Grieving Parents vs. Dems: Fentanyl Fight Gets Real

Democrats in Congress are facing serious heat for opposing bipartisan legislation aimed at closing loopholes that fentanyl traffickers are exploiting. The HALT Fentanyl Act, designed to make the temporary Schedule I classification for fentanyl analogs permanent, is running into resistance.

A drug policy nonprofit, backed by George Soros, claims the bill will worsen mass incarceration and restrict research on these opioids. Democrats like Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey are echoing these arguments, trying to stall the bill with amendments and procedural tactics.

During Senate floor comments on Tuesday, Booker, while calling for extending the temporary scheduling, argued that the HALT Act would implement "harsher penalties for drugs." Senators Sheldon Whitehouse and Ed Markey have also suggested the HALT Act would impede research on fentanyl analogs and exacerbate mass incarceration among minority communities.

Booker even cited testimony from parents who lost their children to fentanyl overdoses, but here's the kicker: these same parents are now urging Congress to stop dragging its feet on permanently scheduling fentanyl analogs as Schedule I substances.

Jaime Puerta, who lost his son Daniel to a fentanyl overdose in 2020, penned a letter to Booker, stating, "Continuing resolutions… is simply a method of kicking the can further down the road. Your reluctance to support the HALT Fentanyl Act disregards the escalating death toll and the devastating impact on families and communities nationwide."

Lauri Badura, who lost her child in 2014, also wrote to the Senate Judiciary Committee, questioning, "How can the public hold out hope Congress will fix the larger problem of illicit fentanyl crossing our borders every single day?"

She added, "Families across America… who have lost a child or loved one to fentanyl poisoning want this bill passed. Our kids did not want to die."

The arguments from Democrats mirror those of the Soros-backed Drug Policy Alliance. Earlier this month, after the House passed the HALT Act with a vote of 312-108, the nonprofit warned the bill would "create new mandatory minimum sentences for fentanyl-related substances" and block "potential research that could uncover new overdose medications."

Stanford University's Keith Humphreys, a former senior policy advisor, argues that claims about increased incarceration rates among minority communities are likely unfounded, stating, "I don't think [the HALT Act] is going to make a big difference... also the market size is just not comparable to the number of players that we had with crack."

Humphreys noted that while studying Schedule I substances can be "hard," it's "not impossible." According to its sponsors, the HALT Act would streamline the registration process for Schedule I researchers, making it easier to study fentanyl analogs.

Sen. Bill Cassidy, R–La., stated, "Law Enforcement needs permanence. Congress' inaction only emboldens China, drug cartels and other criminals who exploit our communities."

Booker insists more needs to be done, saying, "This can't be all Congress does... this body has failed to rise to the challenge."

Fox News Digital reached out to Booker, Whitehouse, and Markey for comment but received no responses by publication time.