House Republicans have introduced a resolution that would allow the United States military to attack terrorist drug cartels that traffick fentanyl into the U.S.
Reps. Mike Waltz (R-FL) and Dan Crenshaw (R-TX) introduced a resolution that would “authorize the use of United States Armed Forces against those responsible for trafficking fentanyl or fentanyl-related substance into the United States or carrying out other related activities that cause regional destabilization in the Western Hemisphere.”
According to the United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), one kilogram of fentanyl has the potential to kill 500,000 people, and drug trafficking cartels generally distribute fentanyl by the kilogram.
Fentanyl is the leading killer of adults ages 18-45. Since 2021, more than 80,000 Americans were killed as a result of fentanyl.
Rep. David Trone (D-MD) compared the deaths of fentanyl to crashing jets. “It’s equivalent to one 737 every day going down, no survivors. It’s a mind-boggling number of deaths,” he said.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported the increase in opioid deaths, stating that overdose deaths have increased by more than eight times since 1999.
Additionally, the opioid crisis cost the U.S. over $1 trillion in 2020. A 2020 study from Reuters indicated that the economic toll of opioid addiction in the U.S. reached nearly $1.5 trillion.
Waltz affirmed the need to act, “It’s time to go on offense.”
The Florida Republican added:
“Not only are these paramilitary transnational criminal organizations responsible for killing an unprecedented number of Americans, but they are actively undermining our sovereignty by destabilizing our border and waging war against U.S. law enforcement and the Mexican military.”
Texas Republican Dan Crenshaw claimed that the cartels are at war with the U.S.
“We cannot allow heavily armed and deadly cartels to destabilize Mexico and import people and drugs into the United States. We must start treating them like ISIS – because that is who they are,” he said.
The “Authorization for Use of Military Force Cartel Influence Resolution” would allow President Biden to use the U.S. armed forces against the cartels.
The legislation includes the following criminal cartels:
Sinaloa cartel; Jalisco New Generation cartel; Gulf cartel; Los Zetas cartel; Northeast cartel; Juarez cartel; Tijuana cartel; Beltran-Leyva cartel; and La Familia Michoacana cartel.
Sinaloa Cartel firing a .50 Cal Barrett anti-materiel rifle at a plane of the Mexican Air Force near the Culiacán Airport following the arrest of El Chapo’s son Ovidio pic.twitter.com/tF7PX6aeDE
— Sara A. Carter (@SaraCarterDC) January 6, 2023
For the legislation to become law it must pass both houses of the U.S. Congress.
This is a step in the right direction to end the fentanyl crisis and reduce crime from entering our country through the southern border.
