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Chairman Green: If Biden Was Serious About Stopping Illicit Drugs He’d Secure The Border

February 8, 2023

Chairman Green: If Biden Was Serious About Stopping Illicit Drugs He’d Secure The Border

WASHINGTON, DC— Committee on Homeland Security Chairman Mark E. Green, MD (R-TN) issued the following statement on the Biden administration’s announcement regarding U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s (CBP) plans to increase inspection capacity at American ports of entry to interdict more illicit drugs.

“With CBP fentanyl seizures continuing to reach new records and America facing the grim reality of over 100,000 yearly overdose deaths, the Biden administration is attempting to deflect from a crisis that has spiraled out of control and instead take credit for a program that was already funded and in the process of expansion.

“This upgrade in investment was funded in the Fiscal Year 2019 appropriations act, signed into law on February 15, 2019, by President Trump, included hundreds of millions of dollars for inspection equipment at ports of entry to increase capacity. This desperate grasping by the Biden administration to try and convince the American people that steps are being taken to stop the flow of deadly drugs pouring into our nation instead shows an administration with no plan, attempting to save face by promoting infrastructure already in the works. Even when ports of entry were closed during the pandemic, the volume of drugs coming into the U.S. still climbed, which is why we need to close the border. If President Biden was serious about stopping the unprecedented amount of synthetic drugs flowing into the country he would resume law and order at the Southwest border and enforce the laws on our books to stop this crisis.”

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