‘It is now abundantly clear that the CCP is not just turning a blind eye to the fentanyl crisis, it is causing it,’ Rep. John Moolenaar said.
A bipartisan working group to address China’s role in the fentanyl epidemic has been established by the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
The Fentanyl Policy Working Group, announced by the panel on June 20, will be in charge of creating legislation and raising public awareness through committee events to expose the CCP’s role in the fentanyl crisis in the United States and combat the threat.
“China has programs in place to reward companies with subsidies for exporting fentanyl and other drugs illegal under Chinese law to the United States. It is now abundantly clear that the CCP is not just turning a blind eye to the fentanyl crisis, it is causing it,” Rep. John Moolenaar (R-Mich.), the committee’s chairman, said in a press release.
“While the CCP continues to economically enrich themselves at the expense of the health and safety of millions of Americans, it is imperative that the United States sends a clear message: the buck stops here.”
The working group aims to “codify, strengthen, and impose sanctions on entities involved in the fentanyl trade” and implement trade and customs enforcement measures to curb fentanyl trafficking. It also seeks to address “close regulatory and enforcement gaps” exploited by Chinese money launderers and fentanyl traders.
Mr. Newhouse and Rep. Jake Auchincloss (D-Mass.) will lead the working group, which includes Reps. Neal Dunn (R-Fla.), Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), Dusty Johnson (R-S.D.), Ritchie Torres (D-N.Y.), and Michelle Steel (R-Calif.).
A proposal to tackle the fentanyl crisis in the United States is also included in the Countering Communist China Act, introduced by Rep. Kevin Hern (R-Okla.) in February. The legislation includes sanctioning of Chinese officials and entities responsible for the flow of the synthetic opioid into the country, and encourages Americans whose family members died of fentanyl overdoses to sue Chinese officials.
By Aaron Pan
