DeRemer aided “Fend-off-Fentanyl” Act signed into law

By Congresswoman Lori Chavez-DeRemer

The FEND Off Fentanyl Act, a bipartisan proposal that Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer (OR-05) helped introduce last year, was signed into law by President Biden. The legislation, sponsored by House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul (TX-10), seeks to combat the fentanyl crisis by targeting the illicit drug’s global supply chain. More specifically, the proposal would strengthen current law and direct the Treasury Department to target, sanction, and block the financial assets of transnational criminal organizations – targeting everyone from chemical suppliers in China to the cartels that traffic the drugs from Mexico. The proposal was included in the 21st Century Peace Through Strength Act, a critical component of the national security supplemental package that included funding to deter growing international threats.

“No state is suffering the effects of the fentanyl crisis worse than Oregon, where open-border policies have thrown fuel on the flames that were first ignited by Measure 110. I’ve been working hard to bolster the federal response to this crisis, including through legislation like the FEND Off Fentanyl Act,” Chavez-DeRemer said. “This new law will ensure cartels and transnational criminal organizations are held accountable for the drug trade that has resulted in far too many deaths in the United States. I’ll keep fighting for commonsense legislation that protects our communities from deadly drugs like fentanyl.”

Portland police have already seized

more fentanyl pills this year than in all of 2023, and Oregon is experiencing the highest rate

of fentanyl overdose deaths in the nation.

Now that it has been signed into law, the FEND Off Fentanyl Act will ensure sanctions are imposed on criminals involved in the international trade of fentanyl and on the money launderers who make it profitable. Additionally, international fentanyl trafficking will be declared a national emergency – opening up critical resources for federal agencies to support law enforcement efforts.

The proposal was introduced and led in the U.S. Senate by Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Ranking Member Tim Scott (R-S.C.). Full text of the bill is available HERE

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Recently, the House passed Chavez-DeRemer’s Opioid Crisis Workforce Act, which would improve information sharing and training for workers involved in the prevention and treatment of substance use disorders.