Tim Walberg: “I thank Mr. Walden, my friend, for yielding. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of S. 3201. Opioids, heroin, fentanyl…”

“I thank Mr. Walden, my friend, for yielding. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of S. 3201. Opioids, heroin, fentanyl, and fentanyl-like substances have ravaged the communities of all of us, like mine, across this Nation. Synthetic opioids have claimed the lives of tens of thousands of Americans last year, and I have heard firsthand some of those devastating stories from friends, neighbors, and constituents in my district. The DEA has been able to combat this part of the epidemic by changing the scheduling so that the administration could combat all fentanyl- related substances. Passing S. 3201 will allow law enforcement the leeway to properly combat these fentanyl-like substances. My support of this measure is strong, but I am admittedly frustrated. We need to make this scheduling classification permanent. We cannot let expiration dates approach while political games that we have seen for months and months now take the spotlight and consume precious legislative time that could have indeed helped to deal with some of the concerns my friends on the other side of the aisle expressed about minimum mandatories and criminal justice reform. We have come dangerously close to the expiration of the temporary order making fentanyl-related substances schedule I. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support S.…”