Congressman Tim Burchett (R-TN-02) sent a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and President Joe Biden, urging the Democratic leaders to take action to curb the ongoing fentanyl crisis.
“From 2019 to 2020, drug overdose deaths jumped from 70,630 to 91,794, driven by 20,000 more deaths attributed to synthetic opioid fentanyl and its deadlier analogs. In fiscal year 2021, U.S. Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) agents seized over 11,000 pounds of fentanyl coming across the southern border, a 42 percent increase over the previous fiscal year. Our country cannot tolerate another year of surging overdose deaths. It is past time to fight back,” he wrote in the letter to Pelosi.
“That is why, on Jan. 20, 2022, I introduced H.R. 6439, the Fentanyl Trafficker Elimination Act. This critical legislation increases criminal penalties to deter smugglers and slow the spread of illegal fentanyl before it ever crosses our borders.”
The Fentanyl Trafficker Elimination Act would mandate life sentences for individuals convicted of intentionally trafficking fentanyl or fentanyl analogues. When introducing the legislation, Burchett contended that current penalties do not deter individuals from supplying the drug.
According to the nonprofit Families Against Fentanyl, the drug is the number one killer of individuals ages 18 to 45, outpacing COVID-19, suicide, and car accidents. The narcotic is highly lethal, as just two milligrams can be fatal, according to the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).
Furthermore, drug overdoses in Tennessee have trended upward in recent years, data from the Tennessee Department of Health shows.
“On Feb. 3, 2022, I asked President Joe Biden to strengthen criminal penalties against fentanyl traffickers. I now respectfully request your support for my legislation and implore you to do everything in your power to prevent this deadly substance from entering our country. This is a crisis that affects everyone,” Burchett concluded.
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Cooper Moran is a reporter for The Star News Network. Follow Cooper on Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Fentanyl Factory” by r. nial bradshaw CC BY 2.0.
Not sure if this is a sincere plea or political signaling but there’s no way the Brandon Regime acts on this. Seriously, Democrats need to keep a sect of their voting block trapped in an economic prison by keeping them educationally stupid, financially poor, and addicted. Democrat support is purely based on the people needing something from them, whether it is tax shelters or welfare.