationships with even more countries 
is still not going to work. I guarantee you, because we will 
probably be here in a couple years talking about the nitazene 
crisis.
    I think we should put the emphasis and focus on making it 
safer for the people who are going to continue to go to the 
black market and use drugs by getting the Government out of the 
way of groups that want to employ arm reduction strategies that 
save lives.
    Mr. Issa. I appreciate your view on that. I respectfully 
disagree. The countries that have tried it mostly have had 
other problems.
    I do agree with one thing, which is that we have been 
fighting the fight for a long time. We have seen the drugs 
change.
    Ma'am, I am going to close by saying I meet regularly with 
one after another parent, or sibling, or spouse of someone who 
has died from the, and whether they call it an overdose or a 
deadly poison, most of the time it is an amount that is deadly 
in a single pill.
    That is not true of other drugs. It is true of fentanyl 
today. So, you have my deepest sympathies for your loss. We 
will, I promise, we will have action, not inaction.
    Mr. Chair, thank you very much. Yield back.
    Mr. Biggs. Thank you, Mr. Issa.
    The Chair recognizes Mr. Kiley.
    Mr. Kiley. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
    I would like to followup on a point raised just now by Mr. 
Issa.
    First, I wanted to also say I thank you, Ms. Rachwal, for 
being here and sharing your story. I know how difficult it is 
and how much courage it takes.
    I have had the chance to work with parents who, like 
yourself, have found themselves in an unthinkable situation, 
including two parents, Chris and Laura Didier, who were my 
guests at the State of the Union a couple weeks ago.
    I think it is because of the power of your voice and the 
voices of people like the Didiers, and other parents who have 
had that courage that the President did at least acknowledge 
the scale of this problem in his State of the Union address, 
the largest platform that he has as President.
    Mr. Chair, we heard from the Ranking Member that this is 
not a crime problem. I would have to take issue with that 
statement. After all, we are talking about a poison that 
largely originates with dedicated criminal organizations, and 
that is peddled in our communities by dealers to unsuspecting 
young people, under false pretenses, using social media or any 
other means at their disposal.
    So, yes, there are multiple dimensions to this problem, 
first and foremost securing the border, raising awareness. 
Holding criminals accountable is a very important dimension.
    In that respect, we actually have some very recent news out 
of my district. In the last two days there has been a 
preliminary hearing for a defendant, the drug dealer Carson 
Schewe. His victim was a 20-year-old soon-to-be-father named 
Cade Webb who died of fentanyl poisoning after consuming a fake 
pill. Some may actually have heard about his story because he 
is the cousin of Logan Webb, who is the star pitcher for the 
San Francisco Giants who, after the tragedy, used his position 
to share the story to raise awareness. Then other Major League 
baseball players did so as well.
    So, yesterday the preliminary hearing concluded. This 
happened to take place in Placer County where the D.A.'s 
office, led by District Attorney Morgan Gire, has been very 
committed to using every tool at their disposal to get a handle 
on the fentanyl crisis.
    They have been part of public awareness campaigns like One 
Pill Can Kill. They have been very aggressive in using the 
criminal laws to hold dealers accountable, under the belief 
that anyone who sells this lethal substance and doesn't care 
whether their customer lives or dies, is guilty of murder.
    So, in the death of Cade Webb, and in prosecuting the 
dealer Carson Schewe, they decided to charge him with murder, 
because that is what this is.
    Yesterday, there was a holding order in the case. It is now 
going to go to trial. This drug dealer will face murder charges 
for selling this lethal substance to this young man in our 
community.
    So, I would just encourage prosecutors across the country 
to take a look at what the District Attorney's Office is doing 
under the leadership of Morgan Gire in Placer County because, 
yes, I think we need stiffer penalties. That does need to be 
legislated. There is a lot we can do under existing criminal 
laws.
    Since Placer County started being more aggressive in 
prosecuting dealers, law enforcement is hearing about results 
on the street that dealers are now wary of selling in our 
community.
    So, I would just ask the question to Mr. Maltz, we have 
heard that this isn't a crime problem. We have heard that 
having stiffer penalties for the dealers isn't going to really 
do anything.
    Does that perspective resonate more with your experience, 
or does the perspective of the law enforcement in my district 
that this actually is serving as a real deterrent sound more 
realistic to you?
    Mr. Maltz. Well, there is leadership in California. I know 
in San Diego they have Task Force 10 with the DEA and Homeland 
Security, other agencies, and they are prosecuting defendants 
for the death of these kids that are dying.
