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WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congressman Brett Guthrie (KY-02) released the following statement after voting for H.R. 467, HALT Fentanyl Act, on the House floor.

“Inaction on fentanyl is not an option. For Americans 18 to 49 years old, analysis shows this poison is the top cause of death, and fentanyl also tragically takes the lives of kids too soon.

“Many fentanyl-related substances, which can be even deadlier than fentanyl, will become street legal when the emergency class-wide scheduling expires. This would allow bad actors to simply change a molecule of fentanyl to get around the law. I pressed for the passage of the HALT Fentanyl Act to ensure law enforcement permanently has the authority to go after the different variations of illicit fentanyl that bad actors create.

“The HALT Fentanyl Act is a key step forward, of many, I am pushing for to address this crisis. I urge the Senate to swiftly pass this legislation, and President Biden to sign it,” said Guthrie. 

Click HERE for Rep. Guthrie’s House floor remarks on the HALT Fentanyl Act

Background:

• On February 1, 2023, Jon C. DeLena, Associate Administrator, Business Operations, Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), shared with Guthrie in a hearing that the DEA’s top legislative priority is to schedule fentanyl as a class-wide substance.
• The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s provisional data shows that there were 109,680 overdose deaths in 2022.
• If the emergency class-wide scheduling of fentanyl expires, then the U.S. Customs and Border Protection would not have the authority to seize many fentanyl-related substances.
• Two milligrams of fentanyl can be a deadly dose.
• Guthrie supported the passage of the HALT Fentanyl Act in the Energy and Commerce Committee Subcommittee on Health, which he is the Chair of, and the full Energy and Commerce Committee.

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