WASHINGTON, D.C. - Representatives Tony Gonzales (R-TX) and Brad Wenstrup (R-OH) introduced the Stop Our Scourge Act of 2022 to designate illicit fentanyl entering the United States from foreign countries as a weapon of mass destruction (WMD). Fentanyl has become the number one cause of death for Americans ages 18 to 45, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC.) U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) seized 12,900 pounds of illicit fentanyl in fiscal year 2022 – an amount that could kill over 2.9 billion people.
“Fentanyl is killing Americans at record levels and poses a deadly risk to every American,” said Congressman Gonzales. “I am proud to introduce this critical legislation alongside Congressman Wenstrup to ensure we have all the facts and tools to combat the fentanyl crisis that is plaguing our nation. While the Biden Administration has failed to resolve this crisis, I remain committed to working with my colleagues to aggressively tackle this serious threat that affects all Americans.”
“Current policies to counter the proliferation of illicit fentanyl have proven woefully inadequate to protect the nation. As a physician, a lawmaker, and a soldier, I believe it is time we declare illicit fentanyl what it is: a weapon of mass destruction that is destroying the lives of our young people and killing Americans across the country in record numbers,” said Congressman Brad Wenstrup. “As a member of the GOP Doctors Caucus and the House Intelligence Committee, I have personally been to the border and spoken with Federal agents about the difficulty they face combatting cartels who traffic human beings and drugs through our porous border. Along parts of the southern border, Federal agents have reported a 4,000 percent increase in fentanyl seizures over the last three years. The illicit fentanyl they’re not able to catch makes its way into every community across America, killing our family and friends. We need to stop illicit fentanyl at the border and work backwards from there, by working with Mexico to shut down trafficking and transport and stopping China’s role in the manufacture and production of chemical precursors used to make this deadly, illicit drug.”
BACKGROUND
This legislation would direct the Secretary of Homeland Security to designate illicit fentanyl as a weapon of mass destruction. It would also require the head of the Office of National Drug Control Policy to conduct an assessment of how Federal efforts to address trafficking can be improved, the capacity of the Mexican military to conduct counter drug missions for illicit fentanyl, and the capacity and willingness of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) to curtail the flow of illicit fentanyl and hold traffickers accountable.