Brett Guthrie: “My friend from New Jersey did say that this law expires at the end of the year. That is why we are here today to make…”

“My friend from New Jersey did say that this law expires at the end of the year. That is why we are here today to make scheduling illicit fentanyl permanent. We have to understand what the status quo is. The status quo currently is horrific. Before these illicit fentanyls were scheduled, although we couldn't get them permanently scheduled, there were all kinds of analogues throughout America. That is why the DEA and others recommended that we schedule these, because once you change the fentanyl molecule, unless these are scheduled, then it becomes no longer illegal. These all appeared in our country, and that is why we are reacting to it. They are scheduled now, and what we are moving to do is to make it permanent. What has happened since they were scheduled? They came to me, and they talked about mass incarceration. We have heard that today. There have been eight people in prison under this law, four dealing with cartels, which I would say absolutely should be in prison. I asked some of my law enforcement people when I was looking into this bill: If you have only arrested eight people, why does it matter? That is what they are saying on the other side of the aisle. What they said was the only reason we have only arrested eight people is because when this was put into place, the analogues--not fentanyl, but the analogues, which can be more dangerous--had disappeared from the marketplace.…”