During a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing held before the Congressional recess, Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) questioned witnesses about Biden's border security policies and the increase in fentanyl being trafficked into the United States.
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NewsTranscript
00:02Senator Lee.
00:03Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
00:04Thanks to all of you for being here and sharing your insights today.
00:07The fentanyl crisis has infiltrated our homes, our schools, our communities, our workplaces,
00:13taking lives and destroying lives at an unprecedented rate.
00:17In Utah, fentanyl-related deaths are rising, and they've become a devastating reality for
00:24far too many families.
00:27Almost everyone knows someone, and in Utah, in many cases, almost everyone is related
00:33to someone who has been impacted adversely, if not lost their life, due to this crisis.
00:42From 2014 through 2023, deaths involving fentanyl surged by a staggering 116 percent, and in
00:532023 alone, over 600 times in Utah, someone returned home to find their son, their daughter,
01:02their sibling, their parent had lost their life due to a tragