Beech Tree News Network

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congressman Brett Guthrie (KY-02), who serves at the top Republican of the Energy and Commerce Committee’s Health Subcommittee, called for Democrats to work with Republicans on addressing illicit fentanyl-related substances, also known as fentanyl analogues, at a House Republican Leadership Stakeout press conference yesterday with House Republican Chairwoman Elise Stefanik (NY-21), House Energy and Commerce Republican Leader Cathy McMorris Rodgers (WA-05), and Congressman Buddy Carter (GA-01).

Guthrie is pushing for the passage of the HALT Fentanyl Act to permanently keep a lifesaving tool in place to combat fentanyl analogues.

I was just at the El Paso sector of the border…One, the border patrol agents said it’s coming from China. If you want to tie several things together, it’s coming from China– either in ingredients [of illicit fentanyl precursor chemicals] or just illicit fentanyl. And then it’s coming across the border. Mostly with migrants that are coming across the border. I asked a border patrol officer –what can we do to help you? What can Congress do? He said build the wall. He took me to a section. It was actually in New Mexico but it was near El Paso. And it’s where the wall was stopped on January 20, 2021, from being built…You could just see the difference…Matter of fact there was a section that had been removed to build the new wall. And when they stopped on January 20th because of the executive order, the border patrol agents actually had to fill in that wall because there was a big gap in the wall.

Rep. Guthrie on why it is not compassionate to encourage illegal immigration…

The problem that they were telling me that was really a big issue with illicit fentanyl – One, is just the migrants that are coming across. A lot is the catch and release and not having the Remain in Mexico [policy] anymore…. But the abuse these migrants are going through with the cartels in Mexico is horrific. It’s not compassionate to have policies that incentivize that kind of movement…They say illicit fentanyl you can carry in a water bottle. So how does a migrant pay for these 5 to 6,000 thousand dollar fees [to cartels for passage across the border]? Part of it, is here is a bottle of fentanyl. It’s a numbers issue. When there are hundreds and hundreds coming across, they can only catch handfuls of them. The fentanyl is getting to the marketplace.

Rep. Guthrie on why what happens at the Southern Border matters to Kentucky…

So what is happening at the border matters. It makes every state a border state and every community a border community. In Kentucky in 2020 – we don’t have the numbers for 2021 – 70% of all overdoses were [due to] illicit fentanyl…[I]t is important what’s happening at the border and not [getting stopped] at the border. And the border crisis moves it.

Rep. Guthrie on why keeping a lifesaving tool in place to stop fentanyl-related substances is facing opposition…

And then it ties into the third thing, the justice Democrats. A lot of us in my part of the world when you watch t.v., you see prosecutors in Cook County, Illinois, or Los Angeles, or New York not prosecuting. But the fact that it’s in Washington, it’s here in the House of Representatives. We can’t permanently schedule fentanyl because of the mandatory minimums and the justice Democrats do not want to add anything to the mandatory minimums. I’ve always been open to justice reform but if you’re moving illicit fentanyl, you belong in jail. Because it’s killing Kentuckians. It’s killing Americans.

Rep. Guthrie calls on Democrats to work with him on a permanent solution to schedule fentanyl analogues…

And so we need to work together. We call on the Democrats to work with us to move this forward…If you’re going to bring something across the border, you can try to package it in a big car or you can put it in a wattle bottle and go through migrants coming across the border. It’s easier to smuggle. It’s cheaper. And it’s not going to be illegal after February 18th, maybe [the class-wide scheduling ban of fentanyl-related substances will be] extended to March 11th ... instead of really handling this issue [by passing the HALT Fentanyl Act]. If they’re going to catch you with this and it doesn’t disrupt your networks. So what are they going to smuggle? They’re going to smuggle a drug that is 70% of all overdoses in my state came from. That’s why we need to address it now.