WASHINGTON, D.C.- Florida Senator Rick Scott is celebrating the recent unanimous passage of his END FENTANYL Act in the United States Senate.
“For too long, the fentanyl crisis has plagued our communities and caused crushing heartbreak to those who lose loved ones to these dangerous drugs” said Senator Scott.
Illegal Fentanyl trafficking has been at the forefront of national policy issues, as thousands of Americans of all ages have died in the recent years due to abusing the drug. Conservatives have blamed the Southern border’s instability as facilitating the influx of Fentanyl.
Passing the END FENTANYL Act in the Senate is a big win in our fight against the lethal opioid epidemic, but it is not the end.
As fentanyl continues to flow illegally into U.S. and kill our loved ones, we must do everything we can to stop it. https://t.co/ZErTuM0K7S
— Rick Scott (@SenRickScott) June 25, 2023
Scott echoed such sentiment, stating that “as fentanyl continues to flow illegally into U.S. over the southern border and kill tens of thousands of our citizens, we must do more to support our brave CBP agents, and all who are on the front lines of this battle to ensure they have every tool needed to keep these dangerous drugs out of our communities.”
The Act authorizes and compels the Commissioner of Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to take the actions necessary to freeze the illegal Fentanyl drug trade. Specifically, the CBP commissioner is required to review and update the Office of Field Operations’ policies and handbooks to include measures tailored to combatting drug and human trafficking.
To ensure CBP compliance with the act, the commissioner is required to submit a report to Senate and House committees summarizing policy and manual changes every three years.
Presidential candidates have also weighed in on the Fentanyl issue, with Miami Mayor Francis Suarez recently making headlines for his promise to resolve the Fentanyl crisis definitively.
Commenting on the flow of Fentanyl into the US across the Souther Border, Mayor Suarez claimed it was within the country’s reach halt the drug stream. “If we gave the border the same attention we as a nation gave the five people who tragically lost their lives on the Titan submersible- we’d have the border secured yesterday,” said Suarez.
Fentanyl is killing 300 Americans a day—80,000 to 90,000 a year.
That’s the equivalent of a Boeing 747 crashing every single day for a year.
If we gave the border the same attention we as a nation gave the five people who tragically lost their lives on the Titan… pic.twitter.com/lMNGbRqkvV
— Mayor Francis Suarez (@FrancisSuarez) June 25, 2023
