House Homeland Security, Energy and Commerce Committee Republicans Celebrate House Passage of “HALT Fentanyl Act”

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Today, Chairman Mark E. Green MD (R-TN) was joined by members of the House Committee on Homeland Security and the House Energy and Commerce Committee in applauding the passage of the "HALT Fentanyl Act" in the House of Representatives. Introduced by Energy and Commerce Committee members Reps. Morgan Griffith (R-VA) and Bob Latta (R-OH), the legislation permanently places fentanyl-related substances as a class into schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act.

Chairman Green said, "Over the past four years, open borders have allowed cartels to smuggle fentanyl and its analogues into every community in the country--devastating families and profiting transnational criminal organizations and Communist China. House Republicans are working to put an end to the cartels' reign of terror by ensuring law enforcement has the tools to eliminate fentanyl-related poisons from our streets and prosecute thosetrafficking it. I commend Reps. Griffith and Latta for their leadership in sending this bill to the Senate once again. Now, let's get it to President Trump's desk."

Subcommittee on Counterterrorism and Intelligence Chairman August Pfluger (R-TX) said , "As a result of former President Biden's border crisis, deadly fentanyl has poured over our southern border over the past four years at alarmingly high rates - devastating families across America who have tragically lost loved ones to this drug. Today, House Republicans are keeping their promise to the American people to restore safety by working to end this deadly crisis once and for all. The HALT Fentanyl Act ensures law enforcement has the proper resources they need to crack down on the criminals trafficking fentanyl and seize this lethal drug before they can step foot into our country, and I am extremely proud to support it."

Rep. Gabe Evans (R-CO) said, "I was a police officer for over ten years in Colorado, which means I have seen up close and personal the devastating death toll that fentanyl wreaks in our community. Over 7,000 Coloradans have lost their lives due to drug overdoses just in the last few years--much of that due to fentanyl. When I saw the HALT Fentanyl Act, I strongly supported it because this gives law enforcement the tools they need to counter the cartels and other criminal organizations that are exploiting our laws and taking advantage of loopholes to peddle this poison in our community."

BACKGROUND:

In October 2023, the Committee's Phase Three Interim Report on the border crisis detailed the tragic surge of fentanyl across our Southwest border and into American communities. The report cites that fentanyl overdose is the leading cause of death for Americans aged 18 to 45. Data from U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) shows that cartels have been smuggling more fentanyl across the border than ever before. Since FY2021, Border Patrol agents have seized 9,510 pounds of fentanyl between ports of entry, compared to just 1,604 pounds from FY2017-2020.

In the 118th Congress, the Committee advanced Rep. Nick LaLota's (R-NY) "DETECT Fentanyl and Xylazine Act of 2024," to empower law enforcement with cutting-edge technology to detect and stop the flow of lethal substances like fentanyl and xylazine before they reach American communities. This bill was signed into law in December 2024.

The legislation provided DHS' Science and Technology Directorate with the authority to do research, development, testing, evaluation, and cost benefit analysis to improve the safety, effectiveness, and efficiency of drug detection equipment and reference libraries used by Federal, state, local, tribal, and territorial law enforcement agencies.

In June 2023, Subcommittee Chairman Pfluger held a hearing to examine the threats posed to the U.S. homeland by transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), in which he highlighted that Mexican TCOs, in particular, control smuggling corridors, mainly across the southwest border and maintain "the greatest drug trafficking influence" in the United States, according to the Drug Enforcement Administration. He also raised concerns over the precursor chemicals for fentanyl being sold to the cartels from China.

In July 2023, the Homeland Security Subcommittee on Border Security and Enforcement, led by then-Chairman Clay Higgins (R-LA), held a hearing on cartel fentanyl smuggling in which Biden-Harris administration witnesses confirmed that TCOs in Mexico are successfully smuggling mass quantities of deadly illicit fentanyl past Border Patrol agents and CBP Officers and into the United States.

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