[House Hearing, 118 Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
OVERSIGHT AND REAUTHORIZATION
OF THE OFFICE OF NATIONAL
DRUG CONTROL POLICY
=======================================================================
HEARING
BEFORE THE
COMMITTEE ON
OVERSIGHT AND ACCOUNTABILITY
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
ONE HUNDRED EIGHTEENTH CONGRESS
FIRST SESSION
__________
JULY 27, 2023
__________
Serial No. 118-55
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Printed for the use of the Committee on Oversight and Accountability
[GRAPHIC NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Available on: govinfo.gov,
oversight.house.gov or
docs.house.gov
__________
U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE
53-024 PDF WASHINGTON : 2023
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COMMITTEE ON OVERSIGHT AND ACCOUNTABILITY
JAMES COMER, Kentucky, Chairman
Jim Jordan, Ohio Jamie Raskin, Maryland, Ranking
Mike Turner, Ohio Minority Member
Paul Gosar, Arizona Eleanor Holmes Norton, District of
Virginia Foxx, North Carolina Columbia
Glenn Grothman, Wisconsin Stephen F. Lynch, Massachusetts
Gary Palmer, Alabama Gerald E. Connolly, Virginia
Clay Higgins, Louisiana Raja Krishnamoorthi, Illinois
Pete Sessions, Texas Ro Khanna, California
Andy Biggs, Arizona Kweisi Mfume, Maryland
Nancy Mace, South Carolina Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, New York
Jake LaTurner, Kansas Katie Porter, California
Pat Fallon, Texas Cori Bush, Missouri
Byron Donalds, Florida Jimmy Gomez, California
Kelly Armstrong, North Dakota Shontel Brown, Ohio
Scott Perry, Pennsylvania Melanie Stansbury, New Mexico
William Timmons, South Carolina Robert Garcia, California
Tim Burchett, Tennessee Maxwell Frost, Florida
Marjorie Taylor Greene, Georgia Summer Lee, Pennsylvania
Lisa McClain, Michigan Greg Casar, Texas
Lauren Boebert, Colorado Jasmine Crockett, Texas
Russell Fry, South Carolina Dan Goldman, New York
Anna Paulina Luna, Florida Jared Moskowitz, Florida
Chuck Edwards, North Carolina Vacancy
Nick Langworthy, New York
Eric Burlison, Missouri
Mark Marin, Staff Director
Jessica Donlon, Deputy Staff Director and General Counsel
Sloan McDonagh, Counsel
Mallory Cogar, Chief Clerk
Contact Number: 202-225-5074
Julie Tagen, Minority Staff Director
Contact Number: 202-225-5051
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C O N T E N T S
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Page
Hearing held on July 27, 2023.................................... 1
WITNESSES
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Dr. Rahul Gupta, Director, Office of National Drug Control Policy
Oral Statement............................................... 5
Opening statements and the prepared statements for the witnesses
are available in the U.S. House of Representatives Repository
at: docs.house.gov.
INDEX OF DOCUMENTS
----------
The documents listed below are available at: docs.house.gov.
* Article, The Heritage Foundation, ``Deceptive Numbers and
Word Games Are Hiding Continued Mass Illegal Immigration Post
Title 42''; Rep. Gosar.
* Letter, July 26, 2023 to Reps. Comer and Raskin, from The
Unted States Conference of Mayors; submitted by Rep. Raskin.
* Statement for the Record; submitted by Rep. Connolly.
* Questions for the Record: to Dr. Gupta; submitted by Chairman
Comer.
* Questions for the Record: to Dr. Gupta; submitted by Rep.
Sessions.
* Questions for the Record: to Dr. Gupta; submitted by Rep.
McClain.
* Questions for the Record: to Dr. Gupta; submitted by Rep.
Connolly.
OVERSIGHT AND REAUTHORIZATION
OF THE OFFICE OF NATIONAL
DRUG CONTROL POLICY
----------
Thursday, July 27, 2023
House of Representatives,
Committee on Oversight and Accountability,
Washington, D.C.
The Committee met, pursuant to notice, at 10:02 a.m., in
room 2154, Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. James Comer
[Chairman of the Committee] presiding.
Present: Representatives Comer, Gosar, Foxx, Grothman,
Palmer, Higgins, Sessions, Biggs, Mace, LaTurner, Timmons,
Greene, McClain, Boebert, Fry, Luna, Edwards, Burlison, Raskin,
Norton, Connolly, Krishnamoorthi, Khanna, Mfume, Ocasio-Cortez,
Porter, Brown, Stansbury, Frost, Lee, Crockett, Goldman, and
Moskowitz.
Also present: Representative Gonzalez-Colon.
Chairman Comer. The Committee on Oversight and
Accountability will come to order.
I want to welcome everyone here today to this very
important hearing.
Without objection, the Chair may declare a recess at any
time.
I recognize myself for the purpose of making an opening
statement.
Today's hearing is an opportunity for the Committee to
address the plague of fentanyl flowing into our communities,
fueling misery across the country, and leading to historically
high level of drug overdose deaths. I am sure that every single
Member of this Committee knows constituents and their families
who have been tragically impacted by illicit narcotics,
especially synthetic opioids like fentanyl. ``Fentanyl is the
deadliest drug threat that our country has ever faced.'' That
is a direct quote from a letter the Drug Enforcement
Administration wrote me this past December.
In 2021, over 100,000 people tragically lost their lives to
drug overdose in the United States, the majority caused by
fentanyl. In 2022, again, over 100,000 people lost their lives
to drug overdose, again, with the majority caused by fentanyl.
We must continue to conduct oversight of the U.S. Government's
efforts to prevent these tragedies and must make sure programs
are using the best available resources and targeting taxpayer
funds where they will make the biggest impact. Director Gupta
from the Office of National Drug Control Policy or ONDCP is
well suited to provide this information to Congress today.
ONDCP was formed with the mission to coordinate a
governmentwide effort to combat the loss of life and human
misery caused by illicit narcotics. We need to understand from
the ONDCP what is working, what is not working, and what can be
improved by legislation to prevent illicit drugs from coming
into our country, entering our communities, and poisoning our
families, friends, and neighbors.
The DEA assesses that virtually all of the deadly fentanyl
found in the United States is mass produced by transnational
criminal organizations in Mexico using precursor chemicals
sourced from China, and then smuggled in the United States
across the Southwest border. We need to know what ONDCP is
doing to disrupt the criminal organizations that traffic in
human misery and smuggle enormous quantities of drugs across
our Southern border.
The border crisis caused by the Biden Administration's
policies has diverted resources and manpower away from securing
the border, and cartel criminals take every tactical advantage
they can to cross narcotics at our ports of entry and in
between as well. We need to know what ONDCP is doing to ensure
that our Customs and Border Protection officers and border
patrol agents have the technology, legal authorities, and
manpower to intercept and disrupt the flow of narcotics coming
across the Southern border. We need to know how ONDCP is
working with law enforcement partners here and abroad to shut
down the secret labs that manufacture poisonous fentanyl from
depriving these labs of the chemicals they need to make
fentanyl, to dismantling illicit financing networks that fund
these labs. We need to know about the investments in prevention
efforts, ensuring that the public is well-informed of the
dangers of fentanyl, how to obtain treatment for drug use
disorders, and ensuring access to life saving treatments like
Narcan.
We know that China is not our ally in reducing drug
overdose deaths in the United States. Not only are they the
precursor chemical source from China, but money laundering
organizations operating out of China have partnered with the
cartels to launder the proceeds of their death and destruction
at a fraction of the cost as before. We need to know what this
Administration is doing to combat the aggression from China and
expose the Chinese Communist Party's complicity in the deaths
of hundreds of thousands of Americans. I am also alarmed with
the increasing presence of xylazine in the drug supply, which
Director Gupta has classified as an emerging threat. I am
particularly concerned that Narcan cannot save someone from
overdosing on it. We need to know how this illicit drug is
making its way into the supply chain and what authorities ONDCP
is leveraging to respond to this emerging threat.
Our oversight in this matter is critical not just to
ensuring that Federal programs are working as intended, but
this hearing will also inform authorization of that office
beyond Fiscal Year 2023. ONDCP was last authorized by the
bipartisan SUPPORT Act in 2018. A lot has changed in that time,
but our resolve to put an end to the daily drug overdose
tragedies in our communities is only strengthened. As the
Committee of jurisdiction over ONDCP, it is up to us to make
sure that ONDCP is equipped and directed to take all
appropriate actions to fight this crisis. And with that, I
yield to Ranking Member Raskin for his opening statement.
Mr. Raskin. Thank you very much, Mr. Comer, and thank you,
Director Gupta, for joining us today. The Committee is going to
be facing in the coming weeks the reauthorization of your
office, which plays a critical role in the executive branch
coordinating a whole-of-government response to reduce drug
addiction and to prevent overdoses, which touch nearly every
family and certainly every community in the country.
Overdose deaths have reached record levels in recent years,
and while deaths remain shockingly too high, we are making
progress reducing their frequency, partially because of the
work of your office. Without ONDCP's coordination and oversight
of drug policy and strategy, our public health and law
enforcement agencies would still be working myopically in
silos, and Federal investments to tackle the problem totaling
$41 billion in Fiscal Year 2022 alone would be drained off into
waste and inefficiency. Instead, because of your office, our
Federal agencies collaborate to address the problems of
addiction and overdose as part of a well-focused National Drug
Control Strategy. This comprehensive approach means that we can
better deploy Federal resources to help the communities hit
hardest by trafficking and the staggering rates of addiction,
including by working to keep drugs out of the hands of children
and to make sure people experiencing overdoses have the access
to life-saving overdose reversal medication.
After rising for more than two decades, overdose deaths in
America skyrocketed to historic highs during the coronavirus
pandemic when they increased by more than 30 percent in 2020.
The rate of increase slowed to 15 percent in 2021 and then
again in 2022. While overdose has remained far too common and a
single overdose is too many for our people, we have made
remarkable strides in the last year and new CDC data show
opioid overdose rates plateauing for the first time in many,
many years, but we cannot continue this progress without
reauthorizing your office.
Democrats and Republicans should work together to address
the underlying causes of addiction in our society. When we talk
about the opioid crisis or the fentanyl crisis, we are really
talking about many different social crises bearing down upon
us, including the mental and emotional health crisis and, in
many communities and regions, an economic and opportunity
crisis. It does no service to our communities and our families
harmed by addiction to completely blame opioid overdoses on a
crisis, whether real or fake at the Southern border. We are
talking about more than 40 million people in America who have
substance use disorders, with many of them facing serious
underlying mental health conditions. We are talking about
people who lack the resources they need to treat mental
illness, who face stigma in obtaining treatment, and who may
self-medicate with alcohol, fentanyl, and other illicit drugs.
More than 100,000 of our constituents, family members, and
friends lost their lives to drug overdose last year. We must
reauthorize ONDCP to ensure that America's young people have
access to treatment, both for substance use disorders and other
mental illnesses, so they do not end up overdosing or going to
prison for committing drug-related crimes. More than 60 percent
of children who experience depression do not get the treatment
they need, which exposes them then to the temptation to use
dangerous substances to self-medicate in the absence of the
mental health support networks that could actually see them
through to safety. We have to reauthorize your office to halt
the flow of fentanyl into our country.
Thanks to the work of ONDCP and the entire Administration,
U.S. Customs and Border Protection seized nearly 245,000 pounds
of illicit drugs at the Southern border including 21,000 pounds
of illegal fentanyl from March 2022 through February 2023.
Because we now have a coordinated all-of-government response,
we are seizing more fentanyl before it invades our communities,
and we are ensuring that law enforcement agencies have the
tools they need to arrest illicit drug traffickers.
We are disrupting the criminal cartel networks that operate
from China to Mexico and have denied nearly $2 billion to the
manufacturers and traffickers. Under ONDCP's leadership, the
High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas Program is working
effectively, and in 2022, we saw a return on investment of $82
for every dollar put into the program. The office is working
with our Homeland Security agencies to ramp up the use of high-
tech device drug detection technology along the Southern
border, including installing new non-invasive scanners to catch
trucks entering with fentanyl into the country. These new
technologies appear to be working in dramatic fashion because
fentanyl seizures are up nearly 400 percent along the Southern
border, and 90 percent of illicit fentanyl is now being caught
at ports of entry and vehicle checkpoints.
Earlier this month, your office released the Nation's first
response plan for fentanyl adulterated with xylazine, after
designating the substance an emerging threat. ONDCP would not
have been able to make this designation without new authorities
granted to you during reauthorization in 2018. Because of the
new designation, ONDCP can coordinate a rapid response to the
drug by surging resources to state and local entities combating
the threat in real time at street level.
We cannot efficiently address the addiction and illicit
drug control problems we face without discussing both supply
and demand. While blocking fentanyl, methamphetamine, and other
dangerous drugs from entering America is crucially important,
we must also address the prevalence of untreated mental illness
and rampant drug use, which create a market for these drugs in
the first place. And significantly, we must also ensure that
people who experience drug overdose can get access to the
emergency medications they need to save their lives. Thanks to
the bipartisan, bicameral work of this Committee and others in
Congress, naloxone and opioid overdose reversal medication is
set to be available over the counter in just a few weeks. And
thanks to the good work of your office, more of our schools and
workplaces have overdose reversal medication readily available.
We must continue our work to ensure these medications remain
affordable and accessible where they can mean the difference
between life and death for our constituents.
Dr. Gupta, I look forward to hearing from you today about
your critical work, and I thank you for joining us for this
hearing as we work to reauthorize your office. I yield back,
Mr. Chairman.
Chairman Comer. The gentleman yields back. I am very
pleased to introduce our witness today. Dr. Rahul Gupta is the
Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, which
leads and coordinates the Nation's drug control policy. Dr.
Gupta was confirmed by the Senate and assumed office on
November 5, 2021. I look forward to hearing from Director Gupta
today on his office's efforts to combat the overdose crisis as
well as the reauthorization of the Office of National Drug
Control Policy.
Pursuant to Committee Rule 9(g), the witness will please
stand and raise his right hand.
Do you solemnly swear or affirm that the testimony that you
are about to give is the truth, the whole truth, and nothing
but the truth, so help you God?
Dr. Gupta. I do.
Chairman Comer. Let the record show that the witness
answered in the affirmative.
We appreciate you being here today and look very forward to
your testimony. Let me remind the witness that we have read
your written statement and it will appear in full in the
hearing record. Please limit your oral statement to 5 minutes.
As a reminder, please press the button on the microphone in
front of you so that it is on, and the Members can hear you.
When you begin to speak, the light in front of you will turn
green. After 4 minutes, it will turn yellow. You know the
routine. You have done it before, and if you need to take more
time, feel free.
I recognize Dr. Gupta to please begin his opening
statement.
STATEMENT OF DR. RAHUL GUPTA
DIRECTOR
OFFICE OF NATIONAL DRUG CONTROL POLICY
Dr. Gupta. Chairman Comer, Ranking Member Raskin, and
Members of the Committee, thank you for having me here today.
I recently called a mother to express my condolences. She
just lost her daughter, Michelle, to drug overdose. Michelle
left behind two young children. Michelle was not the only one
lost to drug overdose and poisoning in the family. Her sister,
Maya, had passed away 3 years prior after becoming addicted to
pain medications prescribed to her, and the mother I spoke to
had been the one to find Maya unresponsive at home, every
parent's worst nightmare. So, I asked myself, how could we as a
Nation have saved these two young women and more than 109,000
other Americans over the past year? Some say we just need to
lock up everyone involved with illicit drugs, including people
like Michelle and Maya, just lock them up and throw away the
keys. Others say we should focus on treatment and ignore drug
traffickers.
With an American dying every 5 minutes around the clock, we
cannot just focus on supply or just on demand. We have got to
do both because we cannot treat dead people, so here is the
bottom line: drug trafficking is a crime and must be
prosecuted, and drug addiction is a disease that must be
treated. And here is what we are contending with today: drug
traffickers who are motivated only by profit, too few support
systems for people with the disease of substance use disorder.
These drugs are accessible right on your phone, and emerging
threats of fentanyl mixed with xylazine, commonly known as
tranq, has made matters worse. Tranq dope is making fentanyl
look like a walk in the park.
Disrupting today's drug traffickers and producers is like
playing Whac-A-Mole. The global supply chain for synthetic
drugs is more robust than ever, with precursors predominantly
coming from China, which refuses to cooperate on counter-
narcotics. So, we are bringing world leaders together to
address the global supply of precursor chemicals for synthetic
drugs, with or without China.
Last fall, Congress itself put a price tag on the
staggering toll of opioid epidemic, $1.5 trillion in 2020
alone--$1.5 trillion. So, this is a national security problem,
it is an economic prosperity problem, and it is a public health
problem, and President Biden and his Administration are
determined to solve it. The President's National Drug Control
Strategy is going after the two key drivers of this crisis--
untreated addiction and drug trafficking profits that fuel it--
and we are getting results. Let me give you an example.
El Chapo's son is behind bars, and naloxone or Narcan is
over the counter, and treatment for addiction is more
accessible than it has ever been. We have the technology, the
expertise, and the courage to stop drugs at the border. When
almost 90 percent of fentanyl is coming through our ports of
entry, we must put technology to work for the American people.
[Chart]
Dr. Gupta. I want to point your attention to the poster on
my left. We are installing new high-tech drug detection
scanners on our Southwest border to make sure that every single
vehicle that needs to be scanned, gets scanned. Every single
one.
This is what commercial disruption of drug trafficking
looks like in the 21st century. If you look at the post to my
right, these images show from side-to-side and top-to-bottom
how technology is helping seize more fentanyl than ever before.
All the pieces in the red circle. With record-breaking
seizures, we have denied traffickers more than $22 billion in
profit just last year, thanks largely to the brave officers and
the agents of Custom and Border Protection and our High
Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas program or HIDTA.
At the same time, we have invested $83 billion in
treatment, 42 percent more than the previous Administration, to
address the opioid crisis in local communities. We are tracking
non-fatal overdoses in near real time so communities can
respond to hotspots. And using the emerging threats authority
granted by Congress in the SUPPORT Act, we have developed a
Federal response to xylazine and are implementing it as we
speak. Our Drug-Free Communities Support Program or DFC is
preventing youth substance use in all 50 states. And our social
media campaign warning youth about the dangers of fentanyl and
the importance of carrying naloxone has made more than 1.7
billion impressions: 1.7 billion. And as a result of all these
actions and so many more, our Nation is finally seeing
progress. In 2022, overdose deaths flattened after sharp rises
for several years. Still, we cannot stop. We must keep pushing
forward.
Now, to President Biden and to me, the path is clear. We
must double down on what works and address the challenges that
remain to save American lives, and we must prepare for future
threats. I want to thank Congress for your role in the progress
our Nation has made, and I am eager to work with you to make
sure that law enforcement and public health have the tools that
they need. But make no mistake about it: this is a fight for
the very future of our Nation. The American people deserve
nothing less than our very best. Thank you.