    I will tell you this: I talk to DEA agents every day. You 
know why they are upset right now? Because the Department of 
Justice is putting out more guidance, and more restrictions, 
and more requirements to charge minimum mandatory sentences for 
people that are killing our kids.
    Like, it doesn't get any simpler: If they are killing our 
kids, they need to feel the pain and go to jail. It is not 
going to stop the problem because there are so many kids 
addicted. Because right now in America there is a lot of 
anxiety and social depression. COVID caused a lot of this. So, 
these kids are turning to these pills. They have no idea what 
they are getting.
    My thing is, they have to be told that the pills will kill 
you. They don't know that because they are not getting the 
messages.
    They are not watching this hearing. They are not watching 
mainstream media and cable news. That is why the athletes and 
celebrities have to be called to the White House and they have 
to participate. They have got to put China aside because of the 
big money they make, and they have to go, and they educate the 
kids and save lives.
    Mr. Biggs. The time of the gentleman is expired.
    Mr. Kiley. Thank you, Mr. Maltz.
    I yield back.
    Mr. Biggs. Thank you.
    I would now recognize the gentlelady from Georgia, Ms. 
McBath.
    Ms. McBath. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
    First, I want to give my deepest condolences to the Rachwal 
family. I am so sorry for your loss.
    I, too, have lost a child. It is just so heartbreaking 
because it is not the natural order of things. So, I do give 
you my deepest condolences.
    For many across America this epidemic is a symptom of 
neglect. We have heard how far reaching and fast growing this 
public health crisis has become. What started as a plan by big 
pharmaceutical companies to profit on the pain of millions, a 
plan to shroud the addictiveness of these drugs in sales 
tactics and consultant speak, has changed the course of our 
country and the Americans who live in it.
    We know the facts. They have been spouted all day. We have 
heard many of them here today. Millions of Americans addicted 
to opioids led us into an era of millions of Americans addicted 
to heroin, fentanyl, a drug up to 50 times stronger than 
heroin, pushed on our people by cartels most often supplied by 
the PRC, and it has only increased these deaths of despair.
    We know the facts. We don't always know what goes on in the 
homes. When we go into a home and we see family, we see parents 
that are shattered by a loved one lost in the grips of a drug 
that has consumed them.
    We see the wife in West Virginia whose husband came home in 
pain every night from work, that left them battered and 
bruised. The over-prescribed opioid that was supposed to be a 
cure for the pain became the cause of it. As addiction took 
hold, opioids were replaced with heroin, heroin laced with 
fentanyl. How two children are growing up without a father, 
supported now by a single mother who just saw the love of their 
life descend into darkness.
    We see the father in Florida who just dropped his son off 
in his freshman dorm room. Since he was a little boy, he had 
always followed the rules. A quarterback on his high school 
team, he had always been the calm and quiet type. A concussion 
followed him to college.
    Now, he was a child away from home, surrounded by his 
peers. He spent a night with his friends doing what many 
college kids do. It took one pill to overdose. Now, the father, 
who spent 18 years raising a son he could never be more proud 
of, would never see his boy again.
    We see the daughter in Georgia bullied in her high school 
for being too fat 1 day, and too thin the next: For trying too 
hard in school, and not hard enough on her looks. When her 
friend promised an escape from the terror in her head and the 
pain in her heart, she accepts gratefully. Until the drug had a 
hold on her. Until the painkillers decided what she was doing 
and when she would do it. Her overdose on heroin was called a 
death of despair. That only scratched the surface.
    Her mother and father are now forced to celebrate her 
birthday at her gravesite.
    There is a heartbreak only reserved for those who question 
whether they have done, whether they had done more as a parent 
to save their child, a spouse, a child. When you focus in on a 
community, when you enter a home filled with that heartbreak, 
which I do understand, we can only begin to understand the 
human cost of this crisis.
    These drugs have profited on pain and left only death and 
despair in their wake. This isn't a future for us as Americans. 
This isn't time for politics. This is a time for progress. What 
we do here must help to solve this crisis, not score political 
points.
    So, please, Dr. Singer, what can we do right now that will 
give us the best chance of saving American lives, ending this 
epidemic, and keeping our families together?
    Dr. Singer. Well, Congresswoman McBath, thank you for that 
question.
