Two Republicans in the Florida delegation–U.S. Reps Greg Steube and Dan Webster–are backing U.S. Rep. Randy Feenstra’s, R-Iowa, “Build the Wall and Fight Fentanyl Act”
The two Florida Republicans are among the dozen co-sponsors of the bill.
The proposal “would equally dedicate assets confiscated from drug traffickers or other transnational criminal organizations by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to two separate funds to build the border wall and fight the fentanyl crisis impacting rural communities” with “two funds- which would be housed at the U.S. Department of the Treasury” being labeled the “Southern Border Wall Fulfillment Fund” and the “Combating the Fentanyl Epidemic Fund.”
“Criminal drug traffickers have smuggled enough fentanyl into our country to kill every man, woman, and child in the United States, and tragically, too many families know the pain of losing a loved one to this deadly crisis,” said Feenstra this week. “As a father of four, I’m proud to introduce the Build the Wall and Fight Fentanyl Act, which will fund two separate priorities – building the border wall and supporting fentanyl treatment and recovery services – with assets confiscated from the drug cartels by our brave border patrol agents. While President Biden has failed to uphold his oath of office and secure our border, I remain committed to delivering real solutions to the border crisis by beating the drug traffickers at their own game and using their illegal financial gains to finish the border wall and support our families.”
“The fentanyl epidemic is killing Americans every day, and it’s directly linked to our open border. Since the Biden administration has failed at properly addressing these two crises, Congress must use innovative solutions to help secure our country. The Build the Wall and Fight Fentanyl Act provides a path to dedicate seized assets from traffickers towards making our nation safer,” said Steube.
“Since President Biden took office, over 2.1 million illegal immigrants have been released into our country and over 45,000 pounds of fentanyl have been seized at our southern border,” said Webster. “Porous borders threaten our national security and plague our communities with deadly opioids. This commonsense legislation leverages confiscated resources to secure our southern border and provide the resources needed to help keep deadly substances off the streets and out of our communities.”
The bill was sent to the U.S. House Judiciary; Homeland Security; and the Energy and Commerce Committees. So far, there is no companion bill over in the U.S. Senate.
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