Chairman Comer. Thank you, and we will now begin our
questioning phase. The Chair recognizes Mr. Gosar of Arizona
for 5 minutes.
Mr. Gosar. Thank you, Chairman. Thank you, Dr. Gupta, for
your comments. One hundred and seven thousand people died of
overdoses in 2021, as you said. It appears that 109,000 people
died of overdoses from February 2022 to 2023. No matter how the
Administration spins this, the problem is getting worse. There
are many reasons for the drug crisis. Instead of dependency
that we saw on drugs, now we are seeing tranq and fentanyl
being put together, and we are seeing instant death. Yes, there
are more granular policy fixes that are worthy of focus.
However, I would like to zoom out on this one problem. Biden's
National Drug Control Strategy is 150 pages. The words ``God''
and ``faith'' are not mentioned one time.
People need a purpose to be happy. To quote Robert F.
Kennedy and I know that is awful hard, ``Unemployment kills.''
The left offers endless benefits, in other words, dependency,
because dependent population votes for the providers of those
benefits, but a human being needs a purpose, a good job, the
ability to provide for a family, a belief in a creator in order
to be happy. He or she does not need lockdowns that destroy
their small businesses. He or she does not need free needles
and syringes so they can inject themselves with deadly drugs.
He or she does not need lower wages and more crime to thank
illegal alien invasion. That only raises anxiety. He or she
does not need to fight in pointless foreign wars. Words related
to race are mentioned 50 times in the same document. Racism and
white supremacy have nothing to do with the fact that our
population is being decimated by illegal drugs and high rates
of suicide. The lack of purpose fostered by the left is the
real culprit.
Now, I have got some questions for you. I would first like
to submit for the record the following article by the Heritage
Immigration expert, Lora Ries, ``Deceptive Numbers and Word
Games Are Hiding Continued Mass Illegal Immigration Post Title
42,'' for the record.
Chairman Comer. Without objection.
Mr. Gosar. In January 2023, the Administration decided to
abuse the parole system, which only allows illegal aliens to
enter the United States on a case-by-case basis for urgent
humanitarian reasons or public benefit, by allowing 30,000
Haitians, Cubans, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans to arrive per
month. Dr. Gupta, does the decision to allow 30,000 individuals
from these very poor countries to enter the U.S. every month
exacerbate or improve the drug crisis in the United States?
Dr. Gupta. Thank you, Congressman. I will say that the
levels have flattened. We need to do more. We need to create a
recovery-ready Nation, recovery-ready businesses, as you
mentioned, and we need to have people find hope and purpose in
their life, and we are taking all aspects of it. You mentioned
faith. We are meeting with faith leaders across the Nation very
soon next month.
Mr. Gosar. But I do not see it published.
Dr. Gupta. I am sorry?
Mr. Gosar. It is one thing to say that you are meeting with
these people, but it is another thing to be acknowledged,
right?
Dr. Gupta. I can tell you that this is an important piece
of what we are trying to do is accomplish or bring all
communities together, whether they are business, faith,
treatment, public health or public safety, law enforcement. It
is important all of us have a role to play. None of us can fix
this problem by themselves to recognize that.
Mr. Gosar. I agree, but allowing thousands of people who do
not speak English and who will have a very hard time finding a
job to enter the United States will exacerbate the crisis in
the United States, but that is not all. The Biden
Administration is bastardizing the use of Federal app
originally created by the Trump Administration to facilitate
cross-border tourism and commerce under the Trump
Administration called the CBP One app, that allows illegal
aliens to make an asylum appointment at a port of entry.
Thirty-seven thousand five hundred illegal aliens can enter the
U.S. per month. According to Ries, if aliens entering through
the parole and CBP One app were added to the DHS official
encounters numbers, then encounters would return to historic
levels of 200,000-plus per month, numbers only seen under the
Biden Administration.
Do you believe facilitating the entry of 37,500 aliens per
month, many of whom do not speak English and will have a very
hard time finding a job, will exacerbate or improve the drug
crisis in the United States?
Dr. Gupta. Thank you, Congressman. What we are trying to do
is put technology at the border to make sure that where the
drugs are coming through, we are stopping every piece of that
drug, what we can stop.
Mr. Gosar. But you are not because I am from Arizona and we
see hundreds and thousands of pounds of fentanyl coming across
the border, so no matter how you try to intercept it, it is
going to make it worse. So, I got limited time. The National
Drug Control Strategy published by your office says advancing
racial equity is one of the seven priorities that your office
deems to be most important in fighting the drug crisis. Another
is harm reduction, which means facilitating drug use for drug
abusers. How is Congress supposed to take your office seriously
when you espouse these positions? I do not know how any of
these have anything to do with those circumstances.
Mr. Chairman, I yield back, and I thank you for the time.
Chairman Comer. The gentleman yields back. The Chair now
recognizes the Ranking Member, Mr. Raskin, from Maryland for 5
minutes.
Mr. Raskin. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I am surprised to hear
my colleague from Arizona say some of the things he is saying.
First of all, the purpose of our government is laid out very
clearly in the preamble of the Constitution: ``We the people,
in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice,
ensure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense,
promote the general welfare, and preserve to ourselves and our
posterity the blessings of liberty, ordain the Constitution.''
The gentleman is somehow looking for some kind of religious
test, which is explicitly forbidden in the Constitution of
people for public office in the drug control strategy. What
about the free exercise clause? What about the establishment
clause of the Constitution, which says that Congress shall make
no law respecting an establishment of religion?
So surely, we can make a difference in terms of people's
individual lives and individual paths to recovery. People will
derive sources of strength from many different places,
including religious faith, including their friends and their
family, including psychology, and so on, but the idea that our
drug strategy is flawed because it does not put religion to the
center seems, to me, to be preposterous.
And the gentleman also said, no matter how you try to
intercept it, it is going to make it worse. On the contrary,
what I have heard from Dr. Gupta is that the new technologies
of interception are working in order to reduce the flow of
fentanyl into the country. Dr. Gupta, you say in the National
Drug Control Strategy, saving lives is our North Star. What are
you doing to save lives and prevent overdoses, and how is this
different from what was happening before?
Dr. Gupta. Thank you, Congressman, Ranking Member, for that
question. It is really important we meet people where they are
today because of the crisis. One of those things is to make
sure that we have naloxone or Narcan available to people when
they are overdosing. As a doctor, I have seen people come into
the emergency room five times sometimes in the same day. I have
not judged them, but I do feel that saving that life was
important to me, make sure that they have a chance of getting
into treatment. We are expanding treatment with telehealth,
with expanding the ability.
Congress was instrumental in making sure we are removing
the X waiver that now goes from 129,000 doctors to almost 2
million doctors in this country, and then we are making sure
that we are putting technology. I was down in Arizona, saw a
445 percent increase in detection. Thirty-eight million pills
is what Custom Border Protection told me down there at the
border----
Mr. Raskin. So, you are saying that the technology is
working?
Dr. Gupta. It is absolutely working.
Mr. Raskin. That your strategies of interception are not
failing, and we should not surrender to the fatalism, which
says there is nothing that can be done about it, other than
everybody go home and pray about it. How are you addressing
mental illness as an underlying cause of substance abuse?
Dr. Gupta. Thank you, Ranking Member. Mental illness and
drug addiction go hand in glove, and they overlap with each
other. And it is really important that we address both the
mental health, social isolation, as well as addiction as piece
of that. Just the day before yesterday, the President announced
the importance of parity enforcement to make sure that people
with physical health and mental health get the same level of
care and not discriminated against. That is one of the reasons
for not getting Americans the help the need and the President
is completely focused on that.
Mr. Raskin. I read a fascinating article that I want to
submit to the record, Mr. Chairman, called, ``How to Stop the
Mexican Cartels? Stop Supplying Them With Guns.''
Mr. Raskin. And it makes the point that 75 to 90 percent of
Mexican drug cartel firearms come from U.S. manufacturers and
U.S. gun stores. As I understand it, there is only one gun
store in all of Mexico. There is a much stricter control on
firearms there, and the firearms that are being used by the
cartels that are pumping fentanyl into our country are armed by
American gun manufacturers. Would we actually be striking a
blow for our efforts to reduce the flow of fentanyl into our
country if we reduce the flow of firearms into Mexico coming
from our gun dealers?
Dr. Gupta. Ranking Member, it is critical to have a strong,
stable partner on the south of border. Part of that is to
address the illegal weapons that are going on, smuggled down
into Mexico, causing violence as part of the drug and other
trades.
Mr. Raskin. Twenty-thousand Mexicans were killed last year.
They are killing thousands of people, these syndicates and
these cartels, and they are getting their guns from America.
Dr. Gupta. Ranking Member, the cooperation on this issue
and as well as the drug issue has never been stronger in terms
of making sure that the Governor of Mexico is holding
accountable both the traffickers, but also, we are sharing
data, e-track, and other systems so that we can go after the
weapons trafficking that is happening in this country as well.
Mr. Raskin. Well, thank you very much, and I yield back to
you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you kindly.
Chairman Comer. The Chair now recognizes Dr. Foxx from
North Carolina for 5 minutes.
Ms. Foxx. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and thank you, Dr. Gupta
for being here today. I voted in favor of the SUPPORT Act in
2018, which created the ONDCP. And I believe in the work that
you and your staff do to marshal our government's resources to
keep dangerous drugs, like fentanyl and xylene, off of our
streets. However, I am deeply concerned that the Biden
Administration is pursuing radical, open border policies that
invite cartels and their Chinese enablers to flood our country
with absurd amounts of fatal drugs, making the ONDCP's job even
harder than it ought to be. Dr. Gupta, can you tell the
Committee how many pounds of fentanyl were seized in Fiscal
Year 2020?
Dr. Gupta. Congresswoman, I can get you the exact data for
years, but the fact is we are seizing more fentanyl now than
ever before, and----
Ms. Foxx. I believe the official CBP data shows it is 5,600
pounds, so can you tell us how many pounds were seized in
Fiscal Year 2021?
Dr. Gupta. It was certainly less than what we have now.
Ms. Foxx. It is 11,201 pounds. I am using official figures:
Fiscal Year 2022, 14,700 pounds. And this year, and I will
remind those watching that we still have a few more months to
go, in fiscal 2023, 22,037 pounds. We have seized nearly 17,000
pounds more fentanyl in 2023 than we did in 2020. That is just
a difference of 3 years. Dr. Gupta, could you please inform the
Committee just how little fentanyl is needed to kill the
average-sized man?
Dr. Gupta. Congresswoman, as little as 2 milligrams is
potentially lethal, but I could tell you there are two reasons
primarily for seizing high numbers. One is the use of
technology that we are doing and our brave women and men at the
Custom Border Protection are working, officers in blue and
green to stop it; and the second is to make sure that these
drug traffickers and producers are being motivated by profits.
Ms. Foxx. Well, we very much appreciate the work that is
being done to seize the fentanyl. My understanding was it takes
3 milligrams. You said 2, so my math will be off on 2. But let
me say on 3 milligrams, the 22,037 pounds of fentanyl seized so
far this year is enough to kill over 3 billion people--3
billion people--so under your numbers it would be even more.
That is nearly half the global population. So, we learned in a
hearing hosted by this very Committee in late April the Chinese
firms produce and sell the chemical precursors used in fentanyl
production to South American cartels, who in turn manufacture
and traffic fentanyl across the Southern border using the flow
of migrants as a smokescreen.
Dr. Gupta, I want to inform both you and the public, that
in 2020, our Southern borders saw some 242,000 encounters with
illegal immigrants. I should note that these are the encounters
that were recorded and that the true number is much higher. And
so far in 2023, there have been a whopping 783,993 encounters.
That is over three times higher than in 2020. And while I
appreciate the good work that you and the people who work with
you are doing, it is very clear to me and most Americans that
this President's open border policies are contributing to the
deaths of thousands of American citizens and lining the pockets
of drug cartels and illicit Chinese drugs manufacturers. This
is a disgrace. Mr. Chairman, Congress must act. I yield back.
Mr. Raskin. Will the gentlelady yield for just a moment?
Ms. Foxx. My time is up, Mr. Raskin.
Mr. Raskin. OK. Thank you.
Ms. Foxx. Thank you.
Chairman Comer. The Chair now recognizes Ms. Norton from
Washington D.C. for 5 minutes.
Ms. Norton. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for this important
hearing.
Dr. Gupta, I think you would probably agree that the opioid
epidemic is one of the greatest public health crisis facing our
Nation today. Lack of access to treatment, and I am interested
in my questions on treatment, is a primary driver of this
crisis. In 2021, 24 million people in the United States aged 12
years and older met the scientific criteria for having a
substance use disorder, but the vast majority did not receive
treatment. Dr. Gupta, are medications to treat opioid addiction
effective?
Dr. Gupta. Yes, Congresswoman.
Ms. Norton. And are most health insurance plans required by
law to cover medications for substance abuse disorders?
Dr. Gupta. Yes, they do, minus sometimes the games that get
played about preauthorization and other aspects of this that we
are trying to address at this point.
Ms. Norton. That is important. There is no reason people
should face continued barriers to treatment, but tragically,
they do. For example, a recent study indicates that Medicaid is
one of the primary payers for medication that helps treat
opioid addiction in the United States, also known as
therapeutics. However, 50 percent of Medicaid enrollees with
opioid use disorder still lack access to therapeutics. Dr.
Gupta, based on your knowledge and expertise as a medical
doctor, why is it important that people who experience opioid
use disorder have access to medicines that help treat the
disorder?
Dr. Gupta. Thank you, Congresswoman. It is critical. We
have less than 1 out of 10 people who need treatment today, is
getting treatment. It is worse for communities that are
marginalized communities of color and rural populations. So, it
is important that when we look at telehealth, we look at being
able to cover for these medications. There are three FDA-
approved medications that people get the help when and where
they need it, and that is exactly the work that this
Administration is trying to do, expand it to have the goal of
universal access to treatment by 2025.
Ms. Norton. Thank you. Just last week, the Biden-Harris
Administration announced plans to distribute almost $48 million
in grant funding for programs that expand access to medications
for opioid use disorder. This was part of the Administration's
overdose prevention strategy, and it has coordinated whole of
government approach to making opioid addiction treatment more
accessible. So, Dr. Gupta, how would these grants help ensure
people experiencing opioid use disorder have access to
treatment including therapeutics, such as buprenorphine?
Dr. Gupta. Thank you, Congresswoman. The fact is that
today, there are $24 billion more that are going into the local
communities than in the past 4 years, and the reason for that
$83 billion in total is to get people the help where they need
it and when they need it. These moneys will help people access
treatment. And one of the things that I will say is oftentimes
people do not ask for treatment because of stigma, so it is
important that we start to work to remove that stigma, whether
we are working with employers, small businesses, or others. And
that is an important piece of this work to make sure that
people can access it. They do not have the fear of being, you
know, punished for that, and then treatments are available and
accessible to them wherever they live.
Ms. Norton. Thank you. Dr. Gupta, how would reauthorizing
the Office of National Drug Control Policy allow you to
continue coordinating across government agencies so that people
have access to opioid use disorder medications regardless of
socioeconomic status or other barriers to care?
Dr. Gupta. Congresswoman, what my office does is works
across the $40-plus billion budget across 19 Federal agencies
to coordinate the response to this. It is a congressionally
created office. It is critical to saving lives that we make
sure that treatment is available to anyone and everyone that
needs it. It is an important tool in the toolbox to be able to
help people save lives.
Ms. Norton. Substance use disorders are incredibly complex
challenges that require multifaceted solutions. I look forward
to continuing to work with the Administration to get lifesaving
treatment into the hands of people struggling with opioid use
disorder.
Mr. Raskin. Would the gentlelady yield for a moment?
Ms. Norton. I yield.
Mr. Raskin. Just quick question on Ms. Foxx's point. Does
an increase in the amount of fentanyl seized indicate the
failure of our drug strategy or the success of the policies of
the Administration?
Dr. Gupta. Ranking Member, obviously increased seizures
means that more is being done at the border to hold people
accountable, so it is an indication of the success of the
policy and the strategy.
Mr. Raskin. Thank you. I yield back.
Chairman Comer. The Chair now recognizes Mr. Palmer from
Alabama for 5 minutes.
Mr. Palmer. I thank the Chairman. In response to what our
measure of success ought to be, we had a record number of
people die from fentanyl poisoning last year. It exceeded
another record year of the previous year. And I think if we
want to talk success and dealing with fentanyl, and
particularly fentanyl crossing our Southern border, I am very
appreciative of the fact that we have interdicted an enormous
amount of it, but when the death rate is as high as it is, Dr.
Gupta, with all due respect, that is not exactly success by
anyone's definition.
I want to ask you about something else. We also are seeing
something, and I appreciate the fact that ONDCP has alerted the
public about the use of xylazine, also known as tranq. It is,
as you know, a non-opioid veterinary tranquilizer. It is not
approved for human use. It depresses the central nervous
system, and we are starting to see people to die from that. I
just saw a report the other day with a young mother talking
about her son. They tried to administer Narcan to revive him.
That did not work because it is a non-opioid, and I just want
to ask you, where is most of the xylazine produced?
Dr. Gupta. Thank you, Congressman, for the question. A lot
of it is coming from illicit sources from China.
Mr. Palmer. Right.
Dr. Gupta. It is also being trafficked through traffickers
and mixed on the street.
Mr. Palmer. You are ahead of me on where I was going with
this because I want to make this point, Mr. Chairman, that it
is not enough for the cartels and the Chinese to kill Americans
with fentanyl. We have developed some ways to save people who
have taken that drug with Narcan, but Narcan does not work, as
we pointed out, and Dr. Gupta knows this. It is a non-opioid,
the xylazine is, and it does not work. So now they are mixing
it in with fentanyl. And I just have to ask myself and this is
probably unfair for me to ask you this, but it seems to me, Dr.
Gupta, that this is intentional, that, I mean, most people when
they are selling a product they want to preserve their customer
base, but it seems to me that the intent here is to kill as
many Americans as they can.
Dr. Gupta. Congressman, the intention is to make as much
money as they can. I will say this, Narcan or naloxone does
work, but it complicates the response. So, you got to have more
respiratory control and all of those things, so it is making it
difficult to save lives because of the tranq dope now, but the
intent here is all about money. We have got to follow the money
and that is exactly what this Administration is doing.
Mr. Palmer. Well, if it is all about money, they would be
producing a drug that gave the same results that the drug user
wants to experience without killing them, but when you have
over 100,000 people dying, there is a problem here. And I am
almost to a point, Mr. Chairman, where I think that the cartels
ought to be classified as non-state adversaries. I am serious.
When you have that many people dying. And I bet there is not a
person in this room that does not know someone who has lost a
family member to a drug overdose.
Dr. Gupta. Congressman, what they are trying to do, if you
allow me to say this, is collateral damage that is acceptable
to them and is not to us. This is what they are trying to do.
They try to make sure that fentanyl is 50 to 100 times more
potent and addictive than morphine. So, their goal is to get as
much as possible to the people and not just in the United
States but across the world. So, their population and clients
is limitless, and we want to make sure we can stop them by
denying them profits and operating capital, and do everything
we can.
Mr. Palmer. Well, don't we also know that the Chinese are
providing not only the xylazine and the fentanyl, but also the
chemicals for mixing these for the combinations that they need
to produce the drugs that people are taking?
Dr. Gupta. We are doing everything. We have asked Chinese
to work. They are refusing to cooperate with us at this point.
That is why we have put together a global coalition of 80-plus
countries and 11 international organizations to go after the
chemical precursors across the earth.
Mr. Palmer. Well, when they are refusing to work with you,
I do not think China needs the drug money. They are not making
the money that the cartels are making. At some point, you have
to realize that there is a level of intent here, of
malevolence, that has to be taken into account. I think we are
going to have to, I know Congressman Dan Crenshaw was involved
with the select committee on dealing with the cartels. But when
you have over 100,000 people dying, and that is probably
underreported by 10, 15 percent, because so many families do
not want it on the death certificate how their family member
died, I think we are going to have to reevaluate how we address
this, and it needs to be a bipartisan effort. And I thank you
for being here. I yield back.
Chairman Comer. The gentleman yields back. The Chair
recognizes Mr. Frost from Florida for 5 minutes.
Mr. Frost. Thank you, Mr. Chair, and thank you, Dr. Gupta
for being here.
The Office of National Drug Control Policy is responsible
for coordinating the United States Drug Control Policy
response. This includes policies addressing the flow of harmful
drugs into the country, but also includes supporting our
neighbors, who are directly impacted by substance use disorder.
And also, to clarify, the ONDCP has been around since 1989.
Once again, the ONDCP has been around since 1989. It was
reauthorized in 2018, so it was not founded in 2018. It was in
1989.
Each year in Florida, around 750,000 people misuse
prescription pain relievers and 165,000 live with an opioid use
disorder, and it gets worse. In America, approximately 85
percent of the prison population has an active substance use
disorder or were incarcerated in connection with drugs or drug
use. Forced withdrawal in prison can be deadly. Doctor, how has
your office supported the expansion of substance use treatment
for incarcerated folks?
Dr. Gupta. Thank you, Congressman, for that important
question. The fact is today that any given day there is 2
million Americans incarcerated. Sixty to 80 percent of them are
incarcerated because of either drug use or drug-related crime,
and when they are released, they are up 120 times more likely
to die from overdose or be re-incarcerated. It is become so
critical to get people the help they need to get them treatment
so when they come out, that not only 85 percent less likely to
die, but actually go back and assimilate in the community and
be contributing members to the community. So, we are both
working within the Federal Bureau of Prisons to expand
treatment so anyone who wants treatment is offered treatment.
We are also providing Medicaid waivers to states. Fifteen
states have already applied for the waivers to get treatment
available for 90 days before release. Two have been approved,
including California and Washington, which I believe was just
approved last week.
Mr. Frost. OK. Thank you. And you brought this up. It is
not just during incarceration. The first 2 weeks someone is out
of jail, they are 129 times more likely to overdose.
Dr. Gupta. Congressman, here is the problem. We have 18 to
42 years old, No. 1 cause of death today in America--this is
working age population--is overdose, and these folks are being
released and they are dying. I look at this also from an
economic prosperity in the future for our country's standpoint,
and this is not a 1 year, 2-year project. This is something we
will continue to see results into the future.
Mr. Frost. Has your office developed recommendations on
dealing with overdose in terms of reentry?
Dr. Gupta. Yes, Congressman. We have developed a state
model law for prisons and jails to look at to how to measure
because we want to make sure the taxpayer dollars are being
appropriately used to measure what works, what does not work as
well, and we will be happy to share.
Mr. Frost. I also want to hear what you have to say about
the CMS 1115 waiver. Can you explain for people what that is
and why it is so important?
Dr. Gupta. Yes, Congressman. As I mentioned, the numbers do
not lie. We have too many Americans dying that are being
released back into the community because their threshold goes
down and they go back, and they end up dying or worse being
incarcerated. The 1115 waiver allows states to apply for the
ability to treat people for 90 days before they are released,
and then the most important piece of this is connecting.
Oftentimes when people are released, they are lost in the
community. The next time you know it, either they are in prison
or they are dead. This connection transition of care is so
important that this waiver allows. It is, literally, lifesaving
and life changing for these individuals.
Mr. Frost. And as I understand it, my home state of Florida
is not yet among the states making use of the waiver. Is that
correct?
Dr. Gupta. In my understanding as well.
Mr. Frost. In 2022, the National Drug Control Strategy, you
outlined specific goals and field performance goals for 2025.
How confident are you that, if given that amount of resources
needed, that you can hit those targets that you set for
yourself?
Dr. Gupta. These are goals that we have outlined of saving
165,000 American lives by 2025 are doable, but just between
2022 and 2021, we have avoided the death of 19,000 Americans.
Again, to me, as a doctor, every one of these as an individual
that is at the dinner table at the holiday party with each
other with their family. So, we have that. The goals I think we
are putting together, the policy that are there are working. We
need to make sure the resource and folks get the help that they
need.
Mr. Frost. Thank you. You know, I think the Chair and my
colleagues on this Committee on both sides of the aisle can
agree that the size of our commitment should match the size of
the challenge, and this is a huge challenge for our country
right now. Thank you. I yield back.
Chairman Comer. The Chair recognizes Mr. Higgins from
Louisiana for 5 minutes.
Mr. Higgins. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Doctor, your
background, you are primarily a medical doctor, correct?
Dr. Gupta. Yes, Congressman.
Mr. Higgins. OK. So, do you consider yourself a law
enforcement professional?
Dr. Gupta. Congressman, I have worked in West Virginia with
law enforcement as commissioner of health for two Governors, as
well as local health of public.
Mr. Higgins. We appreciate that service. I am not trying to
do anything other than clarify your background. The position
you are in, as our Nation faces an unprecedented crisis of
incoming deadly drugs across our Southern border, it is going
to call for a great deal of coordination between the executive
branch and your particular department which we have to
determine if we intend to support reauthorization or not, and I
am not there yet. So, as a law enforcement professional myself,
I have questions about the direction that you are leading your
department. And so, I am asking you legitimately, it is OK to
be a doctor and not a cop, but when you are talking to folks
about who you are, are you a doctor or are you a cop?
Dr. Gupta. I am proud to be a physician, but also, I have
tremendous respect for the law enforcement officers across this
Nation.
Mr. Higgins. Excellent and polished answer. So, the
meetings that you have, how would you describe how extensive
they are, the meetings that you have with the heads of CBP and
Homeland Security Investigation?
Dr. Gupta. I have regular meetings with all of the agencies
and more, as you mentioned, and they are----
Mr. Higgins. Specifically, CBP and Homeland Security
Investigations, how frequently? You said regular meetings. What
does that mean?
Dr. Gupta. Congressman, I just had a phone call this week
with the Acting Commissioner Troy Miller of CBP, and I intend
to see him again next week.
Mr. Higgins. How about HSI?
Dr. Gupta. It is more or less I have detailees in my office
every single day. They come to work from HSI, from CBP, from a
number of law enforcement agencies.
Mr. Higgins. OK. Let us shift from your level of
interaction with the leading department, Homeland Security law
enforcement and investigative forces at our border that are
tasked with stopping fentanyl from coming into our country and
the meth. Are you familiar with the term ``China White?'' Do
you know what that--it was back in the 1990's. That is not a
trick question. I will just tell you.
When fentanyl first showed up on the street, we did not
know what it was. It was very rarely encountered. It was called
China White. It was known to be super powerful and deadly, but
it was not really an issue because the issue at the time, the
1990's and into the mid-2000's, was meth labs in America. Those
were largely shut down by legislative action taken at the
Federal and state level to take Sudafed and Sudafed-type
products off the shelf, to make them all available over-the-
counter, but with an ID through the pharmacy. That pretty much
shut down the labs, but this vacuum was filled as the fentanyl
trafficking began building, and it largely coming through
Mexico. We knew this.
And this stuff was so deadly, and I am trying to get there,
was so deadly it was killing our canine dogs and officers who
would come into contact with it. We had to change all our
protocols on how to deal with this stuff. And now it is so
prevalent and so cheap, $100 to $150 a gram, and only requires
2 milligrams as a deadly dose. It calls a point on the street
because you pick it up with the point of a pen. That is how
deadly it is, and it is so cheap and so readily available, drug
dealers are giving it away in order to establish an addicted
clientele to grow the addicted clientele. They are giving it
away. We had 107,000 deaths in 2021, 108,000 in 2022, and your
quote from earlier, good sir, was that you are not failing to
intercept. So please explain.
Dr. Gupta. Thank you, Congressman. And let me just be clear
that I was involved in putting through the pseudoephedrine
behind the walls. I was involved in those meth lab busts on the
ground, actually, and the reason, if you think about it, why it
went South of the border, the production of meth, is because of
money. The reason that fentanyl is so profitable is because the
small amounts affect the same amount and is so potent.
So, I think we have to understand what persuades these bad
guys to actually go to the verge of killing 109,000 Americans a
year, and it is actually profits. It is money. It is important,
and this is why this Administration is going through commercial
disruption, going after the traffickers, but also their
profits, pill pressers, die molds, shippers, and working with
shippers, and express consignment carriers, and putting highest
level of sanctions that we have on both Chinese companies,
these companies, as well as the Mexican cartels and producing
the indictment along with arrests of hundreds of hundreds of
the members in recent days that you have seen. Part of that all
reason is to disrupt and dismantle these organizations but also
understand what drives them in the 21st century.
Mr. Higgins. You have been very professional. My time has
expired. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Chairman Comer. The gentleman yields back. The Chair now
recognizes Ms. Stansbury from New Mexico for 5 minutes.
Ms. Stansbury. Thank you. Dr. Gupta, welcome to our
Committee. Mr. Chairman, I want to start by thanking you,
sincerely, for convening this panel today, and I do mean that
from the bottom of my heart because I have watched as this
Committee has devolved into a platform for conspiracy theories
and misinformation and political theater over the last 6
months. And I think it is notable that many of our colleagues
do not even bother to show up when we hold a real hearing, and
the conspiracy theories and cameras are not rolling. So, it is
about high time that we actually turn to an issue that affects
the American people.
And I think, like so many Americans, these issues of
addiction, drug trafficking weigh heavy on my heart, especially
for so many New Mexicans, which is the state that I represent.
The opioid crisis has hit close to home, and in fact, I will
never forget the morning in January in 2019, when I received
the first call. I was actually sitting on the floor of the New
Mexico State House of Representatives. I had just been elected
to the legislature when I received the call that one of my
oldest and dearest friends had died suddenly of a heart attack.
We later learned that it was a fentanyl overdose, and over the
years that have now come since that first call, there have been
more.
And I think for many New Mexicans, this is a story that is
all too familiar, and it is why I have spent a lot of my time
in this body working on real solutions to address the fentanyl
crisis because it is real, because it hits close to home,
because it is affecting every single family in our communities
and in my state. And we can sit here and yell about the border
and talk about all of these issues, but if we are not actually
addressing the real issues that are leading to the crisis, then
our family members and our friends are going to continue to
die.
That is why I have been working with law enforcement, our
state, local, and tribal officials, our behavioral health
providers to help rebuild the behavioral health and addiction
recovery systems that were gutted by a Republican Governor just
one cycle ago. We are working to invest in the drug
interdiction programs, the drug trafficking technologies and
tools for a law enforcement. We are helping to support the
border intervention programs that help to stop the tide of
those raw materials coming in and actually helping those,
whether they are in the homes of their family members or loved
ones or living on the streets, actually connect with the care
that they need to recover. That is how we address this crisis,
not sitting in rooms screaming to cameras.
And so, Dr. Gupta, I am grateful for your service, and I
know that you understand that. And I am grateful that President
Biden has actually made this a priority and a centerpiece of
his Administration, and I think in spite of what we have heard
here today, it is important that the American people really
understand that. And I wonder if you could just take a moment
to help us understand how high a priority this is for the
President and for your office and how you are addressing the
crisis.
Dr. Gupta. Thank you, Congresswoman, and I am deeply sorry
for the loss. It is something that stays with me every day.
Every morning I wake up, this is something I think about, so
this is very personal to me. The President is extremely
committed to this. I can tell you that this is his top
priority. Not only is the President's drug control strategy
completely data driven and focused on getting resources and
help to Americans and in an evidence-based manner, doing
everything we can from both supply side and demand side, but he
is personally committed.
I spoke to him this week about this. This is how much
committed he is, and so is the Vice President. We brought in
eight attorneys general last week to the White House to talk
about it, and it is important, it is bipartisan, it is part of
the President's unity agenda. And it is something that
109,000--a million Americans--have passed away in the last 2
decades and tens of millions have suffered a non-fatal
overdose. I think we have got to find a way to work together on
this and solve this problem.
Ms. Stansbury. Thank you, Doctor. I also want to just take
a moment to clarify and correct some misinformation that was
shared just a few moments ago by one of my colleagues that is
not only incorrect, but dangerous. Now, Dr. Gupta, in New
Mexico, our law enforcement are very clear with us. The vast
majority of raw materials that is used for the manufacturing of
fentanyl is actually coming across legal ports of entry. Is
that correct?
Dr. Gupta. That is correct.
Ms. Stansbury. And the vast majority of those materials is
actually being transported through those legal ports of entry
by crime syndicates and drug traffickers, not by individuals
who are seeking asylum in this country, correct?
Dr. Gupta. That is correct.
Ms. Stansbury. Thank you. And, you know, Dr. Gupta, and to
my colleagues, I think that the propagation of dangerous
rhetoric against those from other countries who are seeking
asylum in our country not only threatens the lives of those
individuals who are trying to come to our country for a better
life, like so many of our families did, but it also threatens
the safety of our communities and our ability to address this
crisis. So, let us be honest with the American people, let us
be bipartisan, and let us actually work to solve this problem,
and with that, I yield back.
Chairman Comer. The Chair recognizes Mr. Grothman from
Wisconsin for 5 minutes.
Mr. Grothman. Yes. First of all, I got to do a follow-up on
that last thing because I have been at the border several
times, and if you talk to the Border Patrol, what they will
tell you is the majority of drugs caught at the border are in
designated points of entry. We have, like, well over 30,000
got-aways who come across the border when there are diversions
made by the Mexican drug cartels. The got-aways, of course, we
do not catch them with drugs because we do not catch them at
all, right? And the guys on the ground, the guys with the
Border Patrol, believe that most of these drugs are coming
through got-aways, but they do not show up in the statistics
because they got away, and the reason they are getting away is
there are a lack of Border Patrol agents. So, you should just
be aware what the people on the ground think.
Now, I think to look at this problem, we have to see who is
doing these drugs because that is where the problem is. I am
going to ask you some general questions about the 108,000
people or whatever died last year. Percentage wise, how many of
those folks about had full-time jobs?
Dr. Gupta. I do not know if we have that level of details
on data.
Mr. Grothman. OK.
Dr. Gupta. I can tell you that when I did the same survey
for West Virginia as a commissioner, we found that most of
these people that did have job were blue-collar workers, and
they were less than high school educated.
Mr. Grothman. OK. There is an interesting follow-up, but we
do not know. Percentage wise, what percentage of the people who
died are married?
Dr. Gupta. I can tell you, Congressman, that this problem
cuts across all----
Mr. Grothman. No. I know, I know, and I know it affects
everybody and there are examples in any area, but if we want to
reduce the number of people dying, we got to look at where most
of the people die. And when we look at the people who are not
dying, maybe we can get some suggestions how we can have the
population as a whole take less of these drugs. Do we know
percentage-wise, the people who died, about how much are
married?
Dr. Gupta. So, Congressman, if you want to get at stopping
people from dying, we put up a non-fatal overdose platform for
the whole state, the whole country at a county level. We can
get that data, and that is available near real-time right now.
Mr. Grothman. OK. So, do you have data? Is it available?
Dr. Gupta. It is publicly available. All the 911 call data
is publicly available near real-time. It is helping local
communities right now.
Mr. Grothman. OK. So, you know what percentage are married
and what percent are not?
Dr. Gupta. We know who is getting overdosed, and we know
how to respond to them and get them into treatment.
Mr. Grothman. OK. So, of the percent overdose, what percent
have full-time jobs? Say, what percent are married? What
percent are on antidepressants? These are all questions that I
would be asking to see if we can identify how to prevent people
from overdosing or what our target population should be. Are we
collecting that data?
Dr. Gupta. That data sometimes is collected by individual
states, but here is what I can tell you, is there are
individuals who go through a non-fatal overdose 14 times. There
is 14:1 ratio in some places. It is, like, people are coming to
the cliff to fall off. They are saved until they are not saved,
then they fall off.
Mr. Grothman. I understand, but you are not answering my
question, which is frustrating because it means you do not know
the answer to my question, which is frustrating because, to me,
your job should be to know the answers of my questions. Now, I
will ask you a question on this Narcan stuff. There are a
variety of efforts being made to make Narcan more available. I
mean, it is amazing you talk to your local law enforcement, the
number of people who they have brought back compared to the
number of people who have died. There is a bill that people are
floating around out there saying that we should have Narcan in
every Federal building. Do we know where most people are dying?
Are they dying in their bedroom? Are they dying in a car? Say,
what are the five most popular places that we find people
dying?
Dr. Gupta. Publicly, and let me tell you a very specific
example. When you look at the teenagers doubling in deaths from
poisonings from 2019 to 2021, in 2 out of 3 situations,
bystanders were nearby, but naloxone or Narcan was not, and I
am talking about the youngest in our country that we could have
saved.
Mr. Grothman. OK. So, you believe that if we were to put
more Narcan available in the country, it would be places--where
were these people dying? Are they dying in a school setting?
Are they dying out in a park at midnight? I mean, where are
they dying?
Dr. Gupta. Public places. I would think about naloxone,
Narcan, like a smoke alarm or a defibrillator, the more it is
available, the more lives will be saved, and the more publicly
available, schools, restaurants, businesses, malls, all of
these places.
Mr. Grothman. OK. I know I am a little bit over here, but I
would ask you to find the answers to the questions I ask you,
you know, because we should know if only 5 percent of the
people that are dying are married, that is an interesting
statistic. OK. If only 15 percent of the people that are dying
had a full-time job, that is an interesting statistic. If a lot
of them are on antidepressants, that is an interesting
statistic. And if you cannot do a study nationwide, maybe you
can just do a sample of a random 5,000 people, and the results
might surprise you, and maybe we could use those results to
probably solve this scourge. Thank you.
Chairman Comer. The Chair now recognizes Ms. Lee from
Pennsylvania for 5 minutes.
Ms. Lee. Thank you, Mr. Chair. I would like to thank the
Committee for holding this hearing and giving us an opportunity
to discuss this health crisis because that is what addiction
is, a health crisis.
Dr. Gupta, last year, when you described substance abuse
disorder in your testimony before our Committee, you stated,
``One of the things we realized in the last few decades is this
is a brain disease. Just like a lot of other disease, it is a
brain disease. The way that we need to treat that is as a
disease of the brain.'' We need to continue the work started by
the National Drug Control Strategy to act on this medical
understanding and prioritize treatment for people struggling
with substance abuse disorders just as our society seeks to
treat other forms of diseases. For example, the strategy aims
to ``make evidence-based treatment as accessible and available
as primary care.'' Dr. Gupta, how would achieving this goal
benefit American families, like those I represent in
Pittsburgh?
Dr. Gupta. Thank you, Congresswoman. Really important
because today, when someone wants to get help at 2 a.m., they
are told that they have to wait in line for the next 30 days
and sometimes people are not even alive for that. What we are
trying to do is to make sure, just like we treat in primary
care--hypertension, high blood pressure, diabetes, obesity, you
name it--this is a problem that can be treated in primary care.
This is the reason that we have extended telehealth, the
ability for Americans to get the help no matter where they are.
We made sure that people can take some of these medications
home with them. We have removed, with the help of Congress, the
X waiver. I am an X waiver physician, but now we have expanded
the ability for almost 2 million doctors to be able to treat as
opposed to 129,000, and we are committed to making medications
more available and affordable as well. The President is fully
committed on that to make sure that everyone gets the help that
they need when and where they are need it.
Ms. Lee. Thank you, Dr. Gupta. And how is the ONDCP
centering evidence-based solutions in response to the addiction
crisis?
Dr. Gupta. Thank you, Congresswoman. I think it is
important to see for what it is. As you mentioned, it is a
disease of the brain. We are also going beyond treatment
because the fact is, there are 20 million-plus Americans today
successfully in recovery, 60 percent of whom are gainfully
employed and often getting their health insurance from
employment. So now we know that people need more than just
treatment, need housing, transportation, food security. Those
things are important to make sure that we are taking an
approach that centers around success of each individual in
their community because that spells the success of the state
and success of the Nation.
Ms. Lee. Thank you for lifting up the holistic needs that
we have in our struggle to treat this disorder. The need to
prioritize treatment in our approach to Drug Control Policy
cannot be overstated also. Ninety-four percent of people with a
substance abuse disorder did not receive any treatment in 2021.
We are talking about the difference between life and death here
as overdoses have accounted for over one million deaths in the
United States since 1999. How is ONDCP making treatment more
accessible for people with complex needs who face barriers to
care?
Dr. Gupta. Thank you, Congresswoman. I think it is really
important to make sure that we make treatment accessible and
affordable to anyone and everyone that needs it. When we look
at people who are incarcerated, people in custody, it is
important to make it available because of the high risk of
dying or reincarceration. When we look at communities that have
historically been marginalized, it is important to make sure
that they are receiving treatment. We look at rural America, it
is important to make sure that treatment is there because I, as
a physician in rural America, have seen why people often do not
go to treatment because it is 80 miles away.
So, these are the few things that we are doing with
telehealth, with extension, expansion of treatment aspects, and
making sure we are reaching people through harm reduction and
other programs so we can meet them where they are and help them
move forward in getting the help they need.
Ms. Lee. Thank you. Barriers to treatment
disproportionately affect people of color, pregnant people,
individuals with children, those in rural communities as Dr.
Gupta pointed out, tribal communities, and states that have not
expanded Medicaid. This is largely because these people may not
have access to health insurance and may live in areas without
access to substance use disorder treatment. Dr. Gupta, really
quickly, how would reauthorizing ONDCP make treatment more
accessible for people who already are marginalized within our
healthcare system?
Dr. Gupta. Thank you, Congresswoman. It is really important
that the reauthorization of ONDCP will allow us to continue and
actually be able to double down on our efforts of the progress
that we are making. There are a lot more work to be done in
order to save the 165,000 lives that the President is committed
to doing by 2025, and the reauthorization will be a critical
part of that.
Ms. Lee. Thank you, Dr. Gupta, for your testimony today and
your important work tackling this crisis. I yield back.
Chairman Comer. The Chair recognizes the Subcommittee Chair
McClain from Michigan for 5 minutes.
Mrs. McClain. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and thank you, Dr.
Gupta, for being here today. We all know the stats, but they
are worth repeating, right? In 2019, over 70,000 people died
from an opioid overdose. In 2021, 106,000 Americans died from
drug-related overdoses. These numbers are shocking, and right
now, in 2023, we also know that fentanyl is the leading cause
of death for individuals between 18 and 45, right? Again, these
numbers are shocking and clearly deserve our attention. This is
why I agreed to chair the Bipartisan Mental Health and
Substance Abuse Task Force.
I mean, to your point, it crosses all sections in all
lines, but I think we have to take a look at, if I had a
funnel, at really the small end of the funnel, can we stop it
before it even gets here? Can we choke it off? To me, Dr.
Gupta, it is apparent that China supplies precursor chemicals
to the cartels that produce fentanyl and other drugs. Is that
correct?
Dr. Gupta. Predominantly China.
Mrs. McClain. Thank you. Right. I am sure there are other
actors, but thank you. In April, I actually held a Subcommittee
hearing where our Committee learned that Chinese money
laundering organizations now dominate the money laundering
networks for the Mexican cartels. I want to focus my
questioning around that because, again, if we can cutoff the
money supply, and we can stop the drugs from getting in, and
something that we may agree on, I think we might be on to
something. Can you explain what your office has done to address
this money laundering operation?
Dr. Gupta. Thank you, Congresswoman. The Anti-Money
Laundering Act of 2020 has been very critical, in addition to
the Bank Secrecy Act, to make sure that we are flushing out the
bad actor in the system. The Chinese underground banking
system, as well as money laundering of illicit actors that are
free riders, along the expansion of the PRC is a critical
aspect that we need to be looking at very carefully. Now, we
have also done more sanctions, double the sanctions this year
than last year, and last year was double of the previous year
of both the cartels, but also chemical companies in China that
are shipping these precursor chemicals as well and individuals
that are involved in it.
Mrs. McClain. And I appreciate that, but I want to focus,
and I know I am getting really narrowly focused, but we had a
whole hearing on this, and if you follow the money, a lot of
times we can cut it off. What specifically, and maybe we are
not there yet, but what specific actions have you taken to stop
and choke off the money laundering scheme? Can you talk to
that?
Dr. Gupta. I can talk, obviously, about some of these,
including some of the dark web operations and cryptocurrency.
There are 2,000 or so cryptocurrencies out there to be able to
do, but I will also invite you to a classified briefing on
Monday and your staff to do that.
Mrs. McClain. OK. All right. Thank you. I mean, I think you
would agree that China is complicit in America's drug overdose
and academic problem here?
Dr. Gupta. I think the refusal of cooperation on current
narcotics of the PRC is indicative of how much they value the
lives of the 109,000 Americans that we are losing every single
year.
Mrs. McClain. Right. I mean, again, follow the money, and
if we can choke the money supply off, we know that the money
laundering from the Chinese Government is happening. I would
just encourage you to spend more time, effort, energy, and most
of all resources because if we cut it off here, we can save
deaths, we can save a lot of lives as it gets down the funnel.
In 2022, there were almost 600,000 got-aways that crossed our
border illegally, and there have already been 530,000 got-aways
in 2023. As a reminder, ``got-aways'' is a term used for
illegal immigrants who have been spotted crossing the border by
agents on camera, but were not caught or processed by the
officials. Is it possible that some of these got-aways are
smuggling fentanyl into the United States?
Dr. Gupta. Congresswoman, when we talk about what is
killing Americans in large numbers, like----
Mrs. McClain. No. Can we talk about my question, though,
and my question is, is it possible that some of these over
530,000 got-aways are smuggling fentanyl? Is it possible?
Dr. Gupta. Congresswoman, look, tunnels are possible and
happening.
Mrs. McClain. OK. All right.
Dr. Gupta. Drones are possible and happening, so I----
Mrs. McClain. So, it is possible. The answer is yes. I
appreciate you, and I am out of time. Thank you so much. I look
forward to our classified briefing.
Chairman Comer. The gentlelady yields back. The Chair
recognizes Representative Crockett from Texas for 5 minutes.
Ms. Crockett. Thank you so much for being here and thank
you so much for the work that you do. I just want to talk about
my state really quickly since we are talking about the border
and how my colleagues have been down there once or twice, and
so they feel like they know everything that happens at my
border because they go on a little field trip, but I live in
this state. I have also legislated specifically in this state,
the state of Texas, and recently, my Governor, who seemingly
does nothing but atrocious things, decided that he was going to
order that migrants, and this does not say it, but specifically
the headlines that we saw were children as well as pregnant
mothers be pushed back into the Rio Grande.
Currently, the DOJ is suing my Governor because he decided
that he wanted to use razor wire. This is not fixing fentanyl
as far as I am concerned. Because you are the expert, do you
believe that razor wire or ordering that women and pregnant
mothers and children be pushed into the water, do you believe
that that is fixing our fentanyl crisis?
Dr. Gupta. Thank you, Congresswoman, for that question. I
would say majority of the fentanyl is coming through the ports
of entry, and our focus should be where the problem is
predominantly.
Ms. Crockett. Thank you so much. And when you talk about
ports of entry, I want to be clear, because sometimes in this
chamber it seems like we only have one border and only one way
to get into the United States, and somehow it is through
Mexico. I just want to be clear, there is a Northern border.
There are also planes. Are you of the impression that drugs
only come from Mexico?
Dr. Gupta. Thank you, Congresswoman. Oftentimes, machinery
parts, like pill presser parts, die-mold parts, they will come
through other countries to the United States and smuggle
southwards to be built into pill pressers, so the business
traffic goes in all directions and across all ways in order to
produce the final product.
Ms. Crockett. Thank you so much for sharing that with us
because I think we need to go back to step one in this process.
You do not know it, but I practiced criminal law for almost 17
years in multiple states and on the Federal level. I was on the
defense side, so I dealt with people that were arrested for
drug crimes. One of the things that I want to talk about is the
difference in fentanyl and, say, cocaine. Cocaine is typically
not prescribed by somebody's doctor, but it is my understanding
that most people that are struggling with fentanyl are people
that have become sometimes addicted to opioids because they
were prescribed opioids. And it may have been for a car wreck--
I also did those as well--have a back issue. And ultimately,
the doctor takes you off, but because of the addictive nature,
you are going out and you are trying to get it wherever you
can, and so it sounds like we have a demand problem, No. 1.
Would you agree with me that if we could reduce demand, then
maybe people would not be looking to supply where there was no
demand?
Dr. Gupta. I think it is both sides. And I think, as you
very accurately said, I have prescribed people who have gone
out on the streets and then ended up on heroin and fentanyl as
well, so I have a really direct experience with some of that
work as well.
Ms. Crockett. Absolutely. And so also, one of the things
that is so frustrating to me is that we do not treat this as
something that is multifaceted. You talked about it is not just
the Southern border. It is all things connected. It is not just
saying that the cartels are the problem, which I think we can
all agree. That is one thing that we can all agree upon. The
cartels are a problem for a lot of different reasons, and it is
not just fentanyl. But one of the things that you talked about
was locals. I believe that the National Drug Control Strategy
notes that local problems need local solutions. Is that
correct?
Dr. Gupta. Yes, Congresswoman.
Ms. Crockett. And ONDCP is responsible for administering a
grant program specifically, focused on local solutions, the
Drug-Free Communities Support Program, correct?
Dr. Gupta. Correct.
Ms. Crockett. All right. And I am going to agree with you.
As somebody who has had to deal with multiple clients that have
been addicted, and as someone who is a Black woman in this
country, the 1994 Crime Bill was a failure, and seemingly, the
only solutions that we ever have is more and more
incarceration. I appreciate what you do because you are taking
a multifaceted look. You are looking at the criminal aspect.
You are looking at not just cash, but you are looking at
crypto. You are also looking at more than one country, more
than just Mexico. You are looking to try to solve the solutions
while also making sure that those that are addicted get
treatment instead of put into jail cells. And so, I appreciate
the work that you do. I hope that my colleagues understand that
it is not so simple as let us just blame the border, and we
will fix all the problems.
And the last thing that I will say is, in a very bipartisan
way, I have introduced the STRIP Act. And that is to make sure
that these fentanyl testing strips can get to the people that
need them so that even if they are struggling with addiction,
they have the ability to test and to determine whether or not
this odorless, this tasteless thing is actually laced within
the product that they receive. Would you agree with me things
such as testing strips are invaluable to helping us fight this
war?
Dr. Gupta. Yes, Congresswoman, we will be happy to work
with you on that as well.
Ms. Crockett. Thank you. With that, I yield back.
Chairman Comer. The Chair now recognizes Mr. Edwards from
North Carolina for 5 minutes.
Mr. Edwards. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Doctor, you testified a
while ago that the precursor chemicals to create fentanyl were
being sent to Mexico from China. Is that what I understood you
to say?
Dr. Gupta. Yes, Congressman.
Mr. Edwards. So, who in China is supplying these chemicals
to the cartels in Mexico? Is it Chinese Government? Is it
Chinese corporation? Is it Chinese cartels? Who in China is
providing these drugs?
Dr. Gupta. Thank you, Congressman, for that question. There
are Chinese chemical companies that often work with brokers,
both on the China side and the cartel side, and the accountants
that ship those things, so it oftentimes is these chemical
companies that are doing it. They could be a licit business
doing illicit work or they could just be an illicit business,
period.
Mr. Edwards. So, I am not sure I understood your answer. Is
it legal for these chemical companies to provide these
chemicals to Mexican drug cartels?
Dr. Gupta. That is a great question, Congressman. Here is
the thing. If someone just asks you for a ton of certain
chemical that is precursor for dual use and that company does
not check out who that is and is going through a broker, which
is a questionable background, then obviously, it is not for any
good purpose as opposed to the legal pieces of it. Are they
just ignoring that? Absolutely, many times that they are
ignoring. Even these legitimate companies are ignoring that.
Mr. Edwards. What is this Administration doing to prevent
those companies from selling drugs that you say are illicit?
Dr. Gupta. Probably two or three things I will be quick
about it. First, we have more sanctions that are being placed
in these companies every single day. We have got about 100
sanctions so far, overall, between Chinese and Mexican
traffickers. We have put a global coalition together that is
talking about precursors for the entire globe, not just, and we
are watching China to put pressure. We have asked China that
there is the three things you can do, very specific ask: know
your customer for these companies, make sure you have shipping
label that follow global norms, and then----
Mr. Edwards. So, Doctor, in the interest of time, I am
going to jump forward just a little bit. So, the
Administration, you are saying hundreds of sanctions are being
put in place. It seems to me like you only need one sanction.
So, what is this Administration doing in China to prevent these
drugs from going to Mexico?
Dr. Gupta. We are working constantly. Our Ambassador, Nick
Burns, in Beijing, I am in contact with him regularly to speak
with the Chinese about this. We are working with the Government
of Mexico to make sure that they are talking to China as well.
We are putting international pressure.
Mr. Edwards. So, when do we stop talking? When does
something become actionable where the United States, where this
Administration can put its foot down inside of China and say we
have had enough, you are killing Americans through Mexican
cartels? When do we hold China accountable?
Dr. Gupta. Congressman, first of all, we will work with you
if you have any ideas. We are working here. I would be happy to
both share that with you. Some of those will be in the
classified briefing that we are giving on Monday.
Mr. Edwards. All right. I feel like you dodged the
question, and it seems to me that we also have to cutoff the
source at several different places. We have talked about
reducing demand. We all agree it would be great if folks did
not feel better as they take these drugs. We talked about the
border, which, quite frankly, we have got evidence from many
folks that is not being secured. I believe we also need to
cutoff the supply of these chemicals from China. I believe this
Administration, I believe you have to have the courage to go to
China and say enough is enough. This is a multidimensional
problem and that is one that I see is not being adequately
addressed.
In my last few seconds, I would just like to say that I
heard you imply to another Member in questioning earlier that
the fact that we are capturing more fentanyl than ever before
is somehow a success story. I am not sure that I can agree with
that. I am looking at the fentanyl deaths over the last 5 years
ending January 2019: 68,000. And then you told us a while ago
that ending January 2023, we had 109,000 deaths. I do not know
how we can say that that is a success, particularly, if you are
a family member of someone who died with a fentanyl overdose.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I yield.
Chairman Comer. The gentleman yields back. The Chair now
recognizes Mr. Moskowitz from Florida for 5 minutes.
Mr. Moskowitz. Mr. Chairman, thank you, and thank you for
holding this important topic. I replaced Congressman Ted Deutch
in Congress in the last election, and he lost his nephew to
fentanyl, and I remember when that happened to an accidental
fentanyl overdose. And I am happy that the state of Florida has
just recently passed the use of fentanyl test strips because
that will obviously help us in this battle.
And, you know, I would say to my friends across the aisle,
very few that are here, but I would say to them that, listen,
this is a bipartisan effort on going after fentanyl. We do not
need to be convinced. We do not need to be educated. We know
what is happening. We have seen the numbers. We know this is
affecting kids across the country.
We have heard a lot about the cartel, Doctor, and the drug
trafficking trade that is going on in Mexico, and so I want to
ask you a question, Doctor. These cartels, these drug
traffickers, in addition to the drugs that they are carrying,
do you know what else they like to carry? It is not a trick
question. Just yell it out when you know it. Guns. They like to
carry guns, Dr. Gupta, right? That is what protects the cartel.
That is what protects the drug trade. Do you know where they
get their guns? Do you know where the cartel, the guys that
they are talking about, get their guns. Do you know where they
get their guns?
Dr. Gupta. From illicit illegal purchases----
Mr. Moskowitz. That is right. And do you know where those
illicit illegal purchases are happening and where they are
coming from?
Dr. Gupta. Largely from United States.
Mr. Moskowitz. That is right. According to U.S. Customs and
Border Control, 200,000 guns pour over the border every year
from the U.S. to Mexico. These weapons are being used to
contribute to organize crime. They are being used by the drug
trade, the cartel, and 70 percent of all of the weapons the
cartel is using are manufactured in the United States. The drug
sales and the cartel in China, what they are doing is
intentional. I agree with my colleagues across the aisle. I
think what the cartel in China is doing is intentional, but so
is what the gun manufacturers are doing. It is intentional.
And so, all of these guns manufactured here, pouring over
the border, we, the United States are arming the cartel. We,
the United States, are allowing the cartel to protect the
illicit drug trade by allowing guns manufactured here to pour
over the border. My colleagues across the aisle are very
concerned about things coming in, but they have no concern
about weapons going out. And so, Mexico has even filed lawsuits
against the gun manufacturers. In fact, just 3 days ago, Mexico
has asked the U.S. Appeals Court to reinstate the $10 billion
lawsuit that they have against the gun manufacturers. And the
lawsuit specifically states, and Mexico contends it is 500,000
guns pouring over the border every year, but in that lawsuit,
Mexico says that the lawsuit that is against the drug
manufacturers is specifically for facilitating the trafficking
of weapons to the drug cartels, right?
