WASHINGTON—United States Senator Bill Hagerty (R-TN), a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, today joined America Reports on Fox News to discuss the flooding of fentanyl into the United States as a result of the Biden Administration’s failure to address the crisis on the southern border and his legislation to stop fentanyl border crossings.
Partial Transcript
Hagerty on his legislation to stop fentanyl border crossings: “Well, Sandra, you touched on what is, I think, an existential crisis facing America, and it has to do directly with our youth. The number one killer of young people in America between the ages of 18 and 45 is drug overdose. The majority of it [is] fentanyl coming across this porous southern border. I’ve tried to do something about it. I put legislation forward, the Stop Fentanyl Border Crossings Act, [but] the Democrats blocked it back in April after the Federal District Court took down the use of Title 42. There’s no longer a pandemic—that has been the health reason up until now. I tried to modify Title 42 with my Act to make fentanyl and the threat of fentanyl crossings one of the reasons that our border patrol agents could still use Title 42. It’s the last tool that they have in place. What we’re seeing right now is already a tidal wave of people coming across that southern border. When Title 42 is lifted, it’s going to turn into a tsunami, and we will have more deaths by overdose as a result of this. The Democrats continue to block it.”
Hagerty on the Biden Administration’s failure to address the fentanyl crisis: “That’s why I’m trying to get my legislation passed. I’m not going to stop. I’m glad the Washington Post is finally taking a look at this. They’ve turned a blind eye to this for far too long. But what the Washington Post fails to encounter is the fact that the cause of this, particularly the precipitant of this massive inflow right now, is the Biden Administration, and they’re incorrect when they say other Administrations have not tried. I was on the phone with White House staff during the G20 [meeting] in Buenos Aires back in 2018 when President [Donald] Trump told President Xi of China directly that he wanted to see the flow of fentanyl stop coming into America. President Xi agreed to stop it [from] coming into America with President Trump. What he didn’t agree to was to stop sending it to Mexico. Now we know where all the fentanyl is coming from right now. And you think about it, the Mexican cartels—these are multi-billion-dollar operations at this point—they’re working in partnership with the Chinese Communist Party to bring in the precursor chemicals to make the fentanyl there in Mexico, ship it across our southern border, and kill our kids. Again, it’s the number one cause of death of people between the ages of 18 and 45 right here in America—over 100,000 deaths last year. And it is going to get far worse when Title 42 is lifted if we don’t fix it with my legislation.”
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