Heinrich Cosponsors FEND Off Fentanyl Act
New Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Bill Will Target the Illicit Fentanyl Supply Chain
WASHINGTON –U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) cosponsored the Fentanyl Eradication and Narcotics Deterrence (FEND) Off Fentanyl Act, bipartisan legislation that targets the fentanyl crisis by wielding our country’s economic tools against transnational criminal organizations.
“The heartache of losing a loved one to the opioid epidemic is not new to New Mexican families. But its danger has grown with the magnitude of fentanyl making its way into our schools and communities,” said Heinrich. “We need to deploy every available tool we can to urgently take on this epidemic. Last week, I led a letter to the DEA to increase access to lifesaving treatment. This week, I’m proud to join as a cosponsor of the FEND Off Fentanyl Act to cut off the illicit supply of fentanyl from China and Mexico – so we can target fentanyl before it hits our borders.”
Several national organizations have come out in support of the FEND Off Fentanyl Act:
The American Association for the Treatment of Opioid Dependence: “The American Association for the Treatment of Opioid Dependence (AATOD), which represents more than 1,300 Opioid Treatment Programs in the United States, expresses its strong support for Senator Tim Scott and Sherrod Brown’s FEND Off Fentanyl Act. AATOD’s treatment provider members across the country are seeing greater challenges to effective treatment because of the prevalence of fentanyl. By giving law enforcement and regulators greater authority to sanction transnational criminal organizations involved in production of fentanyl precursors and trafficking fentanyl into the U.S., the FEND OFF Fentanyl Act would help treatment providers and individuals with Fentanyl Use Disorder by reducing overdose deaths so that evidence-based opioid treatment programs can help people stop drug use and return to work, family and their communities on their path to recovery.”
Patrick Yoes, National President of the Fraternal Order of Police: “Administrator Anne Milgram at the DEA has described fentanyl as ‘the single deadliest drug threat’ our country has ever faced, and she is right. We need to do more as a nation to interdict the flow of this drug and its precursors into our country and severely sanction individuals and organizations involved in making and distributing this poison. Senators Tim Scott and Sherrod Brown have developed a comprehensive approach that codifies an existing Executive Order giving the President broad authority to attack fentanyl trafficking by using all the resources of the United States. We strongly support this effort and look forward to working with them and with Senators Wicker and Reed to pass this important legislation.”
Sheriff Jim Skinner, Collin County, TX (National Sheriffs’ Association): “Sheriffs across the country see the devastation that fentanyl is having on our communities. We praise Senator’s Scott, Brown, Reed and Wicker for their leadership and this legislation that would help stop the flow of this deadly drug. We hope that Congress will take swift action and give our communities and law enforcement added relief.”
FDD Action: “The threat from fentanyl production and trafficking has significantly increased since Congress passed the Fentanyl Sanctions Act in 2019. The bipartisan effort to update and expand sanctions against transnational criminal organizations associated with the fentanyl trade is critical to effectively targeting, and ultimately degrading the networks, particularly those in China, that are responsible for the deaths of tens of thousands of Americans.”
Led by U.S. Senators Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) and Tim Scott (R-S.C.), the legislation is cosponsored, in addition to Senator Heinrich, by U.S. Senators Robert Menendez (D-N.J.), James E. Risch (R-Idaho), Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), Jon Tester (D-Mont.), John Kennedy (R-La.), Mark Warner (D-Va.), Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.), Chris Van Hollen, (D-Md.), Cynthia Lummis, (R-Wyo.), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.), Steve Daines (R-Mont.), Tina Smith (D-Minn.), JD Vance (R-Ohio), Kyrsten Sinema (I-Ariz.), Katie Britt (R-Ala.), and John Fetterman (D-Penn.), Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.), Mike Braun (R-Ind.), Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.), and Susan Collins (R-Maine).
