[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 203 (Monday, December 11, 2023)]
[House]
[Page H6745]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




             TAKING STEPS TO STOP FENTANYL POISONING DEATHS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Pennsylvania (Mr. Joyce) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. JOYCE of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, in 2022, we saw the highest 
number of opioid overdose deaths in our Nation's history. These deaths 
are the result of soft-on-crime policies from the Biden administration 
that have failed to enforce strict penalties on the traffickers who 
continue to deal in fentanyl-laced drugs.
  Mr. Speaker, 1 year ago, I received an email from Ray Cullen, a 
resident of Franklin County, Pennsylvania. Ray, along with his wife, 
Deb, had raised their children in Pennsylvania's 13th Congressional 
District. Ray told me a story about his son, Zach, who had been out 
with his friends. Zach was sold a combination of cocaine laced with 
fentanyl, a deadly poison that took Zach's life.
  Zach was a victim of fentanyl poisoning that night. He didn't know 
that the drugs that he and his friends had purchased were laced with 
this deadly synthetic opioid.
  Because of how lethal fentanyl is in small quantities, it has become 
the leading cause of death of Americans between the ages of 18 and 49 
years.
  Earlier this year, I was honored to be joined by Deb and Ray when the 
House passed the HALT Fentanyl Act. This legislation would permanently 
classify these drugs as schedule I narcotics and impose strict 
penalties for those who are caught trafficking these deadly poisons.
  For far too long, we have seen fentanyl components manufactured in 
China and shipped to Mexico, where they are pressed into counterfeit 
pills and trafficked across our porous southern border.
  Addressing these supply chains at every level must become a top 
priority for the Biden administration. Appeasing the Chinese Communist 
Party with halfhearted requests to ``cut back'' on the production of 
fentanyl is doing nothing to protect families in Pennsylvania. These 
half measures are doing nothing to support our border towns that 
continue to deal with the constant threat of cartel operations moving 
north into the United States while Border Patrol agents are overwhelmed 
with illegal immigrants.
  We cannot afford to wait any longer to address the opioid crisis. It 
is time for the Senate to pass the HALT Fentanyl Act and finally take 
positive, concrete steps to stop the fentanyl poisoning deaths that 
have continued to occur throughout the United States.
  During this holiday season, we remember families like the Cullens who 
have borne the brunt of these policy failures. We pray for them, and we 
hold them in our hearts as they prepare for another Christmas without a 
loved member of their family.

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