    As I said previously, and this is under the purview of this 
Committee, I think we should focus on trying to make the black 
market less dangerous for people who are going to go into the 
black market to purchase drugs by allowing them to be able to 
use, for example, test strips to test to see if they think they 
are buying a Percocet and it turns out it is fentanyl, we can 
help them by letting them know that and may avoid taking it.
    Also, we should remove section, 21 U.S.C. 856 so that harm 
reduction organizations around the country could set up 
overdose prevention centers to prevent people from overdosing. 
Also, in those centers they would test their drugs before they 
use them and use them with clean needles and syringes which 
they have to return. It is outside of the public use, so people 
don't have to watch people use drugs.
    So, these are things that this Committee could address.
    Also, in many countries, Canada, U.K., Australia, since the 
Sixties primary care physicians have been able to prescribe 
take home methadone. In this country, we have this very 
burdensome process where to use methadone, which is a great and 
a very effective treatment for addiction, you have to go to a 
special clinic. You sometimes have to travel miles. You have to 
take it in the presence of a clinic staff because you are 
stigmatized as somebody who can't be trusted.
    Whereas if you were able to--during the pandemic, actually, 
they allowed take home medication and saw no evidence of 
diversion or misuse of the methadone.
    If we allowed primary care practitioners to prescribe 
methadone to treat substance use disorder, then there would be 
many more avenues where people can access methadone treatment.
    Ms. McBath. Thank you. I yield my time.
    Mr. Biggs. Thank you.
    The Chair recognizes now the gentleman from South Carolina, 
Mr. Fry.
    Mr. Fry. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thank you for holding this 
hearing. I appreciate your leadership in bringing attention of 
this.
    To the panel, thank you for being here.
    Ms. Rachwal, thank you. It is incredibly brave for you to 
address this Committee, to share that story.
    When I was in the South Carolina General Assembly I chaired 
the House Opioid Abuse Prevention Study Committee. We had 18 
bills, record funding, a lot of great things. We always started 
every field hearing with people who were in who were 
recovering, who had lost family members. To hear their stories, 
to hear your story today reminds me of that and how important 
it is to hear that story, that we start from the human element, 
and that we remember the families back home who have suffered 
the most.
    The rise in fentanyl, I think the frustration that I have, 
at least up here, to the panel is that States have really, 
States and local governments have really tried to address this 
from an education campaign, to prevention, to treatment, and to 
law enforcement. That was not immune to the State of South 
Carolina either as we tried to pass legislation to address it.
    The frustration that I have is that we can't actually deal, 
the States can't, as inventive as they are, and colleges and 
local government, they cannot actually deal with the problem 
until we deal with the source, which is fentanyl, which is 
China, which is the cartels.
    To me, to look at the numbers in South Carolina, and of 
course this mirrors the country, in 2017 South Carolina saw a 
312 percent increase in fentanyl-related overdoses. From 2019-
2021 it was 178 percent. Nearly 69 percent, according to a 
South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control, 
69 percent of all overdoses are related to fentanyl. Those 
numbers back up. Those have been increasing dramatically. 
Whereas in 2017 only 36 percent of overdose deaths were related 
to fentanyl.
    So, we have seen this problem exacerbated. We we just 
visited Yuma, Arizona, for a field hearing where we talked to 
hospital systems, and ranchers, and residents. They are seeing 
it in their communities.
    Of course, as we know, we are, every State, every local 
government, every community is a border town at this point 
given the amount of fentanyl overdoses that are taking place.
    Mr. Chair, at this point I would like to seek unanimous 
consent to put the South Carolina Department of Health and 
Environmental Control Overdose Report into the record.
    Mr. Biggs. Without objection.
    Mr. Fry. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
    I think from the perspective of the DEA, Mr. Maltz, what 
are some of the firsthand experiences that you have seen or 
heard of, of your agents, or the agents of the DEA dealing with 
drug smugglers? What are some of the experiences that they have 
had in the field?
    Mr. Maltz. Well, they are very frustrated for the lack of 
the support. Like I said, the Department of Justice putting 
added requirements to put people in jail that are killing our 
kids.
    The real frustration that I have seen is kind of 
highlighted in the recent trial in New York and the conviction 
of Genaro Garcia Luna. He was the FBI equivalent in Mexico. The 
corruption is so systemic in Mexico that the cartels run the 
country. Now with the migrant smuggling, it is just 
overwhelming the resources on the border and throughout 
America.
    So, the reality is if you have a water leak in your house, 
the plumber comes, he shuts the main valve down. We have a 
fentanyl disaster in America flooding the streets. We have got 
to shut down the valve in Mexico.
