Judiciary Republicans Push for Fentanyl Hearing as Deadline Nears
Critical tool to stem flow of deadly opioid expires in October
WASHINGTON – Senate Judiciary Committee Republicans
led by Ranking Member Chuck
Grassley (R-Iowa), are calling on the committee’s chairman, Dick Durbin
(D-Ill.) to convene a hearing to evaluate the Administration’s strategy to curb
fentanyl overdoses. A temporary authority banning synthetic fentanyl analogues,
which has proven effective in reducing importation, is slated to expire in
October.
“Scheduling
fentanyl analogues has historically been a bipartisan issue, enjoying support
and engagement from both chambers of Congress and multiple agencies in the
federal government,” the senators wrote.
“As the
committee of jurisdiction over drug control, we owe it to the American people
and the thousands of victims of drug abuse and overdose to hold a candid and
deliberative hearing on the best path forward to stopping the spread of deadly
fentanyl related substances.”
Overdose
deaths have skyrocketed to record levels during the pandemic. A majority of the
93,000 overdose deaths last year were linked to synthetic opioids, like
fentanyl. As co-chairman of the Senate Caucus on International Narcotics
Control, Grassley helped
convene a July hearing on the federal government’s response to the overdose
epidemic and penned a recent op-ed
with Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) on the need to address rising opioid
overdoses. He introduced bipartisan,
bicameral legislation to help laws keep pace with rapidly evolving synthetics.
Along
with Grassley, today’s letter was cosigned by senators John Cornyn (R-Texas), Mike
Lee (R-Utah), Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), Marsha Blackburn
(R-Tenn.), Ted Cruz (R-Texas), John Kennedy (R-La.), Ben Sasse (R-Neb.) and
Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.).
Full
text of today’s
letter follows:
Dear Chairman
Durbin:
The
countdown is on. As of today, there are 58 days until the critical and
life-saving authority placing all fentanyl related substances in Schedule I
expires. Controlling fentanyl analogues is urgent and necessary. As know you,
the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that a staggering
93,000 Americans died from drug overdoses last year, the majority of which were
due to synthetic opioids like fentanyl.[1] No
corner of the country is immune to fentanyl’s impact. In fact, your home state
of Illinois has suffered a 27.3% increase in overdose deaths over the past
year, with fentanyl-involved overdoses on the rise.[2]
Scheduling
fentanyl analogues has historically been a bipartisan issue, enjoying support
and engagement from both chambers of Congress and multiple agencies in the
federal government. The Biden Administration supports a solution to deal with
fentanyl and its analogues. For instance, Attorney General Garland, during his
confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee, stated, “illicitly
sold fentanyl analogues have caused senseless fatalities,” and that “stopping fentanyl
and synthetic opioids from flooding our communities should be a high priority
for the Department of Justice.”[3]
Additionally, the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) Acting
Director LaBelle has stated in multiple congressional hearings that fentanyl
analogues are dangerous, that they are working towards a solution to schedule
fentanyl substances, and that a legislative proposal on the issue is
anticipated to be shared with Congress as soon as August.[4]
As you
know, Congress passed H.R. 2630 earlier this year, which extends DEA’s
emergency scheduling order placing fentanyl substances in schedule I to October
22, 2021.[5]
This extension is a necessary stopgap measure to maintain control over fentanyl
analogues while contemplating options on how to permanently schedule them. The
ONDCP is spearheading a federal interagency working group to draft a
comprehensive solution. We are interested in engaging in this process with
ONDCP and the larger interagency working group sooner rather than later to
ensure that the proposal adequately protects public safety and addresses this
dire problem.
It is in
the spirit of transparency and bipartisanship that we respectfully request a
full-committee consensus hearing after the August recess comprised of members
of the interagency working group to review, evaluate, and discuss the
legislative proposal from the Administration on scheduling fentanyl related
substances. Based on sworn testimony by multiple Biden Administration
officials, we have no reason to believe that the interagency working group will
not provide Congress with a proposed solution. Granted, the details of this
proposal are largely unknown, including essential details, such as if it will
recommend permanently placing fentanyl related substances in Schedule I or
reducing the appropriately serious criminal penalties that deter criminals from
distributing fentanyl. But even if the interagency working group fails to share
draft proposals with congressional leaders, or if the proposal falls short, we
still urge the committee to convene a hearing on how Congress should work to
schedule these deadly substances. Any legislation moving through committee or
on the floor of the Senate on such an important issue deserves the review and
scrutiny of relevant committee members.
As the
committee of jurisdiction over drug control, we owe it to the American people
and the thousands of victims of drug abuse and overdose to hold a candid and deliberative
hearing on the best path forward to stopping the spread of deadly fentanyl
related substances. We look forward to hearing back from you about our request
and hope to work with your office on a permanent solution on fentanyl related
substances.
Sincerely,
-30-
[1] Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics, Provisional Drug Overdose
Counts, available at: https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nvss/vsrr/drug-overdose-data.htm.
[2] Id. See also “12
month-ending provisional number of drug overdose deaths by drug or drug class”
for Illinois jurisdiction, with selection specific drugs or drug classes being
“synthetic opioids, exlc. methadone.”
[3] The Nomination of the Honorable Merrick Brian Garland to be Attorney
General of the United States: Day 1 before the S. Comm. On the Judiciary,
117th Cong., Questions for the Record responses, p. 131 (2021).
[4] See An Epidemic within a
Pandemic: Understanding Substance Use and Misuse in America, Before the H.
Comm. On Energy and Commerce, 117th Cong. (2021). (“Age-adjusted
drug overdose deaths involving synthetic opioids other than methadone,
including fentanyl analogues, continue to increase.”); Examining Federal Sentencing for Crack and Powder Cocaine, Before
the S. Comm. On the Judiciary, 117th Congress (2021). (“… of the
90,000 overdose deaths from last year, from 2020, that 75% of them involved . .
. a fentanyl or fentanyl analogue. So, what we’re doing is working with the
interagency to make sure that we can present to Congress a solution on the permanently
scheduling or scheduling of fentanyl analogues. So, we’re working with DOJ,
DEA, and our partners at HHS to send something to the Hill by the fall.”); Federal Response to the Drug Overdose
Epidemic, Before the S. Caucus on Int. Narcotics Control, 117th
Cong. (2021). (“We will have legislation to the Hill prior to the expiration of
the fentanyl scheduling act. The update is that … I think we’re making good
progress and we’re going to have something on time to the Hill.”)
[5] Extending Temporary Emergency Scheduling of Fentanyl Analogues Act,
P.L. 117-12, 135 STAT. 264, May 4, 2021.
