Senate panel advances bill targeting fentanyl money trail

A Senate panel unanimously advanced Wednesday a bill that targets every part of the illicit fentanyl chain, from Chinese chemical suppliers to Mexican cartels that ship the deadly drugs to U.S. towns, marking bipartisan progress on the problem and giving a 2024 presidential contender a win on a major GOP issue.

The Senate Banking Committee voted 23-0 in support of the FEND Off Fentanyl Act which targets the flow of deadly synthetic opioids and the shadowy system of money laundering that underpins it.

The bill declares fentanyl trafficking a national emergency and would require the president to sanction the property of fentanyl traffickers while using the proceeds from forfeited property to enhance drug-fighting efforts.

“This bill will direct the Department of Treasury to use our economic sanction tools to choke off the profits of the Chinese precursor manufacturers and Mexican cartels that push fentanyl across our border, leading to the deaths of more than 70,000 Americans,” said Sen. Tim Scott, who is running for the Republican presidential nomination, and wrote the bill. Committee Chairman Sen. Sherrod Brown, Ohio Democrat, co-sponsored the bill and nearly 60 senators have signed onto it.

Lax border policies and the unchecked flow of fentanyl are frequent talking points in early GOP campaigning for the White House, so the legislation could give Mr. Scott a leg up on opponents.

At times, Mr. Scott’s remarks at Wednesday’s markup mirrored his optimistic stump speech about rising from poverty to become the first Black senator from South Carolina.

“I talk a lot about opportunity in this country because it provided me with remarkable opportunities. But the [fentanyl] deaths represent the loss of opportunity to fulfill one’s purpose, to contribute to their own communities and to achieve their version of the American dream,” said Mr. Scott. “That is why I’m especially proud the committee will take up my FEND Off fentanyl bill.”

Fentanyl is the No. 1 killer in a broader U.S. overdose crisis that has killed more than 100,000 Americans per year. Roughly 70,000 of the 107,000 overdose deaths in the U.S. were linked at least in part to fentanyl in 2021, the most recent year for which complete data is available.

Mr. Scott focused on fentanyl when he launched his presidential campaign in May.

“Every county in this nation is a border county. The left shut down your schools and churches in the name of slowing down a virus. But they won’t secure the border to protect your family from fentanyl,” he said in North Charleston, South Carolina. “When I am president, the drug cartels using Chinese labs and Mexican factories to kill Americans will cease to exist.”

A Politico/Morning Consult poll from November underscored Republican voters’ interest in the fentanyl and border issues.

Nearly 6 in 10 voters said fentanyl trafficking should be a top investigative priority for Congress, including 70% of Republicans compared to less than half of Democrats. Seven in 10 Republicans pointed to U.S.-Mexico border operations as a top priority compared to fewer than 20% of Democrats.

“We’ve had enough fentanyl cross the border that would kill every single American last year,” former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, a GOP presidential candidate, said Monday at a town hall event in Moncks Corner, South Carolina. “Number one cause of death for adults 18 to 49? Fentanyl. And don’t think for a second China doesn’t know exactly what they’re doing when they send it over.”

Former President Donald Trump has compared the flow of fentanyl into America to a military attack on the U.S. and said he would direct the Department of Defense to consider covert operations and other actions to stop the cartels.

Another 2024 GOP candidate, businessman Vivek Ramaswamy, is highlighting the scourge of illegal drug use and has said he would be willing to use military force against Mexican cartels.

The bipartisan bill advanced Wednesday focuses on financial weapons. One provision would require the Treasury Department to prioritize fentanyl-related transactions in Suspicious Activity Reports, which flag odd transactions.

The bill also would order the administration to report to Congress on actions the U.S. government is taking to reduce the international trafficking of fentanyl and related opioids.

Mr. Brown said he worked with Mr. Scott to gather feedback from law enforcement, advocates and others to craft the bill.

“I wanted to thank my colleagues for joining this bill, and look forward to continuing to work with all of you to get this signed into law,” Mr. Brown said.

Rep. Michael T. McCaul, Texas Republican and chairman of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, is leading a companion bill in the House.

The effort comes on the heels of bipartisan House passage of the HALT Fentanyl Act, which would place illicit fentanyl and all of its chemical analogs on Schedule I, the most restrictive list of drugs in America.

President Biden also says he takes the fentanyl crisis seriously as he ramps up his reelection bid.

He wants more funding for border inspections to intercept fentanyl at points of entry and has directed his White House drug czar, Dr. Rahul Gupta, to make naloxone, an opioid overdose-reversing drug, more affordable and ubiquitous.

Dr. Gupta, director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, said he met with naloxone manufacturers Tuesday and told them no one should be denied naloxone because of cost. He also wants communities at higher risks of overdoses to be “saturated” with naloxone.

Dr. Gupta ordered the companies to report back to him on their progress over the next six months.

“President Biden has set a clear directive: increase access and affordability of these life-saving medications. We are looking at every option to do so — and manufacturers have a critical role to play in this effort,” he said. “At a time when we are losing more than 100,000 Americans a year to drug overdose and poisoning, we are asking all manufacturers who currently have [Food and Drug Administration]-approved overdose reversal medications on the market to take urgent action and help end the nation’s overdose crisis.”