Goodlatte Floor Statement on the Stop the Importation and Trafficking of Synthetic Analogues Act

Washington, D.C. -- House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) today gave the following statement on the House floor in support of the Stop the Importation and Trafficking of Synthetic Analogues Act (H.R. 2851). This legislation updates the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) to provide swifter action to stop the unlawful importation and distribution of synthetic drugs and gives law enforcement effective tools to help keep our communities safe. Chairman Goodlatte: Mr. Speaker, Kristen Holman adored her little brother Garrett. She cherished his warm heart and his bigger than life personality. She loved her brother unconditionally as did her mother and father, Bobbie and Don. Unfortunately, on Feb 9th, 2017, at the age of 20, Garrett lost his life to a synthetic opioid that was mailed straight to him from China. My district lost a promising young man, Don and Bobbie lost their son, and Kristin lost her little brother and only sibling. Sadly, tens of thousands of families across the nation have lost their loved ones to the opioid crisis. According to the Centers for Disease Control, drug overdoses killed over 64,000 Americans in 2016, a staggering increase of over 21% from 2015. Of those souls lost, over 20,000 deaths were caused by synthetic opioids, the same type of drug that took Garrett's life. Regrettably, the suffering shows no sign of slowing, as deaths from synthetic opioids have more than doubled from last year. Synthetic drugs can be more potent and deadly than the real thing. However, when law enforcement encounters a certain synthetic drug compound and take steps under current federal law to bring the drug under lawful control, the manufacturers of these synthetics slightly alter the chemical structure of the drug to once again evade law enforcement. As a result, law enforcement is constantly one step behind the manufacturers. Left undeterred, manufacturers and distributors continue to flood the US with deadly synthetic drugs. Seizures of illicit fentanyl by Customs and Border Protection increased 64,000% between 2013 and 2017. We must stop this flood of poison that is fueling an epidemic that has taken far too many lives. The Stop the Importation and Trafficking of Synthetic Analogues Act, or SITSA, ensures that manufacturers and distributors of deadly synthetic drugs cannot continue to evade law enforcement. SITSA modernizes the Controlled Substances Act by clarifying the regulation of synthetic analogues. First, SITSA amends the Controlled Substances Act to establish Schedule A, a new category for controlled substance analogues. Second, the act establishes a streamlined mechanism by which synthetic analogs can be temporarily and/or permanently added to Schedule A, but only after a thorough analysis by the Attorney General and the Secretary of Health and Human Services. Altogether SITSA will combat the flow of synthetic drugs that have taken both Garrett’s life and the lives of 20,000 Americans over the last year. This bill was carefully crafted over the past two years with extensive coordination between law enforcement agencies from the Department of Justice and scientists and researchers at the Department of Health and Human Services. Together, this bill strikes a balance between giving law enforcement the ability to stop the flow of deadly synthetic drugs while allowing the research community to study these dangerous drugs, identify the root causes of addiction, and advance the latest cures for serious illnesses. Mr. Speaker, we cannot stand idle as criminal manufacturers and distributors of synthetic drugs continue to flood our country and destroy the lives of countless Americans. Not one more family should feel the pain that the Holman’s feel after a synthetic drug shipped from China took Garrett’s life. SITSA is a bipartisan bill, and I commend Mr. Katko of New York and Ms. Rice, also from New York, for their efforts in moving this legislation forward. I urge my colleges to support SITSA and bring an end to an era where manufacturers and distributors can freely profit from selling these deadly drugs and destroy so many lives.

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