The publication is reproduced in full below:
CRISIS AT THE BORDER
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HON. ROBERT E. LATTA
of ohio
in the house of representatives
Wednesday, July 28, 2021
Mr. LATTA. Madam Speaker, the humanitarian and national security crisis occurring at our southern border continues to worsen by the day. In June, Border Patrol stopped 188,829 illegal immigrants, which is a 450 percent increase from June of 2020. Earlier this year, I went to the border and saw first-hand how cartels are using innocent children as decoys to bring illegal narcotics into our country.
Because of the policies--or lack thereof--from our current Administration, this crisis is being allowed to grow, cartels are taking advantage of our weak borders, and narcotics are flowing into our country like never before.
In June alone, 1,053 pounds of fentanyl were seized at our southwest border. This is more than the last 3 Junes combined, and is enough to kill 238 million Americans.
And to imagine--this is only the amount of fentanyl that was seized last month--what about deadly drugs that are slipping through the cracks and make their way into the country?
Last week, the CDC reported the national overdose death rates for 2020. Overdose deaths across the country were the highest they have been over the last 50 years. In 2020, in the United States alone, 93,331 people died from a drug overdose. To put this number into perspective, 70,980 people died from a drug overdose in 2019. Nearly 75 percent of fatal overdoses were attributed to opioids, a 5 percent increase from 2019, that was largely driven by fentanyl. In Ohio, opioid overdoses reached record levels rising 16 percent in the second quarter of 2020, which had been declining over 24 months prior to the pandemic.
Madam Speaker, Americans are dying because of the crisis at the border. We must act to stop the illegal flow of narcotics and protect our country.
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SOURCE: Congressional Record Vol. 167, No. 132
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