[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 78 (Tuesday, May 9, 2023)]
[Senate]
[Page S1563]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    NATIONAL FENTANYL AWARENESS DAY

  Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, today, May 9, is National Fentanyl 
Awareness Day. In the last 12 months, over 108,000 Americans have died 
from drug overdoses, mainly from fentanyl and its analogues. Fentanyl 
overdoses are the number one cause of death for Americans between the 
ages of 18 and 45, so I come to the floor to do two things.
  First, I am here to introduce a bipartisan resolution supporting the 
goals of National Fentanyl Awareness Day. The resolution aims to 
increase awareness of the impact of fake or counterfeit fentanyl pills 
on families and young people. And it applauds the work of Federal, 
State, and local law enforcement agencies that combat the proliferation 
of counterfeit pills.
  And second, I am here to reintroduce my bipartisan legislation, the 
Stop Pills That Kill Act. This bill creates new penalties for 
counterfeit pill production. There is a surge throughout the United 
States of counterfeit pills laced with fentanyl and fentanyl analogues. 
People unknowingly take these counterfeit pills. Many of them die. Drug 
traffickers have been marketing and selling these fake pills using 
social media. The Stop Pills That Kill Act will ramp up criminal 
penalties to deter this illegal activity and save lives.
  Later this week, the Senate Judiciary Committee will mark up another 
bill I cosponsor, the Cooper Davis Act. This bipartisan bill requires 
social media companies, the same places where these fake pills are 
being sold, to report information to Federal Agencies relating to 
illicit online fentanyl on their platforms. The reporting requirements 
will help law enforcement root out and dismantle international crime 
networks and save lives. I look forward to reporting the bill out of 
committee and quickly getting it to the President's desk.
  Whether it is at my roundtables in Iowa or during my 99-county 
meetings, parents continue to come up to me and tell me about the 
children they have lost to fentanyl poisoning. It is heartbreaking to 
see the pain on their face and hear it in their voice, as they share 
what the fentanyl crisis has done to their family.
  I hope we see action to move these bills and permanently schedule 
fentanyl related substances. I am as committed as ever to cracking down 
on fentanyl and its analogues, and I hope my colleagues will join me 
soon.

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