Menendez Opening Remarks at Full Committee Hearing: "Countering Illicit Fentanyl Trafficking"

Hearing

SFRC Chairman Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) today delivered the following opening statement as this morning's full Committee hearing on illicit fentanyl trafficking. Testifying before the Committee were the Honorable Todd Robinson, Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement; the Honorable Anne Milgram, Administrator for the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA); and Dr. Rahul Gupta, Director of the Executive Office of the President's Office of National Drug Control Policy.

"The Foreign Relations Committee is holding this hearing because this is a crisis we cannot solve just within our borders," Chairman Menendez said. "We need to use every foreign policy tool we have to stop the flow of fentanyl into our country. This means asking Mexico to do more to disrupt criminal organizations from producing and trafficking fentanyl …. It means expanding our work with India to strengthen regulation of its chemical and pharmaceutical industries. And of course, it also means confronting China."

Emphasizing that fentanyl--the leading cause of death for Americans ages 18-49--is one of the most urgent challenges facing the American public today, Chairman Menendez highlighted the story of New Jersey mother Tanya Niederman, whose only son, JJ, was found dead, poisoned by a recreational drug laced with fentanyl.

"Illicit fentanyl robbed my son JJ of his life, and the hopes and dreams I had for him. I can't put into words what this feels like. Fentanyl is affecting families all over this country from all walks of life, in record numbers, and we need to act now to ensure our children are protected," Tanya Niederman said.

FIND A COPY OF THE CHAIRMAN'S REMARKS AS DELIVERED BELOW.
"This hearing of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee will come to order.

Two years ago, Tanya Niederman, a mother in New Jersey, was at a restaurant when she answered her phone.

The call she got would change her life forever.

A call that would tear any parent's heart out.

Her only son, JJ--a typical American kid who loved to be outside, loved fishing, played hockey--had been found dead in his bedroom at home.

Dead from a recreational drug laced with fentanyl.

Poisoned by a drug so potent it can kill someone with an amount equivalent to a few grains of salt.

Across our nation, from big cities to small towns, fentanyl is driving a surge of deaths.

Last year, the Center for Disease Control estimated that over 70,000 Americans died from fentanyl overdoses in 2021.

It is the leading cause of death for Americans ages 18-49.

So, Secretary Robinson, Administrator Milgram, Director Gupta-- thank you for appearing before us today to speak about one of the most urgent challenges facing the American public.

The Foreign Relations Committee is holding this hearing because this is a crisis we cannot solve just within our borders.

According to the Drug Enforcement Administration, most of the fentanyl trafficked into the United States is produced in clandestine labs in Mexico with precursor chemicals sourced from China.

We need to use every foreign policy tool we have to stop the flow of fentanyl into our country.

This means asking Mexico to do more to disrupt criminal organizations from producing and trafficking fentanyl.

Although a politicized judiciary and incidents of Mexican security forces colluding with drug cartels will make that very difficult, we have to try.

It means expanding our work with India to strengthen regulation of its chemical and pharmaceutical industries.

And of course, it also means confronting China.

I doubt Xi Jinping cares that his chemical and pharmaceutical industries are supplying the Mexican cartels that are flooding the United States with fentanyl.

But let's be clear--his government's negligence is helping unleash a deadly wave of fentanyl-related deaths--not only here in the United States, but also in Canada, in Mexico, as well as in countries in East and Southeast Asia that are struggling with their own crisis of synthetic opioids from China.

While we have been trying to address this crisis for years, we all need to do more.

That's why I coauthored the Fentanyl Sanctions Act with Senator Schumer in 2019, which established the Commission on Combatting Synthetic Opioid Trafficking to chart a strategic approach for addressing this crisis.

And last year I cosponsored--and helped secure--the enactment of Senator Shaheen's Fentanyl RESULTS Act.

That's why I'm urging the Biden administration to take additional steps to confront the fentanyl crisis--prioritizing counter-narcotics cooperation with willing partners and holding perpetrators and enablers of illicit fentanyl trafficking accountable.

It is time for the United States to build a multilateral coalition to hold China accountable for failing to meet its international obligations to stop illicit drug trafficking.

China needs to take practical and commonsense steps to address this problem right now, like implementing "know your customer' standards which protect against fraud, corruption, and money laundering.

But if Beijing fails to cooperate in good faith on indictments, on money laundering investigations, or on information sharing on fentanyl and fentanyl precursors trafficking, the United States will have no choice but to take unilateral steps by expanding sanctions, visa restrictions, and other tools to protect the American people.

And as the Commission on Combatting Synthetic Opioid Trafficking detailed in its seminal report last year, we need to be just as proactive here at home.

From strengthening high-tech screening at our borders, to disrupting the open trafficking of fentanyl across our social media platforms, to taking additional steps to expand access to treatment and support services for those in our communities struggling with substance use disorder.

That's why I think it's time to revisit the 2018 SUPPORT Act.

To confront the growing threat of fentanyl and the pressing need to expand access to mental health and substance use services.

These are just some of the dimensions of this incredible challenge, and I look forward to working on all of those iterations.

With that I'll turn to Ranking Member Risch for his opening statement."

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