REP. JENKINS INTRODUCES FENTANYL AND HEROIN TASK FORCE ACT

WASHINGTON – U.S. Representative Evan Jenkins (R-W.Va.) is introducing legislation today to improve federal agencies’ responses and coordination to address the fentanyl and heroin epidemic.

His bill, the Fentanyl and Heroin Task Force Act, would establish a task force of law enforcement agencies to help eradicate the illicit fentanyl and heroin trade, including Customs and Border Protection, the Drug Enforcement Agency, the FBI, Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations, the IRS, the International Trade Administration, the Office of National Drug Control Policy, and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service.

“Last week I held a roundtable discussion on the fentanyl crisis, hearing directly from the men and women who are on the front lines battling this most challenging public health and safety crisis. I learned that while steps have been taken to coordinate efforts at the federal level, there isn’t an interagency task force solely focused on eradicating fentanyl and heroin trafficking. The crisis is deepening every day, and this needs to happen – and it needs to happen now. This task force will bring together federal agencies to ensure communication and resources are coordinated and targeted, all while working with state and local law enforcement. We can and must do more to give our law enforcement agencies the tools they need to stop fentanyl flowing from China and Mexico into our communities,” Rep. Jenkins said.

Rep. Katherine Clark (D-Mass.) is the original cosponsor of the legislation.

“Every day in the commonwealth, we see the opioid crisis, escalated by heroin and fentanyl, ravaging our communities. We hear it in the painful cries of ailing newborns, we see it on the faces of desperate parents, and we grieve it in our ever-expanding cemeteries. This devastation calls on all of us, at every level of government, healthcare, and law enforcement, to push for resources our families need to prevent another death. The Fentanyl and Heroin Task Force Act is a commonsense proposal to combine federal and local resources to battle the deadly grip heroin and fentanyl have on our communities,” Rep. Clark said.

The bill will create an interagency task force to coordinate federal agency efforts to identify, target and dismantle organizations that traffic fentanyl, as well as identify the sources of fentanyl and heroin production and distribution. In addition, the task force would work with state and local law enforcement agencies to share best practices for handling and disposing of fentanyl, have necessary and updated information on targeting and taking down organizations that traffic fentanyl and heroin, and have operation and investigative support for these efforts.

The Fentanyl and Heroin Task Force Act would also require a report to Congress that includes a description of the status of fentanyl and heroin trafficking within the United States, a summary of federal, state and local efforts to eradicate fentanyl and heroin trafficking, and recommendations by the task force to Congress for additional legislative action.