Toomey-Led Resolution Taking on Opioid Abuse Passes Senate Unanimously
Washington D.C. - On Wednesday, the United States Senate unanimously adopted a resolution offered by Senator Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) and a bipartisan group of four other senators aimed at raising awareness of the devastating role played by illicit fentanyl as part of the country's heroin and opioid overdose epidemic.
Among other stated actions, this resolution provides that it is the responsibility of the governments of the United States, China, and Mexico to stop both the production and trafficking of illicit fentanyl, which can be 50 to 100 times more potent than heroin, into the United States.
"The scourge of opioid abuse is a public health crisis that has not spared any area of Pennsylvania, said Sen. Toomey. "While there is no silver bullet on how we can fix this problem, we need to up our efforts to keep dangerous substances, like illicit fentanyl, out of the United States by cutting off production at the source. This includes holding China and Mexico accountable for what is trafficked from their countries into the United States."
Background:
Senate Resolution 83 was introduced by a bipartisan group of senators
• Toomey (R-Pa.), Markey (D-Mass.), Rubio (R-Fla.), Shaheen (D-N.H.) and King (I-Maine)
Senate Resolution 83 calls for or international cooperation to address the trafficking of illicit fentanyl into the United States
• Illicit fentanyl is a synthetic opioid that can be 50 times stronger than heroin and 100 times more powerful than morphine
• The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) issued a nationwide alert on illicit fentanyl as a threat to public health and safety
o DEA: nearly all of the raw fentanyl and its precursor chemicals are being manufactured in China or Mexico and then shipped surreptitiously into the U.S.
Senate Resolution 83 states that the Senate believes the trafficking of illicit fentanyl into the United States, especially by transnational criminal organizations, is a problem that is the responsibility of the United States, China, and Mexico to address
• The United States will support steps by the Chinese and Mexican governments to stop production and trafficking into the United States
In 2016, Sen. Toomey authored the Blocking Deadly Fentanyl Imports Act
• Requires the State Department to identify in its annual report on narcotics trafficking those countries that are major producers of illicit fentanyl
• Fentanyl-producing nations, like China, that fail to adopt U.S. standards on narcotics control would lose access to the Export-Import Bank and be ineligible for other U.S. taxpayer-subsidized aid
To read the full resolution click here.
