Ted Budd: “just last week in my home State of North Carolina, narcotics investigators from the Iredell County Sheriff's Office and…”

“just last week in my home State of North Carolina, narcotics investigators from the Iredell County Sheriff's Office and the Gaston Police Department seized 5 pounds of fentanyl that was in possession of an illegal alien. It was enough to kill over a million people. That is nothing short of a weapon of mass destruction. The reality is that is not just a public health crisis. It is a nightmare that is destroying families, shattering communities, and devastating our country. On average, nine North Carolinians die every single day from fentanyl overdoses. Every day, fentanyl claims nearly 200 lives across our country. Just last year, this silent killer took more than 70,000 Americans. But they are not just numbers. These are sons and daughters. These are parents and siblings. These are our friends and our neighbors. These are people who should be living full, meaningful lives but, instead, have become statistics. Let's put this into perspective. Just 2 milligrams of fentanyl similar to 7 grains of salt is enough to kill a person. If it is a sugar packet and you pour it in your morning coffee and it were to be filled with fentanyl, it could take the lives of 500 people--the quantity equal to a sugar packet. Now, if it was a standard 4-pound bag of granulated sugar--the kind we all have in our pantries--if it were filled with fentanyl, it would wipe out 905,000 individuals. This deadly drug is flooding our communities, and it is not by accident.…”