So right now, we have a foreign country suing the drug
manufacturers saying that we are arming the cartel, our U.S.
companies, and so what is even better than that is the gun
manufacturers in this lawsuit are saying they have immunity.
They have immunity in this lawsuit because my colleagues across
the aisle have provided them immunity that they cannot be sued.
Now we are fighting over whether that applies to a foreign
government. That is what the lawsuit really is about, but we
are with you on a bipartisan basis to try to stop fentanyl from
coming in. But can you be with us on a bipartisan basis that
maybe the gun manufacturers should not have immunity to sell
guns, to have guns get in the hands of the cartel?
I understand you are not with us on wanting to prevent that
in this country. But maybe together we can do it to make sure
that our guns are at least not going to the drug cartels
facilitating fentanyl from coming in. I mean when, when, when
are you guys going to wake up and realize that guns are a part
of this equation? I yield back, Mr. Chairman.
Chairman Comer. The Chair recognizes Mr. Biggs from Arizona
for 5 minutes.
Mr. Biggs. I was intrigued to hear the gentleman say he did
not need to be educated, but let me educate you. For the last 7
years, I have advocated for southern-bound vehicles and
individuals to be searched for guns and money. I have advocated
for that strongly. I want you to be educated. Go read a book
called, ``Operation Wide Receiver.'' That is an ATF operation.
Go read up about Operation Fast and Furious, and then go look
at cross-border trafficking heading South and the few
operations that we run. I have advocated for more resources to
go there. We have lost our dogs that can sniff for guns and
money. We have found millions of dollars and guns going across.
Gun laws exist to prevent that Southern crossing, but we are
not enforcing it. That is the biggest problem in my mind.
Mr. Moskowitz. Will the gentleman yield?
Mr. Biggs. No, I will not yield. Our colleagues across the
aisle regularly cite the vast majority of drug seizures are at
the port of entry. I love that. I love that. You know why that
is? It is not because that is where all the drugs are coming
through. It is because--guess what--we inspect every person and
vehicle coming through port of entry. That is what you have
done. Isn't that true, Dr. Gupta?
Dr. Gupta. I am sorry. Could you repeat the question?
Mr. Biggs. No, I cannot. We have density readers. We have
technology that allows us to screen the structures of vehicles
being used to transport humans and drugs, isn't that correct,
Dr. Gupta, at the ports of entry?
Dr. Gupta. We do have technology at the ports of entry.
Mr. Biggs. In fact, they are examining a high proportion of
trucks we need to be inspecting more, whether it is in Nogales,
San Isidro, all the way down to RGV, but we inspect a
significant number of them as well as individuals. If there is
an anomaly in a vehicle, our density readers pick it up. We
then take apart that vehicle, and guess what we find? Drugs.
That is where we find more drugs in the ports of entry. Isn't
that not true, Dr. Gupta?
Dr. Gupta. Better screening does lead to better detection.
Mr. Biggs. Right. I saw you went down to the Tohono O'odham
Reservation. You went to the San Miguel Gate. I would ask you,
did you go 3 miles east to the San Miguel Gate?
Dr. Gupta. I did.
Mr. Biggs. And there is nothing there, is there? There is a
four-string barbed wire from San Miguel Gate that runs
literally for 20 miles till you get to the port of entry at
Sasabe. Did you see that?
Dr. Gupta. Yes, but I did not see the 2,000 trucks a day
that goes through there either. I did at Nogales.
Mr. Biggs. Yes, that is right, but you know what you can
see if you go there? If you wait, you will see lots of people
coming through. And you went down. I asked you last time you
were here to go down with me without the officials because the
official is going to give you that sanitized version. I asked
you to come down with me, and just you and I, we would drive
along there. I could show you that. We could go to Lukeville.
We could go anywhere around Lukeville. We could go down to Yuma
and from Yuma and move west, and you would see massive amounts
of trafficking coming across from drugs and individuals. So,
you missed out a little bit on that. And----
Dr. Gupta. With no disrespect, but I went down there with
Shadow Wolves in the Tohono O'odham Nation.
Mr. Biggs. Yes, I know. I have been down there with the
Shadow Wolves myself.
Dr. Gupta. Yes.
Mr. Biggs. Absolutely.
Dr. Gupta. It is a great trip.
Mr. Biggs. Yes, but we get back to my point. You were
watched. They took you. They had a message and a narrative for
you to see. You need to go down without the narrative created
for you. And the problem that you have here, is I am told that
you guys do not need to be educated on the other side, and that
somehow we do not care what goes South. Heavens, go back and
watch the many times I have said we need to see what is going
South. But moreover, pull your heads out of the sand. What is
going on between the ports of entry? I find it intriguing that
people from the Northeast say, oh my gosh, you guys are making
this up. There are videos of 3 days ago watching the traffic
just outside of Lukeville, Arizona, the Organ Pipe National
Monument. What is going on?
What is going on is people are moving from ports of entry.
You know what the Tucson sector did last week? Over 9,000
apprehensions, many pounds of fentanyl coming in. That is
between the ports of entry. Face the facts. Between the ports
of entry is where the drug smugglers and human traffickers
come. Why is that? Because all of our resources are depleted.
You have got OFO working the ports of entry, but between the
ports of entry--when I was last down there driving east from
San Miguel Gate, do you know how many border patrol agents we
saw? None.
And when we saw a group come across, we had to get on top
of the vehicle, make a call. They could not come. They could
not spare anybody until they said, well, we got a Congressman
with us. OK. Next thing you know, 45 minutes later, here comes
the six vehicles from Border Patrol. That is what is going on.
Please wake up. The drugs are pouring through the ports of
entry for sure, but between the ports of entry, that is where
it is flowing, and we cannot catch them because we do not have
anybody there. I yield back.
Chairman Comer. The Chair recognizes Mr. Mfume from
Maryland for 5 minutes.
Mr. Mfume. Mr. Chairman, thank you very much. I want to
thank you and Ranking Member Raskin for calling us together for
this hearing, and I want to thank Mr. Gupta for his appearance.
Mr. Gupta, I have got a lot of respect for your work over the
years. I follow that work. It is quite creditable, and I cannot
speak for other Members, but it is my plan and intention to
vote for and to fully fund ONDCP.
Dr. Gupta, you mentioned in your opening statement that the
drug trafficking is a crime that must be prosecuted, and that
drug addiction is a disease, it must be treated as an
interesting intersection there. And I could not agree more and
believe that this is a cornerstone of the Biden-Harris
Administration's approach to drug policy because it is
evidence-based, it is common sense, and it is long, long
overdue. I want to talk about both of those things. I have just
been making so many notes. There has been so much said here
today, and as one great philosopher once said, ``Everything
that can be said has been said. It is just that not everyone
has said it.'' So, bear with me while I be deliberately
redundant.
Since its start, the Biden-Harris Administration has shown
a robust commitment to advancing equally the sort of things
that we need centering on recovery over punishment in our
Federal response to the overdose crisis. And the Administration
understands, as I said before, that addiction is a disease. And
we actually want to see results, and we must treat it like
that, rather than to simply over-criminalize it and the people
who, unfortunately, find themselves using it.
There is a part of me that believes that art imitates life
and sometimes vice versa, and I could not help but to think of
the movie, ``The Godfather,'' and a point in time when we did
not have addictions in this country, that the greatest crime
was to go make some moonshine, put a cap on it, and sell it as
alcohol. And so, we had prohibition for a long, long time.
Prohibition was ended, and there is the scene in the movie
where the five Dons get together to decide how are they going
to make money off of addiction since they could not deal with
selling moonshine anymore. And they are sitting around a table,
and Don Corleone asks the five of them, what should we do, and
they said, oh, we have got this great, great, great drug, it is
addictive. It is called heroin, and we can spread that out. It
will triple our sales. And Corleone thinks about it for a
minute, and he says, no, no, no, that is bad. That is bad. We
will not do that in our communities. Give it to the Blacks, and
in those days, the Blacks meant the Blacks and the Browns. And
so, Latinos and African Americans in the greater New York area
became the new marketplace, and the addiction in those
communities, because the drug was given away free of charge at
first to make sure there was addiction, that just grew and grew
and grew.
And so, we fast forward from there and we look at what
happened in the 1940's, 1950's, and 1960's. Heroin was king. In
the 1970's and 1980's, crack was king. In the 1990's, we all
talked about and were afraid of meth. At the turn of the
century, opioids became the big thing because it broke out from
those communities, and it was everywhere in everyone's
community, and all of a sudden it got great, great attention.
And now we have been dealing with fentanyl, which has taken
109,000 lives in just the last year. It is the drug of death,
the one that we are all afraid of, but I suspect that it is
going to take strong will to deal with this and a realization
that it is not just guns or something else. It is cartels who
ought to be gone after on an international level and gone after
in the most severe way.
It is not just the little kid on the corner that is selling
something that he got from somebody that he got from somebody.
We could lock him up 1,000 times. But what we used to call the
old French connection, the people who control the drugs, the
international cartels continue to do what they want to do, and
they do it by buying off people left and right. And in some
instances, buying off elected officials in one country after
another. So, I would just strongly urge that you continue to do
what you do, to remember that this is an addiction. Thirty
years ago in this Committee room, Kurt Schmoke, the Mayor of
Baltimore, came and testified that we ought to treat it as an
addiction, he and a group of progressives, and were laughed out
of this room by people who said no, we need a war, a war on
drugs. And his point was, no, we need to take the profit out of
it so that there is no war.
So, I think I have exhausted my time, Mr. Chairman. Again,
I have no question because I have no time left, but thanks for
the opportunity to share some of the things that are here. And
Dr. Gupta, thank you very much for your work.
Chairman Comer. The Chair now recognizes Representative Fry
from South Carolina for 5 minutes.
Mr. Fry. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for having this hearing.
Dr. Gupta, we are over here on the bottom bench here, but thank
you for being here today.
Prior to my service in Congress starting just this year, I
was in the General Assembly of South Carolina where I was the
Chairman of the South Carolina Opioid Response Team, so to
speak. There was a select committee that was tasked with
listening to medical doctors, law enforcement, teachers, people
in long-term recovery, grieving families, and all types of
professionals on how we can get a hold of this. And, you know,
we borrowed a lot of our strategies from what other states were
doing. We did some of our own that other states borrowed. That
is kind of the beauty of the labyrinth of democracy, if you
will, in our Federal system, and I think that there were some
pretty healthy policy initiatives that were passed into law,
that were signed into law.
But unfortunately, we have seen those numbers continue to
climb with fentanyl coming into our country through ports of
entry, between the ports of entry, through really everywhere. I
mean, for a while there, you could almost FedEx it in. So, this
is certainly important to me because I have talked with a lot
of families. I think everybody here has. I have talked with
families just last week. We had a county councilwoman whose son
died of a fentanyl overdose. And so, you think about the
stories and the human capital and casualty associated with
them, and you really want to fix it, not only from the
prevention side, which is where it is probably most effective,
but from the substance abuse and treatment side, too, and try
to get these folks back.
So, during President Trump's tenure in 2018, they passed
the SUPPORT Act related to ONDCP. In your mind, what
improvements were made because of that 2018 law coming or being
signed into law?
Dr. Gupta. Thank you, Congressman. I testified during that
time for this passage as a commissioner of West Virginia. I
think a lot of work has been done to hold our Agency more
accountable and transparent in terms of data, dashboards, and
really having the plans to be able to get done the work of the
American people and coordinating the 19 drug budget control
agencies with a drug control budget. So, the value of this
Agency in the mind of Congress, but also in the mind of
American people, is actually being able to bring all the
agencies together to fight this scourge, the challenge that has
both addiction, on one hand, as a disease and the trafficking,
on the other hand, as a profit.
So, the SUPPORT Act has been critical, and central, pivotal
to making the improvements. Numbers do not always reflect it,
but we have gone through a pandemic at the same time, so we are
in tough times right now in so many ways, but we are making
consistent progress every single day in terms of those people.
And again, I have treated so many people, hundreds, if not
thousands, of people with addiction myself, I have seen some of
them die in my hands.
Mr. Fry. Right, and thank you for sharing that, and I think
this was a big step forward. What in your mind related to the
SUPPORT Act moving forward deserves an examination or
improvement since we are going to be examining this coming up
shortly?
Dr. Gupta. Well, certainly we think that there are a lot of
things in terms of emerging threats, like xylazine, that we
could improve on how to get us there. The first time we did
that, declared it to save more lives. We could do better on
that. The coordination, there is some aspect of having a better
use of taxpayer money and what positions are needed
prescriptively or not in order to get the job done. And then
there is, obviously, data and dashboard. I think we have had
some questions today that the data could be very helpful if we
were to keep that data with us to be able to answer those
questions.
Mr. Fry. Doctor, I think there was a Carnegie Mellon, and I
am going on memory, but there was a Carnegie Mellon study
several years ago that said for every $1 that you invest in
prevention, you save either, and I am going to probably inverse
these, but either $4 in medical costs and $7 in criminal
justice--it is one of the two--but for every $1 that you invest
in prevention, that you save that on the back end. The SUPPORT
Act in 2018 allowed for some HIDTA funds to be allocated for
prevention and treatment of drug abuse. What percentage was
allowed?
Dr. Gupta. We can get you the numbers exactly, but for
HIDTA, is the best return on investment, $83 for every dollar
invested. And the prevention of HIDTA as well as other
departments, education, health and others, it is so critical at
this time right now to invest more in prevention, especially
for our youth.
Mr. Fry. Doctor, and what types of prevention and treatment
programs does that fund? Just curious.
Dr. Gupta. It funds partnership with other program called
Drug-Free Communities Program, which is focused on youth
prevention across all communities, 50 states, 750 programs
almost, and it helps prevent youth, both initiation of drug
use, but also delaying in drug use sometimes as well.
Mr. Fry. Thank you, Doctor. Mr. Chairman, I yield back.
Chairman Comer. The gentleman yields back. The Chair
recognizes Representative Ocasio-Cortez from New York for 5
minutes.
Ms. Ocasio-Cortez. Thank you so much, Mr. Chair and thank
you, Dr. Gupta for testifying before the Committee today, and
thank you for your tireless commitment to ending the overdose
crisis, which has devastated so many families across the United
States.
ONDCP holds a unique position within the Federal
Government, coordinating across 19 Federal agencies and
overseeing $41 billion as part of a whole of government
approach to address addiction and the overdose epidemic. In
addition to that, ONDCP's unique structure also enables it to
be both nimble and comprehensive in its response to the
addiction crisis. Dr. Gupta, how does the ONDCP utilize its
unique cross Agency structure to effectively combat the
addiction crisis?
Dr. Gupta. Thank you, Congresswoman, for that question. We
utilize the ability to have both drug-control budget, fund-
controlled notice, as well as the ability to work through
policy implementing and making sure that the drug control
strategy is implemented across all 19 drug control agencies,
and really the coordination is so critical in this area when
109,000 Americans are dying a year.
Ms. Ocasio-Cortez. And for emphasis, since releasing the
2022 National Drug Control Strategy, what are some of the
successes of the ONDCP's whole of government approach?
Dr. Gupta. So, on the treatment side, we are seeing more
naloxone or Narcan get out there, 37 percent increase in
prescribing while 12 percent reduction in price. It will go
over the counter in the upcoming days to weeks to months. We
have seen expansion of treatment, making sure that telehealth
provision happens. Removal of X waiver, with the support of
Congress, we have been able to do is to expand treatment
providers from 129,000 to almost 2 million now. We have seen
that more resources, $83 billion in this Administration, 42
percent over the previous Administration, go into local
communities. At the same time, we have seen having more
seizures at the border, but understanding the problem does not
begin or end at the border, working across the entire global
supply chain as well.
Ms. Ocasio-Cortez. Fabulous. And are there any changes the
Committee should consider making through the ONDCP
reauthorization process to improve the office's ability to
coordinate drug control policy and action across the Federal
Government?
Dr. Gupta. Thank you for that question, Congresswoman. I
think it is important that, as we move forward, that we allow
more ability for getting better data as well as being more
proactive in emerging threat. The fact is today, not even 5 to
7 years ago, the threat we faced with synthetic compounds, not
just United States, but across the globe, we are going to have
to be more nimble, but more proactive. And those aspects will
allow us to do that, to remove less of the bureaucracy, more of
the actionable parts that have more return on the taxpayer
dollars.
Ms. Ocasio-Cortez. OK. And just to put a finer point on
what you just shared, when you talk about getting better data,
what does that look like? What are the levels of data that you
all seek in order for us to make sure that we properly address
that?
Dr. Gupta. Thank you, Congresswoman, for that question. The
fact is that over 20 years today, with this crisis, 100,000
people dying, we still do not have real-data of overdose and
non-fatal overdoses. We know for every fatal overdose, there
are 14 potential non-fatal overdoses. We do this with heart
attacks, we do this with strokes, we do this with so many of
the diseases. It is important to have that data so we can get
people the help that they need sooner than wait for them to
die.
Ms. Ocasio-Cortez. And so, it is my understanding that,
currently, you all do not have, and consequently we do not
have, real-data on overdoses happening in the United States,
including non-fatal overdoses. Wow. OK. With that, I yield back
to the Chair. Thank you very much.
Mr. Connolly. Will my friend yield?
Ms. Ocasio-Cortez. Absolutely.
Mr. Connolly. I thank my friend. Just clarify, Dr. Gupta,
because you were asked about, well, why aren't we pressing
China, and I do not think your answer fully responded. I want
to give you the opportunity. Surely, we are pressing China.
Surely, for example, it is on every agenda when a senior U.S.
official, like the Secretary of State goes to visit China.
Would you comment?
Dr. Gupta. Thank you, Congressman. It is. This is one of
the most important topics for our conversation with the
People's Republic of China, with the government. Every that our
Ambassador is talking to the Chinese, this comes up, Secretary
of State's visit. This is a high priority item for the
President and for this Administration to hold China accountable
for the precursor shipments, but we are also at the same time
not waiting on China to act. We are taking actions proactively,
not only sanction them, create a global coalition and work with
our partners, like Mexico and others, to make sure that we are
holding them accountable. Thank you.
Chairman Comer. The time has expired. The Chair now
recognizes Mr. LaTurner from Kansas for 5 minutes.
Mr. LaTurner. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you, Dr. Gupta
for being here today. The ONDCP has been on the frontlines of
our Nation's battle against drug addiction, and it has had a
far-reaching impact on public health and safety in our
communities. I would like to commend you, Dr. Gupta, as well as
all the dedicated men and women at your Agency for their hard
work.
