Rep. Dan Newhouse (R-WA) introduced a bipartisan bill that would create a federal joint task force to address fentanyl in the United States.
“The CCP is the leading force behind the fentanyl crisis, and the United States is failing to respond while they profit from the loss of American lives,” Newhouse said in a statement. “This Joint Taskforce will pool resources across the federal government and respond to this crisis with everything from sanctions to joint drug raids to keep this deadly substance out of our communities. This task force will help President Trump and his administration accomplish his goal of stopping the flow of fentanyl from China across our northern and southern borders.”
The bill states that the U.S. is “experiencing a crisis of substance abuse and addiction resulting in the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people” in the country. “Most of these deaths involve some form of opioids.”
According to the bill, the task force will include representatives from the Department of Justice, the Department of the Treasury, the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of State, the Department of Commerce, the Department of Defense, and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.
The task force’s primary mission will be to “counter opioid and synthetic narcotics activities, including disruption activities and associated investigations, and provide strategic coordination on related activities, including sanctions enforcement, conducting joint operations, raids, and other tactical actions in coordination with Federal, State, territorial, Tribal, and local law enforcement agencies through memorandums of understanding such as legal actions against traffickers and foreign entities, particularly in the People’s Republic of China, complicit in the opioid trade,” the bill says.
Companion legislation was introduced by Senator Dave McCormick (R-PA).
