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Floor Speech

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Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, yesterday, I came to the floor to discuss the terrible human cost of fentanyl: the lives lost, the families changed, the futures destroyed. In 2022, we lost 295 people a day to drug overdoses, the vast majority of them opioids and, specifically, fentanyl. Twenty-two teenagers died each week that same year from drug overdoses. That is like losing an entire high school classroom every week.

The majority of drug overdoses in this country are from fentanyl, and a lot of illegal fentanyl comes across our southern border in the form of fentanyl analogs, which are versions of fentanyl created with slight chemical variations in an attempt to dodge law enforcement. So getting this crisis under control requires targeting that flow of drugs.

That starts, of course, with securing our southern border so the cartels can't hide behind a flood of illegal immigration and so that the Border Patrol is free to focus on cross-border crime.

In just a few short weeks, President Trump has made major progress on this front, dramatically slowing illegal crossings and taking significant steps to halt the flow of fentanyl across our borders.

Now it is Congress's turn. The bill before us today, the HALT Fentanyl Act, would permanently classify fentanyl analogs--the fentanyl that cartels are making--as schedule I substances. In other words, fentanyl analogs would be permanently listed as the deadliest type of drug, and that would ensure that law enforcement agencies have the greatest flexibility to combat the scourge of fentanyl and hold accountable those who trade in destroying lives.

During his first term, President Trump temporarily classified fentanyl analogs as schedule I substances. And because it is so important, Congress has extended that classification several times. Now, it is time to make it permanent.

I was very pleased that we had a robust bipartisan vote, last week, on moving to this bill, and I hope that same bipartisanship is reflected in the final vote. There could hardly be a more commonsense piece of legislation, and every Member of this body should be able to agree that fentanyl analogs, which have been responsible for so many overdose deaths, should be classified as schedule I drugs.

The fentanyl crisis affects every corner of society and every State in the Union, and my State of South Dakota is no exception. Last year, in Sioux Falls, police seized enough fentanyl to kill 2.5 million people--2.5 million--and that was in just one South Dakota city.

I am grateful to Senators Cassidy, Grassley, and Heinrich for introducing this legislation and to other Senators, like Senator Johnson and Senator Graham, whose work has drawn attention to the fentanyl crisis. I hope that, in the next few days, Senators of both parties will unite to pass the HALT Fentanyl Act and ensure that law enforcement has critical tools to combat this crisis, protect our cities, and protect our children.

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