U.S. Senator Katie Britt: The Era of Allowing Fentanyl to Flow into our Country is Over
‘We’re going to: Protect our families, secure our borders, and ensure that our children actually have the opportunity to live their American Dream.’
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Katie Britt (R-Ala.) spoke on the floor regarding America’s fentanyl crisis, demanding action from Congress to stop the flow of these illicit drugs into our country.
She recounted the heartbreaking story of how Daniel Puerta, a 16-year-old, died of a fentanyl overdose in April 2020.
“Jaime (Puerta, a Marine Corps Veteran) found (his son) Daniel laying on his bed, nonresponsive. Ultimately, seeing what looked to be a half tablet of Oxycodone on his dresser,” said Senator Britt. “Paramedics arrived and tried their best, but Daniel’s brain had gone too long without oxygen. Five days later, Daniel’s parents had to make an unimaginably difficult decision to take him off of life support. Soon after, Jaime got a call from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Office. He ultimately learned that the pill was not an Oxycodone pill — it was actually fentanyl, made to look exactly like a pharmaceutical-grade Oxycodone. That is what killed Daniel . . . ”
Senator Britt also shared the story of Devin Norring, a 19-year-old, who took a pill he thought was Percocet, but was actually fentanyl, just days after Daniel’s overdose.
“Devin had suffered from blackout migraines and dental pain to the point that he sought black-market prescription. . . opioids on Snapchat. This was the same platform where Daniel found the counterfeit pill that killed him. On April 4, 2020, Devin Norring took what he thought was a Percocet. His younger brother, Caden, just 14 at the time, found him in his bedroom the next morning,” continued Senator Britt.
“Daniel and Devin’s stories — and what their families have been through — are nothing less than heartbreaking, and it exemplifies what we’re going through as a nation: A national nightmare,” Senator Britt stated. “I’d like to thank [Jaime Puerta and Bridgette Norring] for sharing their stories and for the courage that they have shown in the face of gut-wrenching tragedy.”
According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), drug overdose deaths are the number one cause of deaths for Americans between the ages of 18 and 45, and nearly 70% of overdose deaths in 2022 were from fentanyl and other synthetic opioids. During her remarks, the Senator outlined just how lethal fentanyl is, saying, “fentanyl is 100 times more potent than morphine, and 50 times more potent than heroin. That means two milligrams of fentanyl can be fatal. . .meanwhile it takes 250 milligrams of morphine, or 200 milligrams of heroin for a fatal dose. Fentanyl is a 100 times deadlier than heroin.”
Fentanyl is flowing into the U.S. at a rapid rate. Between October 2023 and October 2024, 22,000 pounds of fentanyl were seized at American ports of entry. Alarmingly, it has been estimated that authorities only interdict five to ten percent of the fentanyl coming across our border from Mexico.
“Our government has failed to prevent the flow of fentanyl into our country in far too many ways,” Senator Britt said. After outlining several systematic flaws, the Senator commended President Trump’s expeditious actions upon taking office to slow the flow of this deadly drug, including directing Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth to present a plan assigning our armed forces the mission of sealing our border and repelling the drug trade, reaching an agreement with Mexican president Claudia Sheinbaum to place 10,000 Mexican soldiers at the U.S.-Mexico border to stop the flow of fentanyl and illegal migrants into our country, and pushing Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to take significant action to stop the flow of fentanyl across our northern border.
“These are all steps in the right direction, and as Chair of the Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee, I will work to make sure the people tasked with protecting the public from this poison have the resources they need to help,” said Senator Britt.
Senator Britt outlined key legislative priorities she is supporting to help with the crisis, including Senator John Kennedy’s (R-La.) Fairness in Fentanyl Sentencing Act, which would change the quantity thresholds triggering mandatory minimum prison sentences for fentanyl distribution, direct the U.S. Postal Service to increase its chemical screening and dedicate more personnel to the task of interdicting fentanyl and other illegal substances imported into our country. She also highlighted Senator Chuck Grassley’s (R-Iowa) HALT Fentanyl Act, which the House passed last Congress.
“The House passed the HALT Fentanyl Act. . .I am proud to support it here in the Senate. Leading it is Senator[s] Chuck Grassley, Bill Cassidy, and Martin Heinrich,” Senator Britt stated. “This bill takes the necessary steps of placing fentanyl-related substances under Schedule 1 classification, and ensuring that law enforcement has the tools necessary to actually end this epidemic.”
Senator Britt concluded her remarks on a positive note, saying, “The era of allowing deadly fentanyl to flow into our country is over. The American people need us to act now and that’s exactly what we’re doing. We’re going to clean up our streets. We’re going to protect our families. We’re going to secure our borders, and we’re going to ensure that our children actually have the opportunity to live their American Dream. Let’s make America safe again.”
Senator Britt’s full remarks are available here. This comes after Senator Britt this week participated in a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing about the fentanyl crisis. The Senate Judiciary Committee’s full hearing recording is available here, and Senator Britt’s questions are available here.
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