Today, I want to talk about fentanyl. Over the past few
years, Kansas has seen a staggering 73-percent spike in
fentanyl overdoses, one of the highest increases in America. It
is hard to find a community in my district that has not been
impacted by this epidemic. Two milligrams of fentanyl, a lethal
dose for most people, is cheaper than a can of pop, and it is
killing more young Americans than car crashes, suicides, and
COVID-19 combined. Major drug trafficking routes along I-35 and
I-70 corridors make my home state of Kansas ground zero for the
fentanyl crisis. Over 1,200 Kansans have already died from
fentanyl poisoning, and when I talk to local law enforcement,
it is clear that this crisis is only getting worse by the day.
In addition to securing the Southern border, I believe
proper education and awareness in our schools, homes, and
communities can be the difference between life and death. We
need to educate parents and teens on the reality we are facing
that a lethal dose of fentanyl in a Percocet pill or another
illegal street drug is often just one wrong Snapchat message
away. I have seen this tragic sequence of events play out far
too many times in my district. The ONDCP must do its part and
take serious action to help ensure communities across Kansas
are educated on the dangers of one of the deadliest drugs our
Nation has ever seen.
Dr. Gupta, the DEA has recently reported ``a sharp increase
in the trafficking of fentanyl mixed with xylazine.'' Can you
explain what xylazine does when mixed with fentanyl?
Dr. Gupta. Thank you, Congressman, for that question.
Xylazine mixed with fentanyl, or as it is known as tranq dope
on the streets, basically enhances the duration, the high of
the use of fentanyl so people have to use fentanyl less often.
It is an animal tranquilizer that was never and has never been
approved for human consumption, so it is a terrible drug. It
causes flesh wounds and leads to amputations like I, as my 25
years of career as physician, have never seen, and it has its
own addictive capacity and capability, which makes the response
both overdose as well as treatment much worse.
Mr. LaTurner. Are there any notable domestic sources of
xylazine? Where is it coming from?
Dr. Gupta. It is predominantly coming from Chinese
manufacturers being shipped directly into U.S. or into Mexico
and trafficked. There is some that has been diverted in other
places as well, but at this point, it is mostly being mixed in
on the streets or being mixed in from the cartels.
Mr. LaTurner. Can you please briefly elaborate upon the
High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas, what it does and what
your role is in administering it?
Dr. Gupta. So, one of the two grant programs that Congress
intended for and our office wants us to call the HIDTA program
or High Intensity Drug Trafficking program. They are located in
all 50 states, especially where there are high drug trafficking
areas that work at the fusion center more or less for intel
sharing about programs that bring the local, state, Federal law
enforcement officials together and really process and work on
cases. It is the best return on taxpayer dollars. For every
dollar that is invested, $83 in return happens, and it was
responsible for seizing domestically 26,000 pounds of fentanyl
just last year.
Mr. LaTurner. You talked about the fusion center. I think
Kansas has a model perhaps for the Nation for doing that doing
that doing it well. Thank you, and, Mr. Chairman, I yield back.
Chairman Comer. The gentleman yields back. The Chair now
recognizes Ms. Brown from Ohio for 5 minutes.
Ms. Brown. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and thank you, Dr.
Gupta for joining us today and for continuing the Biden-Harris
Administration's tireless efforts to eradicate the crisis of
addiction and drug abuse, which stretches into every corner of
this country, red and blue districts alike.
I want to be clear. Dr. Gupta, you and I both know there is
still work to be done to end this horrific epidemic. Just this
week, Axios reported that Cuyahoga County, which I represent,
experienced 343 deaths from opioid and cocaine overdoses last
month alone. Those 343 deaths were tragic and preventable. We
also know that many overdose deaths involved illegal synthetic
fentanyl. That is why the Biden-Harris Administration's
proactive, preventive, and powerful action has been so welcome.
One of the Biden-Harris Administration strategies to
prevent opioid overdoses is to make sure opioid overdose
reversal medications are readily available over the counter and
accessible to the public without stigma or shame. That includes
the lifesaving, easily administered nasal spray, naloxone, as
well as Narcan. Dr. Gupta, easy for me to say. Dr. Gupta, what
steps have the Biden-Harris Administration taken to make sure
that any person can access Narcan when they need it or can keep
it on hand if they live or work with people experiencing opioid
addiction?
Dr. Gupta. Thank you, Congresswoman. The amount of
resources that are going to states right now to make sure that
anyone who needs the naloxone or overdose reversal medication,
also known as Narcan, is available. We are also making sure
that it is available over the counter later this summer. There
will be other products what will help us reduce the price in
the market as well. We want to make sure that anyone can get
this medication but also proactively carry it, not just
necessarily for themselves, for someone in their family or
someone in their neighborhood, school, other places. So, the
access to naloxone or Narcan is critical to reducing these
numbers down and getting people a chance to be connected to
care.
Ms. Brown. Thank you for that, and those decisions by the
Biden-Harris Administration will continue to save lives.
Additionally, President Biden's Fiscal Year 2024 budget
proposes a historic investment of $46 billion to combat the
overdose epidemic, which is largely driven by opioids, like
fentanyl. The President's budgets also calls for increased
funding to support overdose prevention, addiction treatment,
and care for people recovering from addiction because we know
that addiction is a disease that can happen to anyone. So, Dr.
Gupta, how will increased investments help your Office of
National Drug Control Policy and Federal agencies do more to
address the fentanyl and opioid crisis?
Dr. Gupta. Thank you, Congresswoman. The reason that
President is proposing an unprecedented and historic
investments at a time into drug policy when we have an American
dying every 5 minutes around the clock is because people need
help right now. Expanding treatment, expanding overdose
reversal medication is critical to saving lives. And at the
same time, we have got to put more technology at the border,
make sure that working to disrupt the entire global supply
chain. Both of these things go hand in glove, and that is
exactly the plan that the President proposes budget behind.
Ms. Brown. Thank you again. The President's Fiscal Year
2024 budget request demonstrates the Biden-Harris
Administration's dedicated efforts to continue to combat the
fentanyl crisis, which is exactly what we need to do to bring
American families the relief they so desperately need. So, with
that, Mr. Chairman, I yield back.
Mr. Connolly. Would my friend yield?
Ms. Brown. Oh, yes. I happily yield to the gentleman from
Virginia.
Mr. Connolly. I thank my friend. Ms. Brown just mentioned
Narcan and other drugs to try to help wean people off
addiction, but one of the problems documented say of Beth
Macy's book, ``Dopesick,'' is that we do not really regulate
rehab facilities, and a lot of them take the AA, you know,
Alcoholics Anonymous, cold turkey approach. Absolutely lethal,
if you are talking about opioids. You cannot just go cold
turkey. Would you comment on the need for regulation or what we
are doing to try to educate these pop-up rehab facilities that
are probably doing more harm than good driving people to
heroin?
Dr. Gupta. Thank you, Congressman, for that question. It is
important, like we treat diabetes, think about, or high blood
pressure because addiction is a disease and we have FDA-
approved medication. The evidence supports utilizing these
medications to help people, not only save lives, but be
productive, back into the community. So, the goal here, in my
view, and I have treated a lot of patients, is to make help
people enable themselves to become productive members of
society, and medication and a proper treatment system,
infrastructure allows us to do just that.
Mr. Connolly. I thank my friend for yielding. Thank you.
Chairman Comer. The Chair recognizes Mr. Burlison from
Missouri for 5 minutes.
Mr. Burlison. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you, Dr. Gupta
for being here.
According to the U.S. Drug Enforcement administration, the
Mexican cartels are the ones that are responsible for most of
the fatal drug poisonings. In 2022, it was over 107,000 people,
and, as you know, the data is 67 percent of that was from
fentanyl. My question is that some people are coming in contact
with this, some victims are coming in contact with fentanyl,
not necessarily by taking a pill, but in everyday items, like
cash and food. Can you elaborate on the extent of that?
Dr. Gupta. So, the powder, if you think of the powder, it
poorly absorbs through the skin surface. Of course, if you are
inhaling a large dose of fentanyl, like, 2 milligrams is a lot
of dose for unsuspecting person, it is potentially fatal. So,
it is important for us to distinguish the ability of casual
versus actual. But at the same time, I will say that if
someone, anyone that thinks that they have come across in touch
with fentanyl, it is important to get them checked out. That is
the important piece here.
Mr. Burlison. But do you think of the cases of overdoses,
is there a percentage of people that are inadvertently these
are not drug users, these are people that accidentally inhaled,
apparently, fentanyl from a dollar bill they gained or----
Dr. Gupta. Thank you, Congressman. If we look at the number
of people who die, of the 100,000 and 70 percent roughly or 80
percent of them are being fentanyl, what we find is that either
they are still accidental oftentimes because they have taken a
pill that they think is Xanax or Adderall, or others. Those are
the majority of people.
Mr. Burlison. The majority. OK. OK. So, we now know that
the Chinese have for a long time been supplying the precursors
for fentanyl, but they are not supplying fentanyl itself. Is
that correct?
Dr. Gupta. They are not. It come down to literally zero
after 2019 May, that we had success with the Chinese to stop
fentanyl production, but then started the precursor production.
Mr. Burlison. So, there is an ability for the United States
put pressure on China to curb some of this?
Dr. Gupta. And we are doing exactly that, Congressman.
Mr. Burlison. OK. So, with that, just can you elaborate
what your office is doing to work with China on the supply of
the precursors for fentanyl?
Dr. Gupta. Every meeting, literally, that have senior high
officials, that we have with U.S. official in China, we are
bringing this up to them to demonstrate why this is so
important to us. We are also making sure that every one of
those companies that we find to be illegitimately supplying
precursors we are working to sanction them. At the same time,
we also created a global coalition, launched it with 80
countries and 11 international organizations around, is
signaling that this is the synthetic drugs are a global threat.
With or without China, we are going to continue to do that. And
then at United Nation, we have gotten more substances
controlled than ever before with U.S. leadership to make sure
that China understands that, and we still have other tools that
we will, again, work with that.
Mr. Burlison. So, speaking of other tools, in the
Subcommittee meeting that we had in April, we learned that the
Chinese money launderers have taken over the money laundering
operations for the Mexican drug cartels. Has this been impacted
or how have China's strict capital flight laws motivated
Chinese individuals to aid in laundering money for the cartels?
Dr. Gupta. We definitely feel some of the laws, overall
policies are supporting the creation of these illegal and
criminal networks that allow both underground Chinese banking
cash as well as other financial institutions that are being
created outside of the United States to launder money.
Mr. Burlison. And so, if you will, what role do the money
launderers play there? I guess now they are called brokers.
These are Chinese brokers.
Dr. Gupta. So, President Biden executed an EO 14059, I
believe it was, to go after, beyond the Kingpin Act, the
enablers of a drug trade. That includes brokers, accountants,
real estate agents, lawyers of these traffickers. So, what we
are doing is we are going after all of those individuals----
Mr. Burlison. Everyone in the chain?
Dr. Gupta. Everyone in the chain because it turns out
sometimes it is these brokers, these accountants that are more
important than just the lowest hanging fruit.
Mr. Burlison. Are there any apps or software that they are
utilizing that we could pull some of that data for that we are
not able to get today?
Dr. Gupta. FBI has a program called JCODE, the Joint
Criminal Opioid Document Enforcement program, and HSI has
another program as well. We are working with those, but we have
a classified briefing on Monday. We would love to have you over
to talk more about this as well.
Mr. Burlison. I look forward to that. Thank you. My time
has expired.
Chairman Comer. The Chair now recognizes Mr. Connolly from
Virginia for 5 minutes.
Mr. Connolly. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Dr. Gupta, I did not
hear you answer the question about are you or have you issued
guidelines and/or regulations to those entities that are
purporting to help opioid or fentanyl addicted individuals try
to recover, because as I understand, it is a pretty unregulated
market.
Dr. Gupta. I think if we are talking about the treatment
sites of this----
Mr. Connolly. Are you issuing guidance to those people?
Does the Federal Government say, hey, this is not AA, you
cannot go cold turkey? You got to allow Narcan or other drugs
that stepped down, and by the way, you are going to have to
allow that for a long period of time because this is a
different kind of addiction?
Dr. Gupta. Thank you, Congressman, for that question. Our
grants that go out, especially Federal grants through Health
and Human Services, do require some of these things that you
were mentioning.
Mr. Connolly. Require if they take Federal money?
Dr. Gupta. Correct.
Mr. Connolly. OK. All right. I just want to clear up a
couple of things that were said earlier or hinted at earlier in
this hearing, and hopefully quick answers, but the source of
fentanyl in the United States comes through illegal border
crossings in Mexico. Is that correct?
Dr. Gupta. The majority of the fentanyl is coming through
the ports of entry.
Mr. Connolly. So, it is not on the backs of people trying
to cross into the United States illegally?
Dr. Gupta. I can speak over 90 percent or almost 90 percent
are coming through the ports of entry.
Mr. Connolly. The use of consumption of illegal substances,
like fentanyl, is primarily an immigrant problem. It started
there, and it really is characterized by that population in the
United States apparently consuming drugs inordinately. Is that
correct?
Dr. Gupta. Congressman, of course, the fact is exemplified
that 109,000 Americans are dying every year, that it pervades
through all communities, all geographies, all socioeconomic----
Mr. Connolly. But it is not factually correct or is it that
it is primarily immigrants in that population?
Dr. Gupta. Not factually.
Mr. Connolly. Not fact. For example, I represent one of the
wealthiest communities in the United States. We have addiction
problems, and we have addiction overdose in Fairfax County,
Virginia. Is that not correct?
Dr. Gupta. That is correct, I am a resident of your
community.
Mr. Connolly. And those are not necessarily immigrant
individuals or communities. There was also a suggestion and,
you know, your office claims these successes. One of our
colleagues suggested ``I am not sure I want to reauthorize
ONDCP.'' And what would be the consequences if we did not have
your office in this struggle to get our hands around tranq,
fentanyl, opioids, and the like?
Dr. Gupta. Congressman, I think it will send the wrong
message to the American people about the seriousness that this
Congress takes when it comes to the killing and the deaths of
109,000 Americans each year. And, you know, just within the
last time we have been in this Committee, we have over 25
Americans that have been killed.
Mr. Connolly. I take it that it is the wrong signal, but
put that aside. Some people do not care about that.
Operationally, what would be the consequence if you did not
exist, if you went away and we did not reauthorize you?
Dr. Gupta. Thank you, Congressman. It will weaken
significantly the response of Federal, local, and state law
enforcement as well as first responders and public health
officials to respond to this crisis.
Mr. Connolly. Because what? Grants would not flow,
coordination would not happen, intelligence would not be
shared?
Dr. Gupta. Because coordination would not happen.
Obviously, intelligence will not be shared. HIDTA program that
does so much of the prosecutions and the efforts will not
happen, and as a result of this, more Americans will surely
die.
Mr. Connolly. And finally, are you experiencing people
moving from fentanyl, because of our successes and trying to
get some control over that, to tranq? And how concerned should
we be about that shift if, indeed, there is such a shift?
Dr. Gupta. We should be quite concerned. There is several
hundred percent increase in what we find tranq associated with
fentanyl deaths right now. It is primarily happening because of
the pursuit to make more money by the traffickers and
producers, and that is where we have to go after. We have got
to make sure that we are helping people who need the help, but
at the same time, we are denying the profits and the operating
capital of these cartels as well as transnational criminal
organizations.
Mr. Connolly. My time is up. I thank the Chair and thank
him for holding this hearing. I think this has a lot of
potential for all of us finding common ground because all of
our communities are affected, and I thank Dr. Gupta.
Chairman Comer. I agree with the gentleman from Virginia.
Without objection, the Member from Puerto Rico, Jenniffer
Gonzalez, is waived on to the Committee for the purpose of
questioning witnesses at today's Subcommittee hearing.
Without objection, so ordered.
The Chair now recognizes, Mr. Timmons from South Carolina
for 5 minutes.
Mr. Timmons. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Dr. Gupta, thank you
for being here today.
I was a prosecutor for 4 years in South Carolina, and one
thing that my worst cases had in common was drug use. Most of
the people that irreparably harmed themselves, someone else
killed someone, did so while under the influence of a wide
variety of drugs, sometimes many drugs. And, you know, I think
historically, this country has been dealing with drugs. We have
tried to use the stick, and that might have been a little bit
too harsh. We have tried to use the carrot. I do not think that
is going very well, either. So, I would argue that we might
need to have a more balanced approach to holding people
accountable that are perpetuating drugs and profiting off of
drug-addicted individuals, and also help people that do, in
fact, need help. Drug addiction is real, and we have tools in
our toolbox to help address that. Would you say that that is a
fair assessment of the history, we used too much of a stick in
the 1970's and the 1980's, and now we might be a little bit too
nice?
Dr. Gupta. Thank you, Congressman, for the question. I
would say this way. When we were doing what we were doing 50
years ago, we did not know any better. I never questioned the
intent of what we were doing. It was we did not know any
better. Today, we know addiction is a disease, and it has to be
treated. We also know trafficking is a crime and it has to be
prosecuted.
Mr. Timmons. But you would agree that when somebody
overdoses and goes to the hospital multiple times, that, you
know, the first time you give them some education, maybe some
resources. The second time, maybe involuntary commitment and do
inpatient, and try to help them help themselves. We do not
really do that. We have recidivism, as it relates to drug
abuse. Well, real quick, just tell you about these harm
reduction efforts, and how do you justify some of those efforts
relative to helping people because I do not think getting
people needles helps them. I think giving them inpatient rehab
and helping to get them clean and giving them resources helps
them.
Dr. Gupta. So, thank you, Congressman. As you mentioned, a
person is suffering from a disease at the time, not often able
to know what is needed, helping them with overdose reversal so
they can stay alive because we cannot treat dead people. I want
to say this as a doctor. Getting them the ability to check the
drugs to see if they have fentanyl--they can make a decision
not to use it after that--is important and smart, making sure
the spread of chronic diseases does not happen, infectious
diseases, and here is why it works.
When I ran and saw the Quick Response Teams in West
Virginia, they would go back to someone and knock on their door
for next day, next day after that, after the overdose. We got
30 percent people or more entered treatment eventually by just
talking to them, and this is the kind of policy we need to be
thinking it. How do we approach people, help them get into
treatment? And sometimes as a law enforcement and a social
worker going together to knock on the door and say, hey, what
do you need.
Mr. Timmons. Sure, I appreciate that, but it seems that a
lot of our cities across the country are not really holding
people accountable. We are not enforcing the criminal code. I
will give you a great example. You walk down the street in
Georgetown with a beer or glass of wine, you are going to get
an open container ticket, but if you want to go smoke marijuana
at Wisconsin and M, they knock it out. I mean, you know,
marijuana is federally illegal, and the fact that we have this
nebulous enforcement mechanism where in South Carolina you go
to jail, if you are smoking in the military, you get kicked
out. I mean, you know, we are failing. We are failing at
creating a structure through which our society can thrive, and
it is causing problems. What are your thoughts on that?
