Political Quotes

“I rise today to call on my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to join Senator Portman and myself--and Senator Portman will come in later and express his desire for this also--in taking action to permanently schedule fentanyl and deadly fentanyl analogs. Fentanyl is 100 times more potent than morphine, 50 times more potent than heroin, and according to the DEA, 2 milligrams--just 2 milligrams--of fentanyl can cause a lethal overdose. In February 2018, the Drug Enforcement Administration issued a temporary scheduling order to schedule fentanyl-related substances, which has allowed Federal law enforcement authorities to bring criminal actions against individuals who manufacture, distribute, or handle fentanyl-related substances. A year ago, this body extended the scheduling order through May 6, 2021, via unanimous consent. The House extended it by a vote of 320 to 88. This should not be controversial at all. In 2019, 36,359 people died because of fentanyl. That is 51 percent of all overdose deaths that year--51 percent. Over half of the people who were killed by overdose were by fentanyl. We know 2020 was a record year in drug overdoses, mainly driven by fentanyl-related substances and the COVID-19 pandemic. We can safely assume that there were at least 44,000 deaths last year--think about that--44,000 deaths related to fentanyl last year. In total, that is over 80,000 people who have died because of fentanyl in just the last 2 years.…”