STOP Act Compromise Passes House Overwhelmingly
Faso-Championed STOP Act Compromise Would Crack Down on Synthetic Drugs Entering the United States from Overseas
Washington D.C. – Congressman John Faso (R-Kinderhook) today supported H.R. 5788, Securing the International Mail Against Opioids Act on the House floor, which passed in overwhelming fashion by a vote of 353—52. H.R. 5788 would aid in preventing the shipment of synthetic opioids into the United States through the international mail by implementing a new system to gather and act on advanced tracking data that would flag packages susceptible to include synthetic opioids.
The new bill is a compromise negotiated by members of both parties in the House and Senate. The basis of the compromise is H.R. 1057 and S.372 – the STOP Act, sponsored by Rep. Faso and Senator Rob Portman (R-OH), respectively.
“This legislation is the result of input and compromise from members of both parties in the House and Senate,”said Faso. “I’m encouraged that we came together to craft a real solution to this problem that is realistic, implementable, and effective. This is a big step in our fight to rid our communities of deadly synthetic drugs, such as fentanyl. Thank you to Chairman Brady and Representative Bishop for their hard work in ensuring this legislation passed the House.”
H.R. 5788 would require advanced electronic tracking data to be relayed for 100% of packages by December 2020. If shipments arrived with no advanced tracking data following the implementation of this requirement, they would be refused to continue to their next destination unless there is law enforcement interest. The legislation also sets a goal for the Postal Service to receive advanced electronic tracking data on 70% of packages by the end of 2018.
Rep. Faso assumed primary sponsorship of H.R. 1057, the Synthetics Trafficking and Overdose Prevention Act (STOP Act) of 2017 earlier this year. H.R. 1057 is the basis of the compromised bill that was passed by the House.
Rep. Faso wrote an op-ed for the Poughkeepsie Journal that lays out the need for increased enforcement measures to stop synthetic drugs from entering the country through the international mail: https://www.poughkeepsiejournal.com/story/opinion/valley-views/2018/03/20/stopping-illegal-drugs-through-u-s-mail-could-curb-opioid-crisis-john-faso/439623002/
Seizures of fentanyl in the New York area spiked by over 1000%. DEA and other law enforcement in NYC seized 64lbs in 2016. That number skyrocketed to 1162lbs in 2017.
Earlier this year, in one bust, officials seized nearly 100 pounds of fentanyl which was said to be enough to kill the entire populations of New Jersey and New York City combined.
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