Dr. Gupta. Thank you, Congressman. I can limit it to just
marijuana. This is exactly why the President last fall took
these actions: A, to make sure that people in Federal system
who are for simple possession of marijuana are pardoned because
it is about their life beyond that. Challenging the Governor
should do the same. And then asking the attorney General and
the HHS Secretary to work through and look at the what the
current evidence is around scheduling in an independent way.
Mr. Timmons. It is a very complicated issue, and I would
argue that the Federal Government has lost the ability to
enforce the law because it has refused to enforce the law for
so long, and the fact that we have not addressed it in some
meaningful way creates a lot of problems. I am a JAG officer,
captain in the South Carolina Air National Guard, and we
regularly remove people from the military for smoking
marijuana, and you cannot walk a block in D.C. without smelling
somebody smoking. So, I mean, we need to get our policies in
line with carrots and sticks and need to have nuances to
achieve our objective. With that, Mr. Chairman, I am out of
time. I yield back.
Chairman Comer. The gentleman yields back. The Chair
recognizes Mr. Goldman from New York for 5 minutes.
Mr. Goldman. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and thank you, Dr.
Gupta for being here. Quick first question. Is it the policy of
the ONDCP and the Biden Administration to assist the Mexican
cartels to traffic fentanyl into the United States?
Dr. Gupta. Absolutely not.
Mr. Goldman. So, you try to stop fentanyl from coming into
the United States, right?
Dr. Gupta. Correct.
Mr. Goldman. And, in fact, we have seen some statistics
recently that my colleagues on the other side of the aisle have
touted that there has been more success by this Administration
in seizing fentanyl coming into the United States. Is that
right?
Dr. Gupta. Yes, Congressman.
Mr. Goldman. Well, I guess I am a little troubled by tweets
such as this, who is a colleague of mine from New York, who
criticizes President Biden because during his Administration,
more than 34,000 pounds of deadly fentanyl have been seized at
the Southern border. That means that it did not come into our
communities, right?
Dr. Gupta. Yes, Congressman, and if the assertion is we
should let all of this come in and kill Americans, I will
disagree with that every single day and every single minute.
Mr. Goldman. Right. We are trying to stop the fentanyl from
coming in, and there is no question and there is bipartisan
agreement, as we have been talking about throughout this
hearing, that fentanyl and the opioid epidemic is devastating
communities all around this country. It does not differentiate
between Republican districts and Democratic districts, and
there is no question that far too many people are dying. But it
just really surprises me when my colleagues on the other side
of the aisle try to criticize this information for successfully
seizing some of that fentanyl coming across the aisle or coming
across the border rather.
And I go back to what my distinguished colleague from
Arizona, Mr. Biggs, had said earlier that he supports trying to
curtail the exportation of American manufactured weapons of war
to the Mexican cartels. There has been a lot of talk on the
other side of the aisle that the Mexican cartels fully control
the fentanyl trade, and, of course, they only are able to do
that because of their possession of weapons of war. So, I do
hope they will come around as well to support bipartisan
legislation to eliminate immunity for American gun
manufacturers who are knowingly exporting guns. I did not hear
him say that.
I would like to turn my focus a little bit to the work that
we are doing with foreign partners to address the issues of the
fentanyl trafficking coming across the border. There has been
some talk of China and India and some of the component parts of
certainly of fentanyl and synthetic drugs being provided by
them. Is the Administration and your office finding that you
are running into obstacles and roadblocks from the Chinese
Government or even the Indian Government in assisting you and
your efforts to stop the fentanyl trade?
Dr. Gupta. Thank you, Congressman. When we look at foreign
nations, we look at the willingness and the capacity to take
action to prevent the diversion of these precursor chemicals.
With India we are finding more willingness and a lot of
capacity. PRC has the capacity but has demonstrated absolutely
no willingness to cooperate.
Mr. Goldman. So, in many respects, they are tacitly
facilitating this devastating drug trade. Is that accurate?
Dr. Gupta. Certainly, they are not engaged, and they do not
seem to be interested in becoming a global leader on this
issue.
Mr. Goldman. And what, from your vantage point, has the
United States done, has this Administration done, and should
continue to do in the future to combat the control and power of
the Mexican drug cartels?
Dr. Gupta. I think it is important to have a strong and
stable partner on the south of our border. Part of that
involves working closely with their law enforcement and
military counterparts, working with the President and his
security cabinet. Those are the things that we are doing right
now. As you know, I have noticed that El Chapo's son has been
captured, we have Quintero and other drug cartel leader
captured, we have the killer of Kiki Camarena, 40 years ago, a
DEA agent, captured. So, we are getting more successes, but it
is because of the partnership, the support that we are
providing, but it is important to also hold the Government of
Mexico accountable for the actions of cartels and other
producers within Mexico as well.
Mr. Goldman. I am out of time. I appreciate you being here
and your testimony. And I thank the Chairman for holding this
hearing, and I yield back.
Chairman Comer. The Chair now recognizes Mrs. Boebert from
Colorado for 5 minutes.
Mrs. Boebert. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Dr. Gupta,
nationwide, over 100,000 people have lost their lives from drug
overdoses. We have heard a lot about that today. Seventeen
hundred ninety-nine of those deaths were Coloradans. Now, your
office works with 19 Federal agencies and oversees $41 billion
with a goal of addressing overdoses and addictions, correct?
Dr. Gupta. Yes, Congresswoman.
Mrs. Boebert. Your office is also responsible for
implementing the Biden-Harris National Drug Control Strategy
that was released over a year ago, correct?
Dr. Gupta. That is correct.
Mrs. Boebert. Dr. Gupta, a key component of the Biden-
Harris plan is to go after those who smuggled drugs into our
borders, correct?
Dr. Gupta. That is correct.
Mrs. Boebert. Why has this Administration rolled back
immigration policies that have a proven track record to secure
the Southern border, such as Title 42, or remain in Mexico?
Dr. Gupta. Thank you, Congresswoman, for that question. Of
course, I defer all the questions to Homeland Security on the
immigration piece. I can tell you on the drugs piece, we have
more seizures today that we have had at any time.
Mrs. Boebert. Do you believe that is because more is coming
over than at any other time?
Dr. Gupta. I think we have better technology. I think we
have more committed men and women in uniform.
Mrs. Boebert. Fentanyl is currently the No. 1 cause of
death for adults 18 to 45, so this is still getting into our
country and still killing Americans throughout our Nation. So,
would you agree that more fentanyl is coming across and that is
why the seizures have increased?
Dr. Gupta. I think what I would say is this. It is
important to seize every piece of fentanyl that comes across
our border. At the same time, it does not begin or end at the
border. It is important for us to look at the supply chain
globally, as well as the profits that the traffickers are
making often as well as producers.
Mrs. Boebert. Dr. Gupta, you have noted that a significant
amount of fentanyl comes through the ports of entry at the
Southwest border, correct?
Dr. Gupta. Yes, Congresswoman.
Mrs. Boebert. You are aware that the Biden Administration's
parole program through the CBP One app, correct?
Dr. Gupta. I am not involved with that program.
Mrs. Boebert. Are you aware of the program?
Dr. Gupta. Just publicly whatever I hear on the news.
Mrs. Boebert. Do you know how many inadmissible aliens were
encountered at the ports of entry at the Southwest border in
Fiscal Year 2020?
Dr. Gupta. I would have to defer those to Homeland
Security.
Mrs. Boebert. Oh, I just happen to have that answer. In
Fiscal Year 2020, OFO encountered a little over 57,000
inadmissible aliens at the ports of entry. Do you know how many
were encountered in Fiscal Year 2022?
Dr. Gupta. I would not know.
Mrs. Boebert. Up from 57,000 to over 172,000. Do you know
how many have been encountered so far in Fiscal Year 2023?
Dr. Gupta. I would still defer you to Homeland Security.
Mrs. Boebert. So, in Fiscal Year 2020, we had 57,000
inadmissible aliens at the ports of entry, 2022, over 172,000,
and Fiscal Year 2023, it is over 276,000. Now is it fair to say
that the OFO officers are much busier under Biden CBP One app
parole program?
Dr. Gupta. Once again, Congresswoman, I would make sure
that I would just defer all those questions because I am not
engaged in the immigration policy of the United States.
Mrs. Boebert. Well, I would recommend that you possibly
have a discussion with OFO, if you have not already, on how
that increased flow affects officers' ability to interdict
fentanyl at the ports. Would you agree?
Dr. Gupta. I will continue to have those conversations. I
have visited the border several times, and it is really
important that we ensure that 109,000 Americans are dying, that
we do everything in our capacity.
Mrs. Boebert. I agree, and I think that that starts with
securing the border since we are seeing this increase of
inadmissible aliens at our ports of entry. We know that people
are coming over illegally, we have hundreds of thousands of
got-aways, and certainly the amount of fentanyl deaths that you
just mentioned are extremely severe. And I would say that that
is because more fentanyl is coming through our wide-open
Southern borders, and it is because of the policies that have
been implemented since January 2021.
Dr. Gupta, I urge you and the Biden Administration to
please crack down on fentanyl and secure our borders, have this
conversation to keep Americans safe so we can put an end to
this. I appreciate your time here today. My time has expired,
but thank you for testifying before our Committee, sir.
Chairman Comer. The Chair now recognizes Mrs. Luna from
Florida for 5 minutes.
Mrs. Luna. Thank you, Chairman. Mr. Gupta, referencing the
prison system, has your organization done anything to set up a
nationwide policy on rehabilitation measures for people? The
reason I ask that is because I have personally had family in
and out of the prison systems, and sometimes the only way that
these people get clean is by going to jail. And when someone
does not go through that transition, they end up back within,
whether it is the criminal cycle or the jail system itself. So,
can you elaborate on that a little bit for me?
Dr. Gupta. Thank you, Congresswoman. As you have rightly
pointed out, this is a very important population. At any given
day, there is 2 billion Americans incarcerated, and 60 to 80
percent of them are in prison or jails because of either drug
use or----
Mrs. Luna. Addiction?
Dr. Gupta [continuing]. drug-related crimes. We have
committed to offering treatment to everyone in custody in the
Department of Federal Bureau of Prisons, and we have also
released guidelines for 1,115 Medicaid waivers to states to do
the same for the jails and prisons. Fifteen states have already
applied, two have been approved, including state of Washington
and California.
Mrs. Luna. What does that treatment involve? Is it drug
related or is it actually a step program that something like
you would see out of Narcotics Anonymous?
Dr. Gupta. So, these waiver applications can state what
they want to be. They can state if they want state prisons or
jails or both. They can state what details they want. But 90
days before release, they will have that treatment ready and
ready to go, and then they will have a continuity of care into
the community, which is really important step, which is sought.
Mrs. Luna. So just to be clear, so a system is offered
within the jail system, a rehab that they can go through and
then is that considered part of their releasing for sentencing?
If they continue the program, are they given more lenience in
it? How does that work?
Dr. Gupta. So that might be a drug court program, which we
also support. We also support diversion or deflection programs
as the entire arc of the criminal justice system. But in this
case, when they are planned to be released in 90 days, and for
a lot of jails, that turnover time is lot shorter than that, so
oftentimes 50, 70 days, so that will be that their Medicaid or
whatever insurance will not be turned off. They will continue
to have that treatment, and they can get that treatment while
they are in custody.
Mrs. Luna. As part of that treatment, is there any faith-
based organizations that are allowed to go in to facilitate
that?
Dr. Gupta. I think at this point--I can get the details for
you--but it is going to be the states that are going to have to
propose that to CMS.
Mrs. Luna. OK.
Mrs. Luna. The next question I had was to follow up on one
of my colleagues from across the aisle over there. I heard you
answer on China being uncooperative with basically stopping
some of the initial, I guess, chemicals for fentanyl
production. I did not hear you touch on India, how they have
been effective. If you can just reiterate that?
Dr. Gupta. Thank you, Congresswoman. We are having, since
2020, a counter narcotics working group with India. India being
a large chemical industry as well as pharmaceutical, they have
been very cooperative. We are working today right now to have
the 21st century drug policy framework developed with India to
make sure that there are diversion protocols in place to hold
again, bad actors accountable. The same is not true for the
PRC, the People's Republic of China. We will be going to
continue to press on them as much as we need to in order to get
them to have them cooperate.
Mrs. Luna. OK. And then just to ask for my own
clarification, you had mentioned that the Biden Administration
basically gave some form of forgiveness for those who were in
possession of marijuana. Is that backdated, or when is that
effective as of date wise?
Dr. Gupta. That was last fall and for all those in Federal
custody----
Mrs. Luna. At that point in time?
Dr. Gupta. And that is backdated as well, I believe, where
we could certainly get you details on that.
Dr. Gupta. There is a mechanism that Department of Justice
has to go through to get those records removed.
Mrs. Luna. ``Expunged'' would be the term. OK. And then my
last question is, if you had a magic wand, what would you do to
fix the crisis that you are currently seeing because I know
that sometimes the legislation takes a while. So, what is your
opinion?
Dr. Gupta. Congresswoman, that is an excellent question.
Two things I would say. One, attack the entire global supply
chain with focus on money, follow the money. On the other hand,
make sure that every American who needs to get treatment, their
life safe, gets that opportunity to do so.
Mrs. Luna. And you said that in the jail system, it is
about 60 percent that are struggling with addiction?
Dr. Gupta. Exactly. Yes. Yes, madam.
Mrs. Luna. OK. All right. Cool. Thank you. Chairwoman, I
yield my time.
Mrs. Boebert. [Presiding.] Thank you. The Chair now
recognizes the gentleman from Texas, Mr. Sessions.
Mr. Sessions. Madam Chairman, thank you very much. Doctor,
welcome. This is an issue that will not go away, has not gone
away. I remember meeting with one of your former colleagues,
General Barry McCaffrey, on this same issue. My staff, a day or
two ago, called what I believe is your staff and asked a simple
question, and was do you ever say it is illegal in your
advertising. Do you ever say that this is detrimental to your
health? I do not know if you know what that answer, what they
told us, but I know what that answer was. Do you know what it
was?
Dr. Gupta. Congressman, if you are asking that we say about
illegal drugs, that they are illegal? So, yes, we do, but I do
not know what form and where are you asking that, that we do
say that.
Mr. Sessions. To the people who live in the United States.
At least the answer that we were given, that I was told was,
well, we do not control the message. That just is given out to
someone else. They control the message on drug policy, we do
not at ONDCP, and I was perhaps not surprised, but stunned that
that would be the answer, that ONDCP outsources their message
completely to someone else.
I am also stunned today that, in my opinion, and thank you
for being here, that this Administration is blaming other
countries for our drug problems. I have heard you mentioned in
the little bit of time I have been here ``China'' about 14
times. I have heard you blame other people. You remind me of a
firefighter who has shown up when arson has already taken
place. You show me the viewpoint that you want to shift the
blame. Well, that is an old story. That is an old story that
came back that we had in the 1980's and 1990's. When we
effectively dealt with this issue, it does move somewhere else.
It moved to the Keys, from the Florida Keys. It moved to high-
speed cigarette boats. Different time, different era, but when
there is effective law enforcement, you force criminal
organizations drug cartels to do something different.
Next line of questioning please, Dr. Gupta. Have you ever
seen the series that is called ``Drugs, Inc.,'' that is on
National Geographic?
Dr. Gupta. I probably have.
Mr. Sessions. Well, if you had, you would know because it
is in its at least 7th or 8th year. I encourage you, and if you
cannot get it, I will get you all the years. When they string
them together, they tell the story because they look at the
drug cartels and the people who are pushing these products over
the years, and then they show what the response is from the
Federal Government. Is it the cat and mouse game? Yes, it is.
Is it one where the drug cartels knew that they had to be very
smart and do a number of things to evade getting arrested,
going to jail, finding out where that method of operation was,
and the United States catching on. That is how we caught on to
submarines. That is how we caught on to tunnels. That is how we
caught on to things, because we forced them, meaning drug
cartels and criminals, to do different things.
In my opinion, this Administration and the Democratic
Party, is openly allowing this open border policy that is
contributing to the hundreds of thousands of people that die.
Over the years, you have referenced 100,000 a year for a long
period of time. That is almost equal to or larger than the
number of men, people, we lost in World War II and any other
war since, and yet this Administration allows them full access
to our United States border, full access for drug cartels, to
where they can put their marketing organizations.
And I know you talked about HIDTAs. The HIDTA are seeing
this, too. They are putting their marketing organization now
instead of in the big cities, they are in the next two-tier
cities down to where they have people in place who are called
illegal aliens, who have come to this country illegal, been
given a free pass to move somewhere, and they just become part
of the marketing organization, and the DEA knows that and the
head of ONDCP should.
So, my recommendation to you is that I think that you
should go back and relook at and constitute yourself to where
you are aware of these problems and ``Drugs, Inc.'' over the
last 7 to 10 years offers you--and it might be a good time over
the month of August that you invest some time to look at this,
and you will see how the drug trade and how the fight by this
government takes place. One last question.
Mrs. Boebert. The gentleman's time has expired.
Mr. Sessions. When is the last time that you met face to
face with the President of the United States to give him the
facts of the case that you have to us today?
Dr. Gupta. Thank you, Congressman. I just told you, first
of all, please, that we do control our own message. I would be
happy to talk to you about that.
Mr. Sessions. Well, hopefully, your staff will learn that.
I will be glad to take that. I will be glad to take that in
writing.
Mrs. Boebert. The gentleman may answer the question, but
the gentleman's time has expired.
Dr. Gupta. And then as far as the process of the drug
trafficking cartel, we are very engaged in working with our 19
drug control agencies, including DEA, to manage a whole-of-
government response, and they do not have full access. The
cartels do. I just spoke to the President this week, and he has
my cell phone number, and we talked about this, how level of
high importance he places on this issue, and he is fully
committed to it. Thank you.
Mr. Sessions. Thank you, sir.
Mrs. Boebert. The gentleman's time has expired. The Chair
now recognizes the gentlewoman from Puerto Rico, Mrs. Gonzalez-
Colon.
Mrs. Gonzalez-Colon. Thank you, Madam Chair, and thank you,
Chairman Comer. I appreciate the opportunity to join the
Committee, as you can see, the Reauthorization of the Office of
National Drug Control Policy, and Director Gupta, it is good to
see you. Your office is tasked with overseeing our Nation's
drug control efforts, including through the development and
implementation of a National Drug Control Strategy. Congress
has required by law that this strategy also includes
accompanying strategies to combat the flow of illicit drugs
across the Southwest and the Northern border.
Through appropriations report language, we have also
required inclusion of a strategy to combat the flow of illicit
drugs coming through our maritime border in the Caribbean. Your
office has released this Caribbean Border Counternarcotics
Strategy with a particular focus on drug related threats in
Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands in 2015, 2020, and last
one in 2022. However, unlike the existing statutory requirement
for the Southwest Border and the Northern Border
Counternarcotics Strategy, your office is not statutorily
required to develop this third strategy despite the real
threats we face from drug trafficking organizations in the
Caribbean. And that is the reason I have introduced H.R. 920,
The Caribbean Border Counternarcotics Strategy Act, which is a
bipartisan and bicameral legislation to codify the requirement
for ONDCP to include a Caribbean Border Counternarcotics
Strategy in the National Drug Control Strategy, just as
Congress has previously codified the requirement to include the
Southwest Border and the Northern Border Counternarcotics
Strategy.
