Rep. Andy Barr (R-Ky.) speaks to students from the Henry Clay Center in Washington. | Congressman Andy Barr/Facebook
Rep. Andy Barr (R-Ky.) speaks to students from the Henry Clay Center in Washington. | Congressman Andy Barr/Facebook
Rep. Andy Barr (R-Ky.) has taken the lead in crafting a bipartisan bill; the "Stop Chinese Fentanyl Act of 2023."
The goal of the legislation is to put an end to the Chinese Communist Party's capacity to produce synthetic opioids, according to Fox News.
Initially presented in May, the bill seeks to enforce sanctions on Chinese opioid producers and target "opioid precursors" – chemicals used in the production of legal and illegal opioids, Fox News reported. Under the bill, Chinese officials who fail to take measures to prevent "opioid trafficking" could also be considered opioid traffickers.
"Last night, I voted for the Stop Chinese Fentanyl Act, which will hold the CCP accountable for trafficking enough poison across our southern border to kill every American many times over," Rep. Michelle Steel (R-Calif.) stated in a tweet. "Thank you to @RepAndyBarr for leading this bill to protect Americans from CCP poisoning."
Barr stressed the urgency of his legislation on X, formerly known as Twitter.
“Since 1999, more than 932,000 people have died from a drug overdose in the U.S., and the CCP plays a direct role in this public health crisis,” Barr wrote in a tweet on July 25. “This is why I introduced the Stop Chinese Fentanyl Act to impose sanctions on Chinese manufacturers of synthetic opioids.”
The bill passed in the House of Representatives, according to the Congress website, and now moves to the Senate for approval. Prior to the vote, the bill had 10 co-sponsors from eight states.
"Make no mistake – there’s no fentanyl crisis without the CCP," said Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer (R-Mo.), one of the bill’s co-sponsors. "Passage of this bipartisan bill is a critical step in protecting Americans from this deadly substance, and I’m hopeful we’ll get it across the finish line."
Fentanyl and fentanyl-related substances can be up to 100 times more potent than morphine, according to the Energy and Commerce Committee. In 2022, more than 109,000 people died of drug overdoses and approximately 75,000 of those deaths were attributed to synthetic opioids.
“Illicit fentanyl poisonings are now the No. 1 cause of death among adults 18-49; more than COVID-19, cancer, heart disease and car accidents,” the committee reported on its website.
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