WASHINGTON—Representative Cory Mills (R-FL) recently hosted a tele-town hall with his constituents, where he discussed a handful of issues, including national security, tariffs, DOGE, and efforts to halt the smuggling of fentanyl over the southern border.
The drug issue he said is "something truly important and personal to me."
"Sadly, you are right," Rep. Mills told the caller. "I mean, there is an increase in fentanyl, and it has skyrocketed. As you may or may not know, and I have mentioned it, I have seen the impact of addictive and deadly narcotics firsthand."
Rep. Mills described growing up with parents who were in prison and suffered from addiction, "so I have seen how it has actually destroyed our country."
"But part of the fentanyl increase is because of our open and porous border. I mean, fentanyl is now the leading cause of death for Americans aged 18 to 45. That is a pretty big gap," the Florida Congressman continued, adding, "In the last four years, overdoses in Florida have surged to around 37%."
Mills further described how the House of Representatives passed the Halt All Lethal Trafficking (HALT) of Fentanyl Act in February, "which would make fentanyl a Schedule I [drug] and ensure our law enforcement has the tools needed to be able to prosecute those peddling the fentanyl analogs."
Moreover, he said that "we cannot ignore the national security implications as much of the fentanyl and fentanyl precursors that have entered the country comes not from our southern border, but originates from China."
Frighteningly, he described how "Right there in the Darien Gap [in Panama], you have got Mainland Chinese who are actually printing fentanyl and putting it on the mules to be able to carry across. They are smuggling it with children and women who are being raped along the way."
"The horrendous things that are going on, atrocious events, which has been covered multiple times by great sets of journalists, would be shocking to us, but as you see, we live in the I-4 corridor, and the ability to go east and west in the state of Florida through some of the most busy cities make it a gold mine for many of these who are trafficking," said Mills.
As a result, the Florida Congressman vowed to continue fighting "because I truly believe that securing our borders, protecting our citizens, and especially protecting our children, our schools, where something as small as the tip of a pencil of fentanyl can kill one of our children. That is something that is truly important and personal to me."