Drug trafficking in the Caribbean continues to represent a
major threat to our Nation. Nowhere is the risk clearer than in
Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands where we are home for
3.3 million Americans, and where the illicit activities of
drugs for smugglers operating in the region contributes to
violent crime in our communities and higher than average
homicides rates. In fact, in a recent hearing, a CBP Air and
Marine Operations official testified that Puerto Rico is the
most violent maritime threat vector of any location they
patrol, and that was here following the events of last November
when drug smugglers shot and killed CBP Marine Interdiction
Agent Mike Maceda and injured two other agents during the
interdiction off of our coast.
Let me provide you another example of the problem.
According to publicly available data from CBP, CBP Office Field
of Operation and Border Patrol seized over 241,000 pounds of
cocaine nationwide during fiscal years 2020 and 2022.
Approximately 52 percent of that cocaine seizures were carried
out by the San Juan Field Office and the Ramey Border Patrol
sector in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. This is
almost 127,000 pounds of cocaine, and this should not be seen
as a local or regional problem. According to law enforcement
agencies, approximately 75 to 80 percent of the drugs coming
into Puerto Rico from Colombia, Venezuela are then smuggled
onwards to the continental U.S., specifically the Eastern coast
of the United States, and that is why a strong border security
presence and a counter-narcotic strategy focused on the
Caribbean is a critical for the entire Nation, and that is the
reason my bill will ensure we achieve this.
In addition, to codify in the requirement for the Caribbean
Border Counternarcotics Strategy, this bill will also amend the
definition of ``supply reduction'' in ONDCP authorization to
ensure the National Drug Control Strategy explicitly includes
effort to disrupt the financial networks of drug trafficking
organizations. And to effectively combat these criminals, it is
essential that we hit them where it will hurt them the most,
their wallets. So, I want to thank Chairman Comer for having me
today here. What is your comments on this bill, Dr. Gupta, or
the efforts to support counter drug operations in Puerto Rico?
Dr. Gupta. Thank you, Congresswoman. We would love to work
with you on the bill. It is critical. As you mentioned, Agent
Macera, the three agents of Custom Border Protection, which is
unusual to have them be fired upon in the high seas in November
of last year, was really important. We were so saddened to see
his demise. We actually brought his colleagues to the White
House recently to award him with the U.S. Interdiction
Coordinator National Award from the White House for that
courageous work where he gave the ultimate sacrifice of his
life. So, thank you for bringing that up, and we would love to
work with your office on that.
Mrs. Gonzalez-Colon. Thank you. Mr. Chairman, I yield back.
Chairman Comer. [Presiding.] The gentlelady from Puerto
Rico yields back. The Chair now recognizes Ms. Greene from
Georgia for 5 minutes.
Ms. Greene. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you for being
here today, Dr. Gupta.
I want to talk to you about my district in Georgia. It is
located in the Northwestern part of our state where fentanyl is
a very serious, serious issue. From 2019 to 2022, fentanyl-
involved deaths increased in our state by over 230 percent.
This is significant, it is alarming, but it is also deadly.
People are dying almost daily. In counties throughout my
district, in the 14th District, from 2019 through 2022,
fentanyl-involved deaths increased by over 350 percent. That is
in my district. The Northwestern part of Georgia is nowhere
near the border of our country.
Fentanyl deaths in my district, here are some examples.
There were three deaths in Walker County in February of this
year, 37-year-old, 55-year-old, and 70-year-old, so it spans
all ages. A 16-year-old girl in Whitfield County, who had never
taken any illegal substance in her life, took a Xanax that she
thought was going to help her with anxiety. Within 5 minutes,
she was dead. In 2021, Catoosa County had nine fentanyl
overdose deaths. In January of this year alone, it is suspected
that fentanyl is responsible for eight overdose deaths. In
November 2020, Corporal Christopher Jackson Dye, a Walker
County sheriff's deputy, died after being exposed to fentanyl
during an arrest.
Fentanyl does not discriminate. It does not care about our
skin color, it does not care about our age, does not care about
our gender, does not care about our religion. It is a poison,
and it is killing people, and it is extremely concerning. With
approximately 300 Americans dying from drug overdoses each
year, Fentanyl is flowing into the country at record levels. As
a matter of fact, the local law enforcement in my district
blame the border policies of this Administration for the
fentanyl deaths in the increase of 350 percent.
Your office is charged with coordinating the budgets of
agencies to carry out National Drug Control Policy, but while
the drug crisis in this country soars out of control, the Biden
Administration is busy sending crack pipes, syringes, and safe
sex kits to drug addicts in the name of harm reduction. There
has not been any harm reduction.
Dr. Gupta, people are dying every day, but are these so-
called harm reduction strategies really the most effective way
of dealing with the drug crisis in America? Wouldn't it be
easier to deal with the drug addiction and drug overdose if
there were fewer drugs in our country?
Dr. Gupta. Thank you, Congresswoman. Clearly, there were
fewer drugs that would help, but at the same time we got to
deal with a crisis we have at hand. I understand the plight of
rural America coming from West Virginia every single day. I
have treated patients. I know the pain. I know the suffering. I
have seen people die in my arms. What we are trying to do right
now is to meet people where they are. Somebody is overdosing,
they need naloxone or Narcan. I, as a doctor, as you know this,
cannot treat dead people.
So, first thing we got to do is keep people alive. We also
have to get them into treatment and go after the bad guys and
their trafficking profits. And this is the reason that the
President is committed to making sure we have technology at the
border that detect every bit of fentanyl that is coming
through. That is a commitment and top priority of the
President.
Ms. Greene. But, Dr. Gupta, if I may? This Administration
and Democrats proved to us they believe in walls because they
erected one around the Capitol when they felt threatened after
January 6. A wall at the Southern border would stop drugs from
flowing in. That is the fact. Walls work. We know they work. We
lock our doors and windows at night inside when we go inside
our homes. We protect our children with locked doors and walls.
They work. A wall would be the best way to stop drugs from
coming in and reduce the amount of drugs. I think that would be
the wisest way to go, don't you?
Dr. Gupta. Congresswoman, thank you. I went down there
several times. The last time I saw, I saw gaps in the border
barrier system----
Ms. Greene. But the Biden Administration has stopped
construction. There are gaping holes. There are broken fences.
There are portions that do not work because the Biden
Administration has stopped construction and stopped funding.
Dr. Gupta. There are 68 that had been already fixed, and
there are 62 more on the way to be fixed. We still have tunnels
to deal with. We have drones to deal with. So, I think what we
can do coming together on this is to build the best barrier
protections possible. That includes those barriers.
Ms. Greene. Yes. Thank you, Dr. Gupta. I agree. One last
question because our time is short. I read in the news the
Biden Admin is funding crack pipe distribution to advance
racial equality. Is that a practice you agree? I am not sure
how crack pipes advance racial equality? As a matter of fact, I
will go ahead and say it for the record, I believe we are all
equal, and I think crack pipes are probably leading to
furthering the drug problem, not helping it.
Dr. Gupta. I can commit to you that no Federal funding is
going to what you have mentioned. But I will say that naloxone,
and ability for people to check for fentanyl in drug supply so
they cannot take it, and syringe service programs are critical
and they are lifesaving, and that is why we are doing it.
Ms. Greene. Thank you, Dr. Gupta. I yield back, Mr.
Chairman.
Chairman Comer. The gentlelady yields back. Now I will ask
my questions for 5 minutes. So, Director Gupta, when we
recently met in my office, discussed the issue of fentanyl
overdose deaths, you spoke about your mission and sense of
urgency. Would you agree that illicit fentanyl is one of the
most urgent crises facing our Nation, especially considering
that majority of the overdose deaths in the United States are
happening due to fentanyl?
Dr. Gupta. Yes, Mr. Chairman, and that is exactly the way
we are approaching this.
Chairman Comer. You are familiar with the supply chain of
illicit fentanyl entering the U.S. markets, correct? You
mentioned that.
Dr. Gupta. Yes.
Chairman Comer. Do you concur with DEA's assessment that
virtually all the deadly fentanyl found in the United States is
mass produced by transnational criminal organizations operating
in Mexico using China sourced precursor chemicals, and then
trafficked across the border?
Dr. Gupta. Borders.
Chairman Comer. It is being smuggled in both at ports of
entry and in between ports of entry. So, can you describe for
me and for my constituents in Kentucky, who will be watching
this clip, what efforts Office of National Drug Control Policy
has directed to increase the ability of law enforcement
personnel at the border to identify and seize as much of the
fentanyl as possible?
Dr. Gupta. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. We have significantly
increased the ability of law enforcement to be able to do that.
We have some of the highest numbers of law enforcement
officials, including Custom and Border Protection, on the
border to make sure, and we are investing in technology that is
known to detect fentanyl. When we have so much traffic back-
and-forth understanding, we want to be able to detect every
vehicle that we need to detect with fentanyl, and the
President's proposed budget is $500 million dollars. It
includes $300 million for technology to be able to do just
that.
Chairman Comer. So, we have heard that the historic levels
of illegal border crossings in the last few years has had an
impact on the ability of Customs and Border Protection
personnel with respect to the fentanyl crisis by diverting
manpower and resources, and in some cases even temporarily
shutting down interior checkpoints operated by U.S. Border
Patrol that frequently encounter narcotics loads that made it
past Customs and Border Patrol at the ports. So, what has
Office of National Drug Control Policy been doing to coordinate
with border and immigration officials to ensure that they are
able to respond to narcotics smuggling across the border?
Dr. Gupta. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. We are proposing and
providing them more resources than ever before. We are making
sure that they have what they need to protect, safeguard when
we talk about drugs coming in----
Chairman Comer. But they tell us they do not have what they
need. When we talk to them and there are not any of their
superiors around, they tell us they do not have what they need?
Dr. Gupta. I will give you, Mr. Chairman, an example. I was
down at the Arizona border. I talked to them same way when
there were no superiors there. I asked them. I saw a gaping in
the barriers, and I said why isn't this fixed. It needs to come
through us, and we want to make sure that this gets
prioritized. So, we are listening to the folks on the ground
what they need. We are proud of the work they are doing, and we
want to provide support them in an urgent way.
Chairman Comer. So, does Office of National Drug Control
Policy has the ability to direct agencies' funds in some cases?
Dr. Gupta. It is there, but it is inconsistent, Mr.
Chairman.
Chairman Comer. So, what authorities do you have as
director to certify or direct agencies' funding toward fighting
the overdose crisis?
Dr. Gupta. Mr. Chairman, we have something called the fund
control notice, and that allows us to direct drug control
spending on particular projects or activities to ensure that
agencies are appropriately implementing those policies, but
that is not consistent across.
Chairman Comer. Do you have the authority over the
Department of Justice or its component agencies?
Dr. Gupta. I think that one, based on an almost 30-year-old
appropriations piece, we do not have that.
Chairman Comer. That is a problem. That is not your fault.
So that would include the DEA, the Drug Enforcement
Administration, correct? You do not have authority over DEA?
Dr. Gupta. We have inconsistent authority across the 19
drug budget control agencies, of course.
Chairman Comer. So how has that affected your ability to
respond to the opioid crisis?
Dr. Gupta. Well, I will give you an example. During the
Bush Administration, ONDCP frequently issued this fund control
notice to each of the agencies, restricting a portion of their
available budget authority until they submitted a financial
plan for the Director for approval. That ability exists for
most agencies, but does not exist for every Agency.
Chairman Comer. So, my last question, I assume you would
agree that criminal prosecutions of individuals involved in the
illicit fentanyl trade are important at disrupting the supply
chains, correct?
Dr. Gupta. Yes.
Chairman Comer. Don't you think it would be a better use of
Department of Justice's prosecutorial efforts, instead of
retaliating against whistleblowers or investigating parents at
school board meetings, to coordinate with you and go after the
individuals who are poisoning the American people?
Dr. Gupta. Mr. Chairman, we work very closely with the
Department of Justice and other 18 Federal drug control
agencies. I could tell you they are very fully committed to
going after both sanctioning and after prosecution of the
cartel members and their enablers.
Chairman Comer. Well, we could debate that all day long,
but again, I appreciate you being here, and that concludes our
questioning portion. I am going to now yield to Ranking Member
Raskin for closing remarks he would like to give.
Mr. Raskin. Mr. Chairman, thank you for a very good hearing
today. I want to start by introducing for the record a letter
from the United States Conference of Mayors, expressing their
strong support for Reauthorization of the Office of National
Drug Control Policy.
Chairman Comer. Without objection, so ordered.
Mr. Raskin. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The fentanyl and
opioid crisis is a nightmare for America, for our communities,
and for our families. Every Member of this Committee has lost
young constituents in this public health and public safety
catastrophe. We hope and we pray that we will never have to
call another family in our districts to send our sympathy and
our love. In Maryland, last year, there were more than 2,500
overdoses in the state total, more than 2,000 of them coming
from fentanyl alone.
Mr. Chairman, I just want to make a couple of points in
closing to this significant hearing. As Dr. Gupta has
explained, there has been this massive increase and
unprecedented investment in new technologies for the CBP and
for the DEA to crackdown specifically, on the importation of
illicit fentanyl into the country.
In 2022, the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas program
led to the seizure of $22 billion in illicit drugs and in cash,
which actually meant that it yielded $82 to our law enforcement
agencies for every dollar that was spent in taxpayer money in
the program. In the same year, the DEA seized a historic
260,000 pounds of illicit drugs, including 15,000 pounds of
illicit fentanyl. So, we are seeing huge increases in the
number of drugs being stopped at the border.
And the only real dispute I heard today was whether or not
that was a sign of progress or a sign of failure. Some of our
colleagues were claiming that that was a sign of failure that
there was this massive increase in the drugs being interdicted.
But I was persuaded very much by Dr. Gupta's testimony that
this is as a product of the massive new influx of technology
catching the drugs that are coming over, so it is a major
success in interdiction.
Now, that does not necessarily represent overall success in
drug control, which involves not just interdiction, but also
public health measures, combating of addiction, and so on. So,
it was just a non-sequitur when some of our colleagues were
saying, well, yes, there is this huge increase in interdiction,
but why are all these people dying, and there is an increase in
many communities and people dying. Well, it is because of a
potentially increased use, but also the infiltration of
dangerous drugs in other kinds of drugs that people are taking,
for example, anti-anxiety medicine and so on. But that, to me,
underscores the importance of doing an investment in public
health and getting our people off of these drugs.
My distinguished colleague from Georgia said, well, just
build the wall. Of course, there was a promise in last
administration that Mexico would pay for a wall. We are still
waiting for that to happen. But my colleagues said, well, we
build walls and fences around our houses and that works. It
does not work if people are voluntarily bringing drugs into
your home, and we cannot deny the demand side of this equation.
I salute the Administration's work on reducing the supply
coming in with all of these great new technologies. But as long
as the demand is there, we are going to have a very serious
problem in America. So, we need to address the demand side as
well, and I am happy to know, Dr. Gupta, that you are equally
invested in reducing the supply and the demand.
Now, the other point I want to make, Mr. Chairman, that
came up today and I think most recently from our distinguished
colleague from Texas, Mr. Sessions, where he said, well, it is
easy enough to blame China, but what is the role we are playing
in contributing to this, and I appreciated his saying that we
do not want to just blame everything on China and then just go
home. On the other hand, it is very important. I agreed with
Mr. Edwards from North Carolina saying we should be doing
whatever we can do to try to get China to crack down on the
supply of these chemicals to the Mexican narco traffickers, the
drug traffickers in Mexico, even if they are legal. He was
saying, even if these are legal chemicals, it is important to
crack down if they know what it is going to be used for.
And the exact same point applies to the trafficking of
firearms from America to buyers, who know they are going to be
dealing to the Mexican fentanyl dealers and when the gun
dealers in America and the gun manufacturers in America
understand precisely where those guns are going. At least 70
percent of the firearms that are being used by the fentanyl
traffickers in Mexico come from the United States, and some
estimates are as high as 90 percent are coming from the United
States. And so, the recipe seems to be for these drug
traffickers and gun traffickers is guns down from the U.S. to
Mexico, drugs back from Mexico into the U.S. Those are the two
sides of the coin.
And so, Mr. Chairman, I think we have got to address the
problem, that it is American gun dealers and manufacturers who
are supplying Mexican fentanyl and opioid dealers with the guns
that they need to operate with impunity in complete lawlessness
in Mexico, and they are responsible for the deaths of tens of
thousands of people in Mexico and upwards of a hundred thousand
disappeared people in Mexico. So, if we are going to take the
problem seriously, let us take our own investment in the
problem seriously, as Mr. Sessions was saying, because it is
American guns that are making it possible for Mexican drug
traffickers to operate in such a lawless way.
But I am pleased that we are making bipartisan progress on
this. I am pleased at the interdiction efforts that are taking
place. We need to accelerate our investment in the public
health measures to get our people off of these deadly drugs and
to see dramatic reductions in the number of people, who are
overdosing in our country.
With that, I thank you for your leadership on this. Mr.
Chairman, I yield back to you.
Chairman Comer. The gentleman yields back. I now recognize
myself for a closing statement.
Again, I would like to thank you, Director Gupta, for
appearing before the Committee today. Fighting this crisis is
an urgent battle and it is essential that we conduct rigorous
oversight over the government's efforts to stem the tide of
drug overdose deaths. The drug overdose crisis is one of the
most urgent issues our Nation faces. And as Director Gupta
informed us, emerging threats, like xylazine, continue to make
the situation even more dire. I agree with how Director Gupta
framed this issue as not just an issue of public health, but a
national security crisis as well. Getting the border crisis
under control is an essential component of this issue, but I
agree with my Democratic colleagues that the border is only
part of the story.
We know that foreign bad actors, like the Chinese Communist
Party, are taking actions to hurt our Nation through the
fentanyl trade. We know that because China is the source
country for the precursor chemicals, that are making fentanyl
in secret labs in Mexico. We know that China is involved in
illicit financing and money laundering operations, and we know
that the Chinese Communist Party refuses to cooperate with our
efforts to reduce the illicit supply of these deadly narcotics.
And we know that transnational criminal organizations in Mexico
operate labs to manufacture these deadly poisons and exploit
every advantage presented by the crisis on the border to
smuggle these drugs into our communities. So, I look forward to
continue working with Director Gupta's office as we look toward
Reauthorization of the Office of National Drug Control Policy,
and continue to fine tune efforts to begin to get this crisis
under control.
With that, and without objection, Members will have 5
legislative days in which to submit additional materials for
the record or questions for the witness.
Chairman Comer. The Committee stands adjourned.
[Whereupon, at 1:15 p.m., the Committee was adjourned.]
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