On the recordFebruary 2, 2022
it was such a joy to be in Tennessee last week and visit with so many of our local officials, and I had the opportunity to spend some time with some of our sheriffs. And one of the sheriffs made a point that I think deserves attention in this body today. He said: Marsha, for years, we have measured the drugs we have apprehended in grams or ounces, but today everything is in pounds. That is the uptick in volume that our local law enforcement is seeing in our communities. Now, the question is, Why is this happening? How is it that so much more is getting across that southern border? And my colleague from Ohio and my colleague from Missouri have each mentioned the problems that exists there--no ``Remain in Mexico,'' no wall. And we are at a time here in this country where our supply chains are really being stressed, but the supply chains of the cartels seem to be doing just fine. Fortunately, our Border Patrol has been able to cause some blips and some problems with those supply chains, and they have been able to apprehend some of the drugs coming across our border. In January, in a period of 7 days--1 week--our Border Patrol caught 47 pounds of methamphetamine in California, 3,800 pounds of marijuana in two raids in Texas, and 20 pounds of cocaine in Texas. The street value was about $7 million that they pulled off of the street, but this is, unfortunately, a blip for the cartels--just a blip on their radar.…





