[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 132 (Wednesday, July 28, 2021)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E835]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          CRISIS AT THE BORDER

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                          HON. ROBERT E. LATTA

                                of ohio

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, July 28, 2021

  Mr. LATTA. Madam Speaker, the humanitarian and national security 
crisis occurring at our southern border continues to worsen by the day. 
In June, Border Patrol stopped 188,829 illegal immigrants, which is a 
450 percent increase from June of 2020. Earlier this year, I went to 
the border and saw first-hand how cartels are using innocent children 
as decoys to bring illegal narcotics into our country.
  Because of the policies--or lack thereof--from our current 
Administration, this crisis is being allowed to grow, cartels are 
taking advantage of our weak borders, and narcotics are flowing into 
our country like never before.
  In June alone, 1,053 pounds of fentanyl were seized at our southwest 
border. This is more than the last 3 Junes combined, and is enough to 
kill 238 million Americans.
  And to imagine--this is only the amount of fentanyl that was seized 
last month--what about deadly drugs that are slipping through the 
cracks and make their way into the country?
  Last week, the CDC reported the national overdose death rates for 
2020. Overdose deaths across the country were the highest they have 
been over the last 50 years. In 2020, in the United States alone, 
93,331 people died from a drug overdose. To put this number into 
perspective, 70,980 people died from a drug overdose in 2019. Nearly 75 
percent of fatal overdoses were attributed to opioids, a 5 percent 
increase from 2019, that was largely driven by fentanyl. In Ohio, 
opioid overdoses reached record levels rising 16 percent in the second 
quarter of 2020, which had been declining over 24 months prior to the 
pandemic.
  Madam Speaker, Americans are dying because of the crisis at the 
border. We must act to stop the illegal flow of narcotics and protect 
our country.

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