WASHINGTON – Senator Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Congressman
Jim Jordan (R, Ohio-4), ranking members of the Senate and House Judiciary
Committees today renewed their request for the Biden Administration’s views on
deadly fentanyl analogues. In a letter to the Justice Department and Drug
Enforcement Administration, the lawmakers again called for a briefing on the
administration’s plans to combat the deadly opioid and reiterated specific
questions regarding the administration’s position on controlling fentanyl
related substances.
“We are encouraged that DOJ and DEA believe
scheduling FRS is critical in combating fentanyl abuse, overdose deaths, and
preventing drug trafficking organizations from spreading poison in our
communities. However, we were disappointed that your response failed to answer
the four questions posed,” Grassley and
Jordan wrote.
The lawmakers
initially sought details on the administration’s plans to combat the influx
of fentanyl analogues fueling the ongoing opioid epidemic in March. Though
the administration acknowledged that temporary class-wide restrictions have left
drug traffickers with “little incentive to invent new [fentanyl-related
substances] for the purpose of evading federal law enforcement,” it has yet to
respond to specific questions posed by the lawmakers or provide a staff-level
update on the fentanyl analogues.
June 9, 2021
The Honorable Merrick B. Garland
Attorney General
U.S. Department of Justice
950 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20530
Mr. D. Christopher Evans
Acting Administrator
U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration
8701 Morrissette Drive
Springfield, VA 22151
Dear Attorney General Garland and Acting
Administrator Evans:
Thank you for your response, dated May 11, 2021, to
our letter about the temporary scheduling authority for fentanyl analogues. You
indicated your gratitude to Congress for extending the life-saving
fentanyl-related substances (FRS) scheduling authority until October 22, 2021.
Although we supported lengthier and more permanent solutions to address FRS, we
are grateful that this authority did not lapse.
Your May 11 response noted how scheduling FRS keeps
the Department of Justice (DOJ) and Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) from
being in a “reactive mode” and that with class scheduling, “drug trafficking
organizations . . . have little incentive to invent new FRS for the purpose of
evading federal law enforcement.”
[1] We are encouraged that DOJ
and DEA believe scheduling FRS is critical in combating fentanyl abuse,
overdose deaths, and preventing drug trafficking organizations from spreading
poison in our communities. However, we were disappointed that your response
failed to answer the four questions posed. Specifically, we asked direct
questions about the Biden Administration’s position on scheduling FRS; the
impact that a lapse in authority would have on the U.S. opioid crisis; how
scheduling FRS has positively affected law enforcement’s ability to seize these
dangerous drugs; and how permanent scheduling of FRS would affect research.
We also requested a staff-level briefing on this
serious issue. As of June 8, 2021, we have yet to receive outreach from the DOJ
or DEA about setting up a staff-level briefing. We cannot overstate how
important it is for Congress to be fully aware of ongoing interagency
conversations about how to schedule FRS on a permanent basis. We have received
information that there has been outreach and communication only with the
majority staffs of the House and Senate Judiciary Committees. However, without
intentional bipartisan and bicameral engagement from the Administration, we
will be left with another short-term extension instead of legislating a
permanent solution. We cannot and should not legislate such a critical issue on
temporary bases.
We look forward to your detailed response to our
original four questions posed in the March 25 letter, and hearing back about proposed
dates for a staff-level briefing on this issue.
Sincerely.
Charles E. Grassley
Ranking Member
Senate Committee on the Judiciary
Jim Jordan
Ranking Member
House Committee on the Judiciary
Cc: The
Honorable Dick Durbin
Chairman
Senate
Committee on the Judiciary
The
Honorable Jerrold L. Nadler
Chairman
House
Committee on the Judiciary
-30-
[1] Letter
from Joseph Gaeta, Deputy Assistant Attorney Gen., Dep’t. of Justice, to Rep. Jim
Jordan, Ranking Member, H. Comm. on the Judiciary and Sen. Charles E. Grassley,
Ranking Member, S. Comm. on the Judiciary (May 11, 2021).