{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://garbarino.house.gov/media/press-releases/garbarino-helps-introduce-bill-bolster-americas-response-trafficking-along-us", "Garbarino Helps Introduce Bill to Bolster America\u2019s Response to Trafficking Along U.S. Southern Border", "2022-07-08", "2022", "2022-07", "Republican", "House", "NY", "Andrew R. Garbarino", "G000597", "garbarino.house.gov", "garbarino", "https://garbarino.house.gov/media/press-releases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Congressman Andrew R. Garbarino (R-NY-02) this week helped introduce H.R.8316, the Securing America\u2019s Borders Against Fentanyl Act, alongside Congresswoman Abigail Spanberger (D-VA-07), to strengthen America\u2019s response to fentanyl coming through the nation\u2019s borders and ports of entry.\n\nThis bill would more than quadruple research and development into technologies and strategies that deter and interdict fentanyl shipments. Additionally, the bipartisan bill would require the administration, including the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), to recognize the crisis at hand and build new strategies to target and detect illicit fentanyl coming through the southern border and onto America\u2019s streets.\n\n\u201cFentanyl is the leading cause of death among Americans aged 18 to 45. This epidemic has devastated communities across the United States, and Long Island is no exception. We must act decisively to stop gangs and drug traffickers from bringing this poison into our country,\u201d said Rep. Garbarino. \u201cThis legislation would fund research aimed at developing advanced technology for border screenings and require an assessment of the effectiveness of current technologies and strategies to address fentanyl being trafficked into the US. I am proud to co-lead this effort and I thank Congresswoman Spanberger for her leadership on this issue.\u201d\n\n\u201cAs a former federal law enforcement officer and CIA case officer who worked narcotics cases and tracked dangerous cartels, I know that fentanyl trafficking is a direct danger to the safety of the American people. Fentanyl is coming through our borders and ports of entry at alarming rates, and there\u2019s no question that we must strengthen our response \u2014 particularly at checkpoints,\u201d said Rep. Spanberger. \u201cI\u2019m proud to work with Congressman Garbarino to introduce this bipartisan legislation, which pushes the administration to use the latest, cutting-edge technology to identify fentanyl at our borders and prevent it from killing Americans. These fentanyl shipments pose a threat to every American community, and this threat does not distinguish between Democrats and Republicans. That\u2019s why we need to work together to fight this scourge, save lives, and hold transnational criminal organizations accountable for their crimes.\u201d\n\nIn April 2022, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration announced a nationwide spike in fentanyl-related mass-overdose events \u2014 meaning three or more overdoses occurring around the same time in close proximity.\n\nTo strengthen the U.S. response to illicit fentanyl, the Securing America\u2019s Borders Against Fentanyl Act would require the DHS Secretary \u2014 in consultation with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) \u2014 to research additional solutions that would:\n\nTarget and detect illicit fentanyl and its precursors,\n\nEnhance targeting of counterfeit pills and illicit pill presses through nonintrusive, noninvasive, and other visual screening technologies; and\n\nStrengthen data-driven targeting to increase seizure rates of fentanyl and its precursors.\n\nThe legislation would authorize $20 million for this research each year for the next five years \u2014 more than quadrupling annual spending directed by Congress on similar research and development from the fiscal year 2022 level.", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T18:20:25Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://garbarino.house.gov/media/press-releases/garbarino-helps-introduce-bill-bolster-americas-response-trafficking-along-us"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.63943599909544, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}