Press Releases

(Washington, D.C.) – Congressman Larry Bucshon, M.D. (IN-08) released the following statement after voting in support of the Temporary Reauthorization and Study of the Emergency Scheduling of Fentanyl Analogues Act (S. 3201):

 While Speaker Pelosi and House Democrats have been obsessing over impeaching President Trump, work on behalf of the American people has been sidelined. The opioid crisis continues to rage and certain forms of synthetic fentanyl, an opioid that is killing Americans every day, would have become legal if Congress did not act to extend the temporary scheduling order for all “fentanyl-related substances”.

“It is unacceptable that deadly synthetic fentanyl has been streaming across our borders and killing Americans. That is why the DEA was given the ability in 2018 to temporarily name all “fentanyl-related substances” as a schedule 1 drug, making them illegal. If Congress had not acted by February 6th, this deadly drug would have been back into our neighborhoods, however, thanks to pressure by House Republicans we have stopped this crisis from happening. Speaker Pelosi and Democrats’ fixation on impeaching President Trump almost sidelined the passage of this life-saving legislation that reauthorizes the prohibitions on various forms of fentanyl. It is time for House Democrats to get back work and ensure legislation like this is not forgotten again in the future.”

Background

On January 26, the Senate unanimously passed the Temporary Reauthorization and Study of the Emergency Scheduling of Fentanyl Analogues Act

According to the CDC, there were more than 28,000 deaths involving fentanyl-related substances in 2017.