The United States Senate has overwhelmingly passed the HALT Fentanyl Act (S.331), which designates fentanyl-related substances as Schedule I drugs under the Controlled Substances Act.
The legislation, sponsored by Senator Bill Cassidy (R-LA), was backed by 84 senators.
However, 16 Democrats inexplicably voted against the measure.
Their reason? Either blind partisanship or a preference for soft-on-crime policies—I’m leaning toward the latter.
Here is the full list of Democrats who opposed the final passage of the Halt Fentanyl Act:
- Angela Alsobrooks (D-MD)
- Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-DE)
- Cory Booker (D-NJ)
- Tammy Duckworth (D-IL)
- Mazie Hirono (D-HI)
- Ed Markey (D-MA)
- Jeff Merkley (D-OR)
- Chris Murphy (D-CT)
- Alex Padilla (D-CA)
- Bernie Sanders (D-VT)
- Adam Schiff (D-CA)
- Chris Van Hollen (D-MD)
- Raphael Warnock (D-GA)
- Elizabeth Warren (D-MA)
- Peter Welch (D-VT)
- Ron Wyden (D-OR)
The legislation now heads to the House of Representatives, where it is expected to pass with bipartisan support.
The National Pulse reports:
Sen. Cassidy’s legislation—now on its way to the House of Representatives, where it is expected to also pass with bipartisan support—upgrades punishments for so-called “fentanyl-related substances” and aligns them with the penalties applied to fentanyl analogues.
Notably, offenses involving 100 grams or more of fentanyl analogues carry a minimum sentence of 10 years in prison. The federal mandatory minimum sentence is likely the reason why most of the 16 Democrats opposed the bill—though the influence of Chinese agents cannot be discounted.
Chinese chemical and pharmaceutical companies illicitly export hundreds of kilograms of fentanyl precursor chemicals to the United States every month.
In February, several executives with Wuhan-based Hubei Aoks Bio-Tech Co. Ltd were indicted by U.S. federal prosecutors for illegally importing fentanyl precursors into the United States. In October of last year, eight Chinese companies and their employees were indicted for similar crimes in Florida.
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