CRAMER COSPONSORS LEGISLATION TO COMBAT FENTANYL CRISIS

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Tom Cotton (AR), Congressman French Hill (AR-2), and Congressman Kevin Cramer announced legislation introduced in the House of Representatives to address the fentanyl crisis.  

H.R. 5459, the Ending the Fentanyl Crisis Act of 2018, strengthens mandatory minimum sentences for fentanyl traffickers and provides resources to the Postal Service to prevent the illegal smuggling of fentanyl and other opiates through the postal system. Today, a trafficker with two grams of fentanyl is treated like a trafficker with five grams of heroin, despite the fentanyl being 50 times deadlier than heroin.

Current mandatory minimums only apply after a trafficker possesses 40 grams of a substance, including fentanyl, which could be enough to kill up to 20,000 people. Fentanyl is known to be the cause of a third of the 175 Americans who die daily from opioids.   

“The first priority in addressing this crisis is prevention and deterrence. The best way to combat a problem is to stop it before it starts,” said Cramer. “This legislation updates and strengthens fentanyl trafficking penalties to ensure the punishment properly matches the crime while providing resources to the Postal Service to stop the illegal smuggling of these deadly drugs throughout the United States.”  

Companion legislation has been introduced in the Senate, S. 2635, by Senators Tom Cotton, John Kennedy, and Lindsey Graham. 

“Given fentanyl’s incredible capability for destruction of human life, I am thankful for Congressman Hill’s leadership in the House and his dedication to ending the fentanyl scourge,” Senator Cotton said. “Last year alone, fentanyl killed more than 20,000 Americans, and it has been a driving force behind the opioid crisis in the United States.”

“Across Arkansas, tearful families have told me their stories about how the opioid crisis has personally affected them, which is why I introduced this bill to step up penalties for fentanyl traffickers and provide necessary resources to track illegal shipments,” Rep. Hill said. “Last year alone the opioid epidemic caused over 45,000 deaths and killed more than 100 people a day – with a third of these deaths attributable to fentanyl and similar compounds. We can’t let another Arkansas family be devastated by this crisis, and this bill, coupled with a community-wide effort, will help fight this epidemic. I appreciate Senator Cotton’s support in the Senate on this important issue, and I look forward to working with my colleagues to get this legislation passed in the House.”

Cramer added he will continue to work on legislation in the House Committee on Energy and Commerce to combat the opioid problem. The committee has debated and voted on more than 60 individual bills this Congress.   

New Criminal Penalties under the Ending the Fentanyl Crisis Act of 2018

###