{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://pappas.house.gov/media/press-releases/pappas-introduces-bipartisan-legislation-to-combat-fentanyl-crisis-crack-down-on-drug-trafficking", "Pappas Introduces Bipartisan Legislation to Combat Fentanyl Crisis, Crack Down on Drug Trafficking", "2024-07-31", "2024", "2024-07", "Democrat", "House", "NH", "Chris Pappas", "P000614", "pappas.house.gov", "pappas", "https://pappas.house.gov/media/press-releases", "scraper", "Today Congressman Chris Pappas (NH-01) joined Representatives Mar\u00eda Elvira Salazar (FL-27), Joaquin Castro (TX-20), Chris Smith (NJ-04), Mike Lawler (NY-17), Dina Titus (NV-01), Greg Stanton (AZ-04), Rich McCormick (GA-06), and Brad Schneider (IL-10) in introducing the Destruction Initiative for Stored Precursors Overseas and Safe Enforcement (DISPOSE) Act. This bipartisan legislation will create fentanyl and precursor chemical destruction facilities in three critical drug trafficking choke points: Mexico, Colombia, and Peru. Senators Chuck Grassley (IA), Jeanne Shaheen (NH), and Jim Risch (ID) introduced companion legislation in the Senate.\n\nFentanyl and other synthetic drugs have taken the lives of tens of thousands of Americans. This legislation deals with the problem by developing a strategy to locate, identify, and safely destroy fentanyl precursor chemicals before they reach the United States.\n\n\u201cFentanyl overdoses continue to kill Americans in record numbers, and it is of the utmost importance that we are taking common sense steps to stop the flow of deadly substances over our borders and into our communities, crack down on traffickers, and save lives,\u201d said Rep. Pappas. \u201cI join this bipartisan group of my colleagues in introducing the DISPOSE Act which will increase the United States\u2019 collaboration with Mexico, Colombia, and Peru to establish centers that identify and destroy fentanyl and precursor drugs before they reach American soil. I strongly urge House leadership to swiftly bring this bipartisan bill to the floor for a vote.\u201d\n\n\u201cI\u2019m proud to join Senator Grassley in introducing this bill that would facilitate United States engagement with our partners abroad to destroy seized drugs and prevent them from making it to our borders,\u201d said Senator Shaheen. \u201cThis legislation would work to ensure that these dangerous drugs are not diverted back into the illicit drug supply chain and are destroyed in environmentally responsible ways.\u201d\n\n\u201cFentanyl is killing thousands of Americans, and we can no longer afford to sit still as our enemies flood our communities with these dangerous drugs,\u201d said Rep. Salazar. \u201cThe DISPOSE Act will combat the crisis by working with our partners in Latin America to destroy these drugs well before they cross our borders.\u201d\n\nThe DISPOSE Act establishes the Precursor Chemical Destruction Initiative to fight drug trafficking with our partners in the Western Hemisphere. Working directly with partner countries, the Initiative will:\n\nIncrease rates of seizure and destruction of listed chemicals in beneficiary countries;\n\nAlleviate the backlog of seized chemicals and dispose them in an environmentally safe and effective manner;\n\nEnsure that the seized chemicals are not reintroduced into the illicit drug production network within beneficiary countries;\n\nFree up storage space for future chemical seizures within beneficiary countries; and\n\nReduce the chemicals\u2019 negative environmental impact.", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-07T21:24:45Z"]], "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://pappas.house.gov/media/press-releases/pappas-introduces-bipartisan-legislation-to-combat-fentanyl-crisis-crack-down-on-drug-trafficking"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.0151120368391275, "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"}