Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, I thank the chairman of the full committee for yielding to me. For 4 years, I have worked tirelessly with my colleague and friend, the gentleman from the Ninth Congressional District of Virginia (Mr. Griffith), to pass the HALT Fentanyl Act to permanently label fentanyl- related substances as a schedule I narcotic. During this time, we have seen heartbreaking numbers of fentanyl poisonings across our country. There were 73,000 deaths reported in just 1 year alone. If the current classwide scheduling were to expire, which is a little less than 2 months away, I can assure Members that drug traffickers would push deadlier drugs, and more Americans will die. I am proud today that this House is finally stopping the temporary delay and permanently scheduling fentanyl-related substances as a schedule I. We owe it to our communities, our constituents, our families, and, most of all, the victims. Cartels are literally killing Americans for 10 cents a pill. Illicit fentanyl poisoning among teens accounted for an average of 22 deaths each week in 2022 from drug poisoning, raising the death rate for teens to 5.2 deaths per 100,000, driven by fentanyl in counterfeit pills, thus making fentanyl the number one cause of death among adults aged 18 to 49. That is more than cancer, more than heart disease, and more than car accidents. This isn't about criminal justice reform. This is about victims getting justice. The SPEAKER pro tempore. The time of the gentleman has expired.”