Nick Langworthy: “I thank the gentleman from Texas that I am proud to serve with on the House Committee on Rules for yielding. Madam…”

“I thank the gentleman from Texas that I am proud to serve with on the House Committee on Rules for yielding. Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of the rule which provides for consideration of the HALT Fentanyl Act, an important first step in fighting back against a drug that is killing thousands of Americans. The HALT Fentanyl Act is an extension of the work that this majority is doing to support our law enforcement officers and first responders. These men and women in blue, who are maligned, villainized, and defunded in cities and States across the country, need our support today to continue to fight back against the trafficking of these lethal drugs. Federal, State, and local law enforcement officers all agree that without this important scheduling in place, the surge of fentanyl into this country will break new records and more lives and communities will be ruined in the wake. In just a 10-day span earlier this year, State troopers in my district reported over 20 deaths from fentanyl overdoses. In just a 10- day span, 20 victims of the flood of this deadly substance into our country were killed, their families and their communities torn apart in the process. In recent years, the drug-related death rate in Erie County in western New York has risen by 256 percent. As is the case in so many communities, fentanyl and fentanyl-related substances are responsible for more and more of these deaths.…”