    How do we do it? The best and brightest patriots in 
America, like some Congressmen have already said, and offer 
support to the Mexican Government to use technology to destroy 
these chemical production labs. Then we will see a disruption 
in the supply to this country.
    The frustration is that law enforcement is out there 
putting their lives on the line. They don't get the proper 
support. More importantly is that it is just getting worse 
because the cartels are operating with impunity, working with 
China, that want to destroy America forever.
    Mr. Fry. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
    I yield the remaining balance of my time to you, sir.
    Mr. Biggs. Thank you.
    So, some of the things that have been talked about today 
make me think of deterrence. What deters someone from taking a 
drug that has been laced with fentanyl?
    What deters someone from producing and distributing 
fentanyl into this country?
    Mr. Maltz, some people have said, that was an early talker, 
``cannot incarcerate our way out of this.'' Then they said but 
we need to have tough penalties, including incarceration for 
those who deal the drugs.
    Is that a tacit admission that there is a way to deter 
dealers, and that would include sentencing to incarceration?
    Mr. Maltz. Absolutely. You want to put these people in jail 
for the longest amount of time that are killing our kids.
    We are not talking about putting couriers that are just 
moving product, they don't even know what they are moving. You 
have to deal with each case separately. For the organization 
that is destroying our country, they have to feel the pain.
    Now, I will tell you this: You asked a question about the 
frustration. Right now, we have hundreds lined up in Mexico for 
extradition. The Administrator of DEA testified. We can't get 
them out. We want to hold them responsible for what they are 
doing. That is going to be a deterrent.
    We saw that in Colombia for years when we went after the 
Norte del Valle Cartel, the Medellin Cartel, and everyone. So, 
we have to have these strong punishments.
    Mr. Biggs. Thanks. Thanks, Mr. Maltz.
    I now recognize Ms. Lee from Florida.
    Ms. Lee. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
    Thank you to our witnesses for being here today.
    Today's hearing has allowed us all an opportunity to see 
how the crisis of fentanyl is affecting every community in 
America. In my own community in Florida we recently seized, 
authorities seized more than 11 pounds of fentanyl. This amount 
alone was enough to kill 2.7 million people.
    Agent Maltz, I would like to return to your testimony. As a 
former Federal prosecutor, I recognize the critical work that 
DEA agents are doing every day across America to fight the 
cartels and to keep America safe. One thing, a distinction that 
you have made here today that I think is important, I would 
like for you to share with us a bit about how this problem has 
grown in its scope, and the difference between organized crime 
and what you would categorize as narcoterrorists?
    Tell us, what is a narcoterrorist? What has led you to that 
conclusion?
    Mr. Maltz. Great question. I really appreciate that because 
I lived this nightmare for many years, over 10 years.
    When I was the head of the Special Operations Division I 
wasn't reading in the local newspapers, I was living it with my 
counterparts around the world. So, China started the synthetic 
bombing campaign around 2008-2009 with K2 spice and bath salts. 
Please go read about and you will see all the capacities in the 
country for no synthetic drugs.
    Then around 2012 they started with the fentanyl analogs in 
the mail services, through the internet websites.
    Then they diverted, started sending pure fentanyl to 
Mexico. They also started, of course, for years they have been 
sending precursor chemicals to make methamphetamine. That is 
why we have tons of methamphetamine in the country. We didn't 
even talk about that today. That is another whole hearing.
    Now, in Mexico they are using all that money, they are 
building up capabilities. They are buying weapons systems. They 
are dropping C4 explosives on their adversaries.
    I went down to the border and there were 9,000 drones 
coming into America surveilling our brave men and women in 
Border Patrol. This is unacceptable. We are at war with the 
cartels, but we are still treating it like they are drug 
traffickers.
    They are not drug cartels. Please stop saying drug cartels. 
They are narcoterrorists like we have never seen. They run the 
country of Mexico, they intimidate, they corrupt, they are 
slaughtering people, chopping off heads, dismembering bodies. 
They have arsenals. They have weapons that we don't even have 
in certain countries around the world.
    So, they have evolved. Everything is evolving. The problem 
is the Government is still using old talking points. This is 
not grandpa's opioid crisis. OK? The pills, that is years ago. 
Yes, kids got addicted because of big pharma. Somebody said 
that. Big pharma never got held accountable because it is all 
about the money.
    Now, the cartels and China are the focus of our problem, so 
we need to deal with them.
