Sheila Jackson Lee: “Let me, first of all, again acknowledge Senator Ossoff and Congressman Lamb. This is an important piece of legislation…”

“Let me, first of all, again acknowledge Senator Ossoff and Congressman Lamb. This is an important piece of legislation, but my good friend knows that I am going to have to add to this discussion by saying that, again, the question of fentanyl, no one wants to see that proliferated and causing the disastrous conditions that we have. But listen to the story of Ms. Alfaro, who was 19 years old. She lived in Appleton, Wisconsin, and ``was a recent high school graduate raising a toddler and considering joining the Army when she and a friend bought what they thought was the antianxiety drug Xanax in December 2020.'' The pills were fake and contained fentanyl, an opioid that can be 50 times more powerful. One of the things that we should understand is fentanyl is everywhere, and it has been determined that most of the fentanyl that comes across the border is brought over by U.S. citizens. The other aspect that is very important that doesn't specifically cover this bill, but at least this bill provides what the mother indicated, she didn't know anything about these drugs. She wished she could have helped her daughter. Yes, her daughter did lose her life. The point this legislation is making is let's provide information to these rural communities, but also let's understand some of the techniques that some States and local communities were not providing law enforcement or anyone else.…”