[Pages S610-S611]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                                Fentanyl

  Mrs. BRITT. Mr. President, on April 1, 2020, U.S. Marine Corps 
veteran Jaime Puerta lost his 16-year-old son Daniel.
  That dark day, Jaime found Daniel lying on his bed nonresponsive, 
ultimately seeing what looked like to be a half tablet of oxycodone on 
his dresser. Paramedics arrived and tried their best, but Daniel's 
brain had gone too long without oxygen. Five days later, Daniel's 
parents had to make an unimaginably difficult decision to take him off 
of life support.
  Soon after, Jaime got a call from the Los Angeles County Sheriff's 
Office. He ultimately learned that pill was not an oxycodone pill. It 
was actually fentanyl made to look exactly like a pharmaceutical-grade 
oxycodone. That is what killed Daniel.
  My colleagues on the Senate Judiciary Committee and I heard, 
yesterday, Jaime's story. We heard the passion in his voice. You could 
still feel the hurt. The name of this hearing was ``The Poisoning of 
America.''
  We not only heard his story; we also heard of Bridgette Norring, 
whose son Devin lost his life to fentanyl poisoning the same week that 
Daniel died at the age of 19.
  Devin had suffered from blackout migraines and dental pain to the 
point that he sought black-market prescription drugs--opioids--on 
Snapchat. This was the same platform where Daniel found the counterfeit 
pill that killed him.
  On April 4, 2020, Devin Norring took what he thought was a Percocet. 
His younger brother Caden, just 14 at the time, found him in his 
bedroom the next morning. That Percocet was actually a counterfeit pill 
containing a lethal dose of fentanyl.
  Daniel and Devin's stories and what their families have been through 
are nothing less than heartbreaking, and it exemplifies what we are 
going through as a Nation--a national nightmare.

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  I would like to thank them for sharing their stories and the courage 
they have shown in the face of gut-wrenching tragedy.
  As a mom of two kids, what happened to Daniel and Devon is beyond a 
mother's worst nightmare. It is a nightmare that unfortunately is 
playing out every day across the United States of America, and it is 
long past time for America to wake up. It is long past time for 
Congress to act and ensure that no other family has to experience 
losses like the ones that I have just discussed.
  The CDC has, over the past few years, consistently shown that drug 
overdoses and poisonings are the No. 1 cause of death for Americans 
between the ages of 18 and 45. Nearly 70 percent of those overdose 
deaths in 2022 were from fentanyl or other synthetic opioids. Twenty-
two thousand pounds of fentanyl was seized at America's ports of entry 
between October 2023 and October 2024. It is more than 1 billion lethal 
doses. It could kill everyone residing in this country three times 
over.
  It is 5 to 10 percent of what they say is actually coming into our 
country. You heard me right. They think there is 90 to 95 percent of 
fentanyl that is entering our Nation every year and we have no idea. 
For reference--it may be hard to picture--but fentanyl is 100 times 
more potent than morphine and 50 times more potent than heroin. That 
means 2 milligrams of fentanyl, the size of 5 grains of sand, can be 
fatal. Meanwhile, it takes 250 milligrams of morphine or 200 milligrams 
of heroin for a fatal dose. Fentanyl is 100 times deadlier than heroin. 
That is the scope of what we are dealing with.
  So why are we not doing something about it in this Chamber? According 
to the Department of Homeland Security's Office of Inspector General, 
our government has failed to prevent the flow of fentanyl in our 
country in far too many ways. According to the Homeland Security OIG, 
screening of participants in the Free and Secure Trade Program, which 
expedites processing for carriers and commercial drivers thought to be 
low risk, is far too lax.
  In February 2021, the OIG reported, Customs and Border Protections 
had deployed just over a quarter of the surveillance and subterranean 
technology solutions President Trump ordered 4 years prior. And in 
2023, a vast majority of CBP employees said their field locations, 
which means the points of entry into the United States, were not 
adequately prepared or staffed.
  President Trump has worked to target the Mexican cartels and 
transnational narcotics trafficking. He directed Defense Secretary Pete 
Hegseth to present a plan assigning our Armed Forces to the mission of 
sealing our border and repelling the drug trade.
  I heard Pete the other day discuss it. Secretary Hegseth said: My 
generation went and fought diligently to secure other countries' 
borders. This generation has the opportunity to secure ours.
  Ultimately, President Trump reached an agreement with the Mexican 
President--10,000 Mexican soldiers placed at the U.S.-Mexico border to 
stop the flow of fentanyl and illegal migrants into our Nation. And 
President Trump pushed the Canadian Prime Minister to take significant 
action to stop the flow of fentanyl across our northern border.
  These are all steps in the right direction. And as chair of the 
Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee, I will work to make sure 
the people tasked with protecting the public from this poison have the 
resources they need to help.
  But what yesterday's hearing made clear is that we have more to do.
  Last Congress, I cosponsored Senator John Kennedy's Fairness in 
Fentanyl Sentencing Act, and I am proud to be a cosponsor once again 
this Congress. That bill would change the quantity thresholds 
triggering mandatory minimum prison sentences for fentanyl 
distribution. It would also direct the U.S. Postal Service to increase 
its chemical screening and dedicate more personnel to the task of 
interdicting fentanyl and other illegal substances imported into our 
country.
  Our children's lives are worth it. We must do more now.
  Additionally, last Congress, the House passed the HALT Fentanyl Act. 
It passed in an overwhelmingly bipartisan fashion. I am proud to 
support it here in the Senate. Leading it is Senator Chuck Grassley, 
Bill Cassidy, and Martin Heinrich. While I cosponsored it last time, I 
am proud to cosponsor it again this Congress.
  This bill takes the necessary steps of placing fentanyl-related 
substances under schedule I classification and ensuring law enforcement 
has the tools necessary to actually end this epidemic.
  On January 20, it was a new day in America when President Trump was 
sworn in. It was a new day in the Senate when we passed the Laken Riley 
Act, which President Trump signed into law last week. Congress can get 
this done. Republican majorities in both Chambers have proven we can 
and will lead the way and are willing to work diligently with our 
colleagues across the aisle to ensure that happens.
  No doubt, we have shown that we mean business. We made promises to 
the American people that we would work to protect them, and we will 
keep that promise. We delivered on our promise that we would not 
tolerate criminal illegal aliens roaming free in our country. Now we 
need to deliver for the American people once again.
  Mr. President, the era of open borders is over. The era of allowing 
deadly fentanyl to flow into our country is over. The American people 
need us to act now, and that is exactly what we are doing. We are going 
to clean up our streets. We are going to protect our families. We are 
going to secure our borders. And we are going to ensure that our 
children actually have the opportunity to live their American dream.
  Let's make America safe again, and let's continue to talk about this 
issue. Our kids and their safety should come first.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Oregon.