On the Senate floor, Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) celebrates the likely passage of the HALT Fentanyl Act.
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NewsTranscript
00:00recognizes the Senator from Iowa. Thank you, Mr. President. Today is a good day
00:10for the Senate and a good day for the American people. The Senate will soon
00:16pass a bill that is entitled HALT Fentanyl Act. The House is expected to
00:25take the measure up very soon and send it to President Trump, who's waiting with
00:31pen in hand to enact one of his campaign promises. The HALT Fentanyl Act
00:40permanently schedules these deadly substances that have been the main
00:46driver of overdose deaths in the United States. No longer does the Drug
00:52Enforcement Agency need to play this game of whack-a-mole every time a
01:00cartel develops a new fentanyl knockoff. In other words, today a fentanyl knockoff
01:09might be illegal and then change the chemical makeup of it and it becomes
01:17illegal. It's a nightmare for law enforcement. So no longer will Congress
01:26be kicking the can down the road with temporary extensions and we've had many,
01:33many extensions over the last several years to keep fentanyl scheduled and
01:44it's analog scheduled in one. It also revises policies to research schedule
01:53one substances. These are changes the research community has welcomed. Drug
02:02overdoses in the United States has exploded to the highest levels we've
02:08ever seen and of course this is thanks to fentanyl and fentanyl knockoffs. Drug
02:17Enforcement Agency has called fentanyl and its knockoffs, quote, the deadliest
02:26drug threat the United States has ever faced, end of quote. Since 2016, I've been
02:36raising the alarm on deadly synthetic drugs like fentanyl. As chairman of the
02:42Senate Judiciary Committee, I held a hearing on these substances and the need
02:48to stay ahead of these peddlers of this poison. Sadly, it's taken us nine long
02:58years to get permanently scheduling of these deadly knockoffs. Of course, we
03:06thank each of the previous Congresses that on a temporary basis extended these
03:16scheduling of fentanyl and fentanyl knockoffs, but this bipartisan halt
03:25Fentanyl Act takes care of this by making it permanent. Senators Cassidy,
03:34Heinrich, and Johnson were very instrumental in this effort. Their
03:42interest in permanently scheduling fentanyl knockoffs inspired the Senate to
03:47move this bill to the floor. Republican leadership was also crucial in
03:54prioritizing this bill for the floor and helping us navigate the floor
03:59process. Credit is also due to our House colleagues, Representative Griffith,
04:06Chairman Guthrie, and now retired Chairwoman McMorris Rogers, who led and
04:14championed the halt Fentanyl Act on the House side. I'd also like to thank Dr.
04:23Tim Weslick, who came up with the temporary scheduling structure that
04:30we've been using since the year 2018. He has testified before my committee and
04:38before the Congress on numerous occasions, and I thank him for his hard
04:44work and unflappable dedication. So, in the end, this campaign earned the
04:52support of nearly every major law enforcement organization and also
05:00several medical associations and research associations supporting the
05:07research component of this bill. And most importantly, we must say thanks to the
05:15countless families organized over a long period of time across the country
05:22that have lost loved ones to fentanyl poisoning and not giving up on this type
05:28of legislation to make permanent the scheduling. So I want to thank my Senate
05:35staff who helped make this possible, especially Colleen Bloss and Michael
05:41Perkins, who spearheaded this effort for me and all the committee members. Together,
05:49we've taken steps to open the doors of research, to permanently schedule the
05:55deadliest substance the United States has ever faced, and to send a clear
06:01message that is Congress is willing and ready to act. Together, we've taken an
06:09important step to live up to our commitment, to our constituents, and to
06:14the loved ones lost, to put them first, and to serve them. I yield. I suggest the
06:23evidence of award.
06:25The clerk will call the roll.
06:28Ms. Alcerbrooks.