[Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 48 (Thursday, March 13, 2025)]
[Senate]
[Page S1738]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]





                           HALT FENTANYL ACT

  Mr. DURBIN. Madam President, later today, the Senate will vote on 
passage of the HALT Fentanyl Act. Opioid addiction has had a 
devastating impact on communities all across the country.
  We have an overdose crisis in the United States, and we should be 
doing everything possible to combat it. In just a decade, fentanyl has 
emerged as the deadliest drug in American history. All it takes is 2 
milligrams--that is a fraction of the size of a penny--to cause an 
overdose.
  But we must do more than simply pass this bill. Since fentanyl-
related substances were originally scheduled by the DEA, in 2018, 
Congress has never allowed this authority to expire. So, by passing 
this bill, we are merely maintaining the status quo. We must also 
address how this poison gets into the hands of the most vulnerable: our 
children. Too often, fentanyl is peddled in the open on some of the 
world's largest social media platforms.
  When the Senate Judiciary Committee marked up the HALT Fentanyl Act 
last month, I filed amendments that would finally hold these companies 
accountable and demand they put safeguards in place to protect our 
children. One of my amendments would have repealed the liability shield 
that Congress granted Big Tech nearly 30 years ago, known as section 
230.
  At that markup, Chairman Grassley agreed to work with me to finally--
finally--allow these companies to be sued by their victims' families so 
they can be held accountable in a court of law. I hope the full Senate 
will join us in this effort. Enough teens have died due to Big Tech's 
deliberate indifference.
  If we are going to stem the fentanyl crisis, we also must acknowledge 
the role the United States has played in arming cartels to the teeth--
sending hundreds of thousands of firearms south in an ``iron river''--
and facilitating the cartels' use of violence to traffic fentanyl into 
the U.S. That is why I filed my Stop Arming Cartels Act as an amendment 
to this bill.
  The HALT Fentanyl Act fails to account for the role that America's 
lax gun laws play in arming and enabling drug cartels to traffic 
fentanyl. Consider this: An estimated 200,000 to 500,000 American-made 
guns are trafficked into Mexico annually. A study by the Bureau of 
Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives found that 70 percent of 
crime guns recovered in Mexico from 2014-2018 and submitted for tracing 
were from the United States.
  My Stop Arming Cartels Act would prohibit future manufacture, sale, 
and possession of .50-caliber rifles--a particularly powerful weapon 
favored by Mexican drug cartels. These high-caliber weapons smuggled 
from the United States have allowed cartels to shoot down police 
helicopters, attack military convoys, and undercut public faith in law 
and order. My bill would also allow victims of gun violence to sue 
manufacturers and dealers who engage in firearm transactions prohibited 
under the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act.
  We also must provide local and Federal law enforcement with the 
resources they need to fight against the highly armed cartels.
  These Agencies are on the frontlines protecting our communities from 
fentanyl and other opioids. But detection is getting more difficult. 
Fentanyl is so potent and moved in quantities so small that high-value 
shipments are easily hidden. As a result, law enforcement needs access 
to technology and resources to quickly and efficiently detect these 
drugs. This includes expanding nonintrusive inspection capabilities, 
making lifesaving Naloxone widely available, and adequately funding 
State and local law enforcement.
  I am also gravely concerned about the negative impact of President 
Trump's recent order diverting Federal law enforcement agents, 
including from the DEA and ATF, away from combatting fentanyl and 
firearms trafficked by cartels and onto working on the President's mass 
deportation efforts. As a reminder, the vast majority of fentanyl and 
other illegal drugs entering the United States are smuggled by American 
citizens through legal ports of entry. And lastly, I am concerned about 
the negative impact of President Trump's mass removals and 
reassignments of senior career law enforcement at DOJ and FBI and how 
that will affect our ability to hold traffickers accountable and cut 
off the supply of fentanyl.
  Today, I will vote for the HALT Fentanyl Act. Still, it is only a 
starting point, and there is so much more that we can do, like stopping 
the trafficking of American guns that arm the cartels and holding 
social media companies accountable for peddling fentanyl to our kids. 
Getting fentanyl off the streets is a herculean task that will require 
us all to come together and work across the aisle to make this country 
a healthier, safer place to live. I hope this bill is a sign that all 
of my Senate colleagues are willing to continue working on this task 
with me in the future.

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