[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 212 (Wednesday, December 8, 2021)]
[House]
[Page H7552]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  2200
         SYNTHETIC OPIOID OVERDOSE DEATHS CONTINUE TO SKYROCKET

  (Mr. BILIRAKIS asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. BILIRAKIS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today saddened as deaths involving 
synthetic opioids continue to skyrocket.
  In my district, in Pasco County, Florida, 193 people have died from 
fentanyl overdose since January. I have also received hundreds of 
heartbreaking stories from constituents whose families have been 
devastated by addiction.
  One constituent, MaryAnne said: ``I lost my son in June of 2021 to a 
fentanyl overdose. The system failed me in every single way. With open 
borders, enough fentanyl came pouring into our country's southern 
border to kill 70 percent of our population. Sadly, my son is one of 
those statistics.'' Parents like MaryAnne are the faces of the fentanyl 
crisis.
  Mr. Speaker, the tragedies these families have experienced are the 
reason why we must fight back. We must secure our borders, Mr. Speaker. 
We must place fentanyl-related substances into schedule I, and we must 
hold China accountable.

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