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As the House prepares to vote on a bill intended to curb fentanyl overdose deaths, lawmakers weighed in on what’s driving the influx of the synthetic opioid and what’s needed to combat it.
“We have a circumstance right now where the open southern border is a permission slip to cartels driving fentanyl into our communities,” Rep. Matt Gaetz, a Florida Republican, told Fox News. “The consequences are a direct result of intentional action to keep that border open.”
Rep. Dan Crenshaw said drug overdoses are why he’s “been so outspoken about going after cartels, the source of the fentanyl issue.”
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Over 200,000 Americans have overdosed and died from synthetic opioids like fentanyl since 2020, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“It’s gotten so much worse over the last couple years, so now it’s on everyone’s radar,” Crenshaw, a Texas Republican, said. “Everybody now has multiple people in their district, I think, who are overdosing from fentanyl.”
The House on Wednesday afternoon was expected to vote on the Halt All Lethal Trafficking of Fentanyl Act, which would create harsher penalties for possessing and distributing the fentanyl mixtures.
“Hopefully we’re gonna get that passed so we can say ‘enough is enough,’” Rep. Nathaniel Moran, a Republican, told Fox News.
But Rep. Jim McGovern was skeptical.
Rep. Matt Gaetz said the “open southern border” is allowing fentanyl to flow freely into the U.S. (Fox News Digital/Jon Michael Raasch)
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“I don’t think that the bill the Republicans are bringing before us is gonna solve it,” the Massachusetts Democrat said. “That’s more of a soundbite than a solution.”
Several lawmakers had introduced their own bills. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee’s, for example would increase outreach, put Narcan in schools and enhance…
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