Senator Baldwin Calls on House to Pass Bill that Cracks Down on Fentanyl Traffickers

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Senator Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) called on the U.S. House of Representatives to pass the FEND Off Fentanyl Act, bipartisan legislation to crack down on the suppliers of fentanyl and disrupt the supply chains that traffic this deadly drug into the United States. On Tuesday, the Senate passed legislation that included the FEND Off Fentanyl Act.

“Thousands of families across Wisconsin have an empty seat at the dinner table because of the opioid and fentanyl epidemic. We can and must do more to save lives and stop the flow of these deadly drugs from coming into our communities,” said Senator Baldwin. “I am proud to support the FEND Off Fentanyl Act – commonsense, bipartisan legislation to crack down on the suppliers in China and traffickers in Mexico that are fueling this epidemic. We cannot wait for another record-breaking year of opioid deaths to act, and I urge my colleagues in the House to pass our bill to address this deadly epidemic head on. American lives depend on it.”

In 2022, Wisconsin experienced over 1,400 opioid-related deaths. Nationwide in 2021, nearly 107,000 Americans died from an overdose, and 65 percent of overdose deaths were caused by fentanyl. In 2022, the Drug Enforcement Administration seized over 379 million deadly doses of fentanyl, enough to supply a lethal dose to every American. Given the sharp increase in fentanyl-caused deaths, it is clear that a staggering amount of fentanyl is making its way into our country from the chemical suppliers in the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and drug cartels in Mexico.

The FEND Off Fentanyl Act would impose new sanctions and anti-money laundering penalties targeting the illicit fentanyl supply chain, from the chemical suppliers in China to the cartels that transport the drugs in from Mexico. The bill will enhance current law so U.S. government agencies can more effectively disrupt illicit opioid supply chains and penalize those facilitating the trafficking of fentanyl. The bill also ensures that sanctions are imposed not only on the illicit drug trade, but also on the money laundering that makes it profitable.

A one-pager on this legislation is available here.

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