Bipartisan legislation would boost research into fentanyl entering American borders

U.S. Reps. Abigail Spanberger of Virginia and Andrew Garbarino of New York introduced legislation Thursday to strengthen U.S. response to fentanyl entering the nation’s borders and ports of entry.

The Securing America’s Borders Against Fentanyl Act would quadruple research and development into technologies and strategies, according to a press release, that deter fentanyl shipments. The bipartisan bill would require the U.S. government, including the Department of Homeland Security, to acknowledge the crisis presented by the presence of the drug in the United States, and work to build strategies to target and detect illicit fentanyl from entering the country. DHS would work the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

“As a former federal law enforcement officer and CIA case officer who worked narcotics cases and tracked dangerous cartels, I know that fentanyl trafficking is a direct danger to the safety of the American people,” Spanberger said in a press release. ‘Fentanyl is coming through our borders and ports of entry at alarming rates, and there’s no question that we must strengthen our response — particularly at checkpoints.”

The legislation would authorize $20 million for research every year for the next five years.

“These fentanyl shipments pose a threat to every American community, and this threat does not distinguish between Democrats and Republicans. That’s why we need to work together to fight this scourge, save lives and hold transnational criminal organizations accountable for their crimes,” Spanberger said.

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration announced in April 2022 a nationwide spike in fentanyl-related mass-overdose events: three or more overdoses in the same time and in close proximity to each other. In the press release, Garbarino said the drug is the leading cause of death among Americans between the ages of 18 and 45.

“This epidemic has devastated communities across the United States, and Long Island is no exception. We must act decisively to stop gangs and drug traffickers from bringing this poison into our country,” Garbarino said.