In 2022, nearly 110,000 Americans died from a drug overdose, including 75,000 people who lost their lives at the hands of synthetic opioids like fentanyl. On my biannual 36 County Tour, I have heard too many stories of parents who have lost a child to an overdose – a senseless tragedy that can be prevented with the right policies. As a father of four, my heart breaks for these families, but my resolve to keep deadly fentanyl out of our communities and away from our kids only strengthens.
Honoring my commitment to combat the fentanyl epidemic, I proudly supported, and the U.S. House of Representatives unanimously passed, the Stop Chinese Fentanyl Act, which would impose costly sanctions on Chinese manufacturers of fentanyl. This legislation would also amend the Fentanyl Sanctions Act to change the definition of what constitutes a “foreign opioid trafficker” and include certain Chinese entities that fail to intervene and prevent the production, distribution, and sale of illicit fentanyl.
The facts are clear. We know that fentanyl is being illegally manufactured in China, shipped to Mexico, and smuggled across our open border – yet President Biden refuses to act and restore order. This intentional decision has devastating impacts on our rural communities and our families, who bear the tragic brunt of the opioid epidemic. Until the Biden Administration takes the necessary steps to secure our border and equip our border patrol agents with the tools that they need to do their jobs, I regret that the fentanyl crisis will continue uninterrupted. Frankly, that’s not an option for me. We need to finish construction on the border wall, maintain policies like Title 42, and prosecute drug traffickers and criminal fentanyl manufacturers who target our kids to the fullest extent of the law.
I’m also proud that legislation that I introduced – the Rural Opioid Abuse Prevention Act – alongside Senator Chuck Grassley was signed into law last year to help the most vulnerable in our rural communities recover from opioid abuse, equip our healthcare workers with critical tools to treat addiction, and provide our first responders with the support they need to save lives. Additionally, this law established a grant program, known as the Rural Responses to the Opioid Epidemic Initiative, at the U.S. Department of Justice to assist rural communities, local governments, and nonprofits with developing programs that help reduce opioid abuse and overdoses. I’m encouraged that these investments will pay dividends for the safety and wellbeing of our families.
As your voice in Congress, I promise that I will continue my work to hold China accountable for its despicable role in the fentanyl epidemic, stop the flow of deadly opioids into our rural communities, protect our families and our children, and save precious lives. In my book, anything less is unacceptable.
We are government together, and your thoughts and opinions matter to me. Please contact my office at Feenstra.House.Gov or by phone at 202-225-4426 if I can ever be of assistance. I am proud to represent our families, farmers, main street businesses, and rural communities in Congress.
