[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 20 (Thursday, January 30, 2020)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E114]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  TEMPORARY REAUTHORIZATION AND STUDY OF THE EMERGENCY SCHEDULING OF 
                         FENTANYL ANALOGUES ACT

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                               speech of

                       HON. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, January 29, 2020

  Ms. JOHNSON of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of S. 3201--the 
Temporary Reauthorization and Study of the Emergency Scheduling of 
Fentanyl Analogues Act, although I have reservations about the impact 
of the bill on African American men.
  I am concerned that provisions in this bill will have an unintended 
impact on African Americans being disproportionately charged and 
sentenced to prison. In 2018, 77 percent of individuals prosecuted for 
fentanyl related substances were people of color. This is not 
acceptable. The average sentence for fentanyl trafficking offenders was 
74 months; 97.4 percent were sentenced to prison.
  In 2018, the DEA issued a temporary order which placed 17 fentanyl 
related substances on Schedule I of the list of controlled substances. 
The order expires on Thursday, February 6, 2020, and could not be 
extended without congressional action, which extends the order until 
May 6, 2021.
  While I understand the need to combat fentanyl abuse, we cannot allow 
our solutions to disproportionately hurt our community. Since this is a 
temporary reauthorization, I will continue to work to ensure that the 
issue of mandatory minimums, as it relates to fentanyl, does not 
disproportionately affect African American. This temporary extension 
will give us time to work on long term solutions that do not have the 
potential to negatively impact our communities of color.

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