House Passes Chavez-DeRemer-Backed Bill to Help Deter Fentanyl Trafficking

March 7, 2024 – Congresswoman Lori Chavez-DeRemer: House Passes Chavez-DeRemer-Backed Bill to Help Deter Fentanyl Trafficking

This afternoon, the House passed the END FENTANYL Act, a bipartisan proposal that Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer (OR-05) helped introduce last year. The proposal would require U.S. Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) to identify improvements for preventing drug and human trafficking. It passed the U.S. Senate with broad bipartisan support last June and now heads to the president’s desk to be signed into law.

“Oregon is experiencing the highest rate of fentanyl overdose deaths in the nation – a crisis that has sadly bled into our schools and taken the lives of children,” Chavez-DeRemer said. “It’s incumbent upon policymakers at all levels of government to take an all-hands-on-deck approach to help tackle this crisis and save lives. The END FENTANYL Act will support border patrol agents by ensuring they are prepared to confront new and changing tactics used by drug traffickers. I’m grateful that my colleagues on both sides of the aisle supported this much-needed legislation, and I’ll continue doing my part to fight the fentanyl crisis.”

The Eradicating Narcotic Drugs and Formulating Effective New Tools to Address National Yearly Losses of Life (END FENTANYL) Act would require CBP to update its manuals at least once every three years to identify ways to help prevent drug and human smuggling activity through ports of entry. After each review, CBP would be required to report to Congress on any changes that are made. The bipartisan and bicameral legislation builds off a 2019 report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) that found drug interdiction guidance has not been updated in 20 years.

Full text of the bill is available HERE.

Chavez-DeRemer backed a separate House-passed bill last year, the HALT Fentanyl Act, which would supply law enforcement with the tools needed to keep dangerous drugs like fentanyl off the streets. Additionally, she introduced the bipartisan Keeping Drugs Out of Schools Act to provide teachers with the resources needed to educate students on the dangers posed by fentanyl.https://chavez-deremer.house.gov/media/press-releases/house-passes-chavez-deremer-backed-bill-help-deter-fentanyl-trafficking-0

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