Thune: Senate Republicans Work to Stop Fentanyl From Taking More American Lives
“One in three Americans knows someone who has died of a drug overdose. We’re losing young people. Teenagers. Young parents. People with bright lives ahead of them.”
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WASHINGTON — U.S. Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) today delivered the following remarks on the Senate floor:
Thune’s remarks below (as delivered):
“Mr. President, Zach Didier was a good student, an athlete, and musician.
“He was an Eagle Scout, starred in the school play, and he was hoping to attend Stanford University.
“But two days after Christmas in 2020, Zach’s dad found him dead in his bedroom of fentanyl poisoning.
“He was 17.
“Zach and his friends had gone to the mall to meet a drug dealer they had found through social media.
“He bought what he thought was Percocet.
“But it wasn’t.
“The counterfeit pills he bought contained fentanyl.
“And what was a bad decision became deadly.
“Mr. President, Zach was one of more than 90,000 Americans who died of an overdose in 2020 – many of those deaths from fentanyl poisoning.
“He was one of countless victims of fake pills being peddled on our streets.
“Pills that too often find their way into the hands of young people and steal their futures.
“Courage Minten’s is another tragic story.
“Adopted from Ghana, Courage was pursuing his dream of becoming an airline pilot.
“He had attended flight school and interviewed for a job just days before he died at age 23.
“Courage’s parents found him on their couch after a night out with friends, seemingly asleep until he stopped breathing.
“As they later found out, Courage had taken a pill with two times the lethal dose of fentanyl in it.
“Ashley Romero – a 32-year-old mother – took half of what she thought was a painkiller.
“But that half a pill contained a deadly dose of fentanyl.
“And the dealer who had supplied Ashley’s boyfriend with the pill that took her life is believed to have sold pills that killed several other people.
“One of those individuals was Jonathan Ellington.
“Jonathan had become addicted to OxyContin when it was prescribed to him for a high school soccer injury.
“He got clean and stayed clean for about a decade until another injury and another prescription got him back on it.
“When his prescription ran out, he bought some pills from an acquaintance.
“And it only took one pill with a lethal dose of fentanyl to take Jonathan’s life.
“Mr. President, these are just a few of the stories that families have shared with the Judiciary Committee in support of the HALT Fentanyl Act.
“Unfortunately, there are many more like them.
“Lives lost.
“Futures destroyed.
“Families changed forever.
“One in three Americans knows someone who has died of a drug overdose.
“We’re losing young people.
“Teenagers.
“Young parents.
“People with bright lives ahead of them.
“Mr. President, when the Trump administration temporarily classified all fentanyl analogues as Schedule I substances, law enforcement gained a critical tool to combat fentanyl and go after the people who are bringing this poison into the United States.
“Congress has extended this temporary classification several times because it works.
“Now we need to make it permanent by passing the HALT Fentanyl Act.
“I was very pleased at the strong bipartisan vote this bill received last Thursday.
“And I hope the vote on final passage will be equally robust.
“As I said, classifying all fentanyl analogues as Schedule I substances gives law enforcement a critical tool to go after the criminals bringing this poison into our country and selling it on our streets.
“And it joins other efforts to end the fentanyl crisis in our country.
“President Trump is taking significant steps to halt the supply of drugs flowing across our borders.
“Senator Blackburn has done great work bringing attention to the role of social media, which is often the link between teenagers and drug dealers.
“And the Senate will continue working to stop fentanyl from taking more American lives.
“Mr. President, fentanyl has caused too many tragedies.
“I’m grateful to the families who have lost loved ones to this deadly drug for sharing their stories.
“And the HALT Fentanyl Act is moving forward due in no small part to their support.”
Related Issues: Fentanyl
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