Democratic senator to release $1 billion budget proposal to tackle fentanyl crisis
Eden Villalovas
Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) has released a proposal to target fentanyl trafficking as deaths and usage increase in the United States.
The chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee’s homeland security panel unveiled his plan ahead of the subcommittee’s hearing, “Combatting Transnational Criminal Organizations and Related Trafficking,” scheduled for Wednesday, when members will strategize and discuss how to tackle areas that threaten national security.
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PUBLIC BLAMES DRUG DEALERS OVER MEXICO AND CHINA FOR FENTANYL PROBLEM
“The death and devastation of the fentanyl crisis is unlike anything we have faced before,” Murphy said in a statement. “Thousands of families across the country have lost loved ones to this low-cost, highly potent drug, and reducing its flow into the United States must be our top priority. My proposal would supercharge the Department of Homeland Security’s fight against fentanyl and ensure it has the resources to do everything humanly possible to disrupt the trade and keep families safe.”
Titled “The Fight Against Fentanyl,” the proposal includes a number of new operations and expanding existing assets through increasing the Department of Homeland Security fiscal 2024 budget.
Murphy aims to increase the rate at which passenger vehicles are scanned while coming through the border. The intended increase would go from 40% of vehicles currently scanned to 65% by hiring 500 more Customs and Border Protection personnel.
The plan outlines expansions for essential Homeland Security Investigations task forces, adding more Transnational Criminal Investigative Units to address the fentanyl crisis abroad, bolstering resources at more points of entry to the U.S., and ensuring personnel’s safety through additional training and updated equipment.
The budget increases come as lawmakers advance their own plans to fight fentanyl plaguing their state and city populations.
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Last week, Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) authorized sending the National Guard and California Highway Patrol to San Francisco to implement an operation to deal with the increasing outbreak of fentanyl devastating the city. San Francisco is just one corner of the U.S. struggling with the fentanyl crisis.
“According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there were more than 56,000 deaths involving synthetic opioids in 2020,” Murphy said. “In 2021, that number increased by 25% to over 70,000 American lives lost.”