{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.cassidy.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/cassidy-honors-law-enforcement-at-annual-awards-luncheon-in-new-orleans/", "Cassidy Honors Law Enforcement at Annual Awards Luncheon in New Orleans", "2025-09-24", "2025", "2025-09", "Republican", "Senate", "LA", "Bill Cassidy", "C001075", "www.cassidy.senate.gov", "cassidy", "https://www.cassidy.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/?jsf=jet-engine:press-list", "scraper", "BATON ROUGE \u2013 On Wednesday, U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA) delivered remarks at the Metropolitan Crime Commission\u2019s Excellence in Law Enforcement Awards Luncheon. While there, Cassidy thanked law enforcement for their work and discussed how they can use his HALT Fentanyl Act, signed into law by President Trump, to target drug dealers.\n\n\u201cFentanyl dealers are criminals and murders,\u201d said Dr. Cassidy. \u201cThanks to local law enforcement and my HALT Fentanyl Act, they are more likely to go to jail and Louisiana is safer.\u201d\n\nIn July, President Donald Trump signed Cassidy\u2019s HALT Fentanyl Act into law. Between 2014 and 2023, more than 400,000 Americans died from fentanyl overdoses, including 5,000 from Louisiana. The HALT Fentanyl Act addresses this crisis by giving law enforcement another tool by permanently scheduling fentanyl-related substances as Schedule I under the Controlled Substances Act.\n\nAdditionally in August, Cassidy hosted a press event to honor angel families and celebrate President Trump\u2019s signing of his legislation. Video of the event is available here.\n\nAt the event, Cassidy was joined by Mr. Jonathan Tapp, the FBI special agent in charge for New Orleans, and Louisiana State Attorney General Liz Murrill. Cassidy was also welcomed to the event by Mr. Rafael Goyeneche, III, President of the Metropolitan Crime Commission.\n\n\u201cThe HALT Fentanyl Act that Senator Cassidy authored and earned bipartisan support for is important not just to Louisiana, but to our nation,\u201d said Mr. Goyeneche. \u201cFentanyl overdose deaths exceed the combined total of murders and vehicular deaths on an annual basis. This legislation addresses a public safety issue, and that\u2019s why the Metropolitan Crime Commission invited the Senator to speak to our membership. This is critically important for safer communities in Louisiana, and throughout the country.\u201d\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T19:10:29Z"]], "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://www.cassidy.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/cassidy-honors-law-enforcement-at-annual-awards-luncheon-in-new-orleans/"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.923087053000927, "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"}