    Ms. Lee. So, Agent Maltz, in light of that changing 
landscape, in light of the escalation of the severity of this 
type of organization, how does that change what you need and 
what we should be doing here in Congress to equip DEA and our, 
and your law enforcement partners to fight this fight?
    Mr. Maltz. DEA needs resources, but so does all the 
agencies as far as manpower. You know why? A lot of them are 
quitting. They are running away. They are getting jobs in the 
private sector because they are sick and tired of lack of 
action.
    The boss of the DEA right now, she is running around with a 
One Pill Can Kill campaign, spreading awareness like we have 
never seen.
    I go back to this Committee can ask the Department of 
Education, what are they doing? Why is CDC not putting out 
timely and accurate stats on the greatest crisis to the history 
of this country? What is the answer to that? Because as a 
taxpayer, I would like to see the CDC director, because she has 
already fell on the sword on the lack of reporting on COVID, 
and the inaccuracies. How is that acceptable with all the 
technology we have?
    There is no consistency across the country. The guy in King 
County, Washington, talked about no cooler space. They are not 
trained. They don't have the technologies.
    So, there is a lot of accountabilities that needs to be 
brought to the table in this town. The DEA, they are going to 
continue to fight, just like Homeland Security, FBI, ATF, the 
Marshals, because they get paid to save lives.
    The problem is it is much bigger than DEA and the law 
enforcement now. That is why we need to consider other options 
with the great patriots that work behind the scenes that could 
do some real good devastation. They could decimate the 
production labs.
    Why is that a bad thing, decimate chemical production labs? 
I wish there were more people over here that would listen to 
this, but they are not interested. They are out there doing 
something else. I don't know what is more important than the 
death of our kids.
    Ms. Lee. Agent Maltz, another question. Can you tell us 
what it means when a substance is classified as Schedule I, 
Schedule II? How is that important? What would it mean to you 
all in terms of the work that you are going to try to combat 
this problem?
    Mr. Maltz. Well, a third grader can understand that you 
don't want to put deadly substances on the street. You want to 
at least categorize them as Schedule I drugs.
    Fentanyl, the pharmaceutical grade fentanyl, is a Schedule 
II and needs to remain a Schedule II. The elicit fentanyl 
substances that are out there, it is like Whack-A-Mole. The DEA 
and all the agencies they can't keep up with the way these guys 
are changing the difficult chemical compounds. It is, like, it 
is just so common, you just need common sense to understand 
that argument, they are killing our kids. We need to classify 
fentanyl-related substances as Schedule I.
    That is not going to solve this problem, but it is 
something that will help.
    Ms. Lee. Thank you, Agent Maltz.
    Mr. Chair, I yield back.
    Mr. Biggs. Thank you.
    I yield five minutes to myself.
    I appreciate all of you being here telling your story, and 
also bringing different perspectives on this very, very 
critical, I view it as a national security and national health 
issue.
    When we look at this, we had several of my colleagues 
across the aisle talk about they gave $60 million here and $70 
million there. When I go to the border and talk to Border 
Patrol agents, who are so concerned about this problem, they 
say, we don't need more money, we need to be able to enforce 
the law. We are being denied the capacity to enforce the law.
    That includes and is because they are being overrun. So, we 
will go their whole shifts with entire CDP agency that is 
supposed to be watching our border are actually working as 
processors at a detention facility, where they won't be 
detained, Dr. Singer. They are not getting detained, they are 
being, they are being transported to wherever they want to be 
in the country, to the tune of over five million encounters, 
millions over the last two years.
    Then you have over a million, about a million two known 
got-aways between the ports of entry. Anybody who watches will 
tell you it is at least one-to-one on the unknown got-aways. 
When we showed you the video earlier today these are young men 
and women bringing--dressed in camo. They don't want to be 
caught. They are port, transporting this drug across the 
border.
    Comes up, I can tell you where it comes up from the Tohono 
O'odham, across the Tohono O'odham Reservation, goes up to I-8. 
There are load-up places there. Then from your crows, you're a 
crow's fly about 30 miles south of Phoenix.
    From there it is going throughout the country. It is 
finding its way into the hands of college students who really 
they don't know anything about fentanyl because it has not been 
made a big deal.
    We know about it because we talk about it.
    So, when I hear people say 90 percent of it is interdicted 
through the port of entry; no. Ninety percent of what you catch 
may be in the port of entry. Of course, that data is old and 
out of touch. It is coming through between the ports of entry 
and being disseminated widely in this country.
    Now, we have very little deterrence. Because I am going to 
tell you that if these people are caught; they are caught in 
the Tucson Sector. They have a backpack of fentanyl. All you 
have to do is take that backpack off and walk a step away and 
the Deputy Attorney General there, the U.S. Attorney there is 
not going to prosecute that case.
    There is no deterrence whatsoever. Why are they not going 
to? They are going to say we need, for instance, if it is 
marijuana, they say we have to have 400 pounds of marijuana on 
the person. Well, nobody can carry 400 pounds of marijuana.
    Same thing goes with fentanyl. Most of it is now coming in 
pills. It is coming in pill form because Americans want pills. 
They are pressing them down south of the border, and they are 
disguised as pain medication, Percocet, Perc 30, whatever it 
is.
    So, that is the reality of what is happening. I appreciate, 
Dr. Singer, you said we want to make the black market less 
dangerous. One way you make this less dangerous for the black 
market is to make it more dangerous for the people who are 
producing and distributing this drug.
    So, you may not be able to incarcerate yourself, your way 
out of this, but you better do something to either destroy the 
facilities, destroy the economic capacity of this group, or 
they are going to keep going.
    I will just tell you that right now it is a multi-billion 
dollar per month industry. We need to, we need to call them 
what it is: They are terrorists. We need to declare them 
terrorists so we can get at their money stream. Because if we 
can get at their money stream, we will impede them and we will 
slow this down.
    That is some of what needs to happen here.
    As we wrap up this hearing, I hope that across the aisle we 
have found some comity on where we can go to start interdicting 
this horrific problem. That has to happen.
    I just, again, thank you, our witnesses, for being here 
today.
    You have some documents you want to put in?
    Ms. Jackson Lee. If you don't mind, yes.
    Mr. Biggs. Please, please.
    Ms. Jackson Lee. When you have had your concluding remarks.
    Mr. Biggs. Well, she wants to, not for concluding remarks, 
but I will recognize you for putting documents into the record.
    Ms. Jackson Lee. Thank you.
    If I might, Mr. Chair, just make one or two points to 
answer you. Which is, that is the direction of the legislation 
that I hope you will look at that enhances and responds to the 
manufacturers and the distributors.
    Obviously, our jurisdiction is here in the United States 
and, hence, penalties, and for those who wind up killing people 
because of the drug use. Their actions wind up killing people.
    I just want to conclude on, Mr. Maltz, your patriotism and 
your enthusiasm. I work with DEA agents all the time, those 
based on Houston. Know their work, as I do the FBI, the ATF. 
So, let me just say that you have been heard loudly and 
clearly.
    Ms. Rachwal and husband have been heard very loudly and 
clearly.
    So, legislation that I hope the Chair will look at answers 
all these questions, particularly your outreach, your focus, 
major campaign, the social media, and the megaphone. You want 
the megaphone while you are doing your work, you want the 
megaphone.
    I do know that the DEA does some very dangerous work, 
particularly, those who are undercover. We want to appreciate 
them as well.
    Dr. Singer, we need your voice. We thank you for that.
    We thank Dr. Westlake for being here as well.
    So, I hope the Chair and I will have an opportunity to 
engage.
    I want to put into the record, ask unanimous consent, a 
letter from the Law Enforcement Action Partnership, signed by a 
coalition of current and former law enforcement officers, 
judges, and public safety professionals.
    The statement of Jason Pye, Director, Rule of Law 
Initiative, Due Process Institute.
    A letter from Jillian E. Snider, Policy Director of 
Criminal Justice and Civil Liberties at the R Street Institute.
    A letter from Mazen Saleh, Policy Director of Integrated 
Harm Reduction at the R Street Institute.
    A letter from a coalition of organizations in support of 
the Test Act. (ph.)
    I want to thank Mr. Cohen, and Ms. McBath, and Ms. Dean for 
their presence here today.
    Ask unanimous consent to place these in the record.
    Mr. Biggs. Without objection.
    Ms. Jackson Lee. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
    Mr. Biggs. Thank you.
    Again, thanks to all the Members who attended. Thanks to 
those in the audience who came.
    I appreciate each one of you, again, on the panel. You were 
heard. You are important. We are going to now thank you by 
adjourning.
    We are adjourned.
    [Whereupon, at 12:27 p.m., the Subcommittee was adjourned.]

    All materials submitted for the record by Members of the 
Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal 
Government can be found at: https://docs.house.gov/Committee/
Calendar/ByEvent.aspx?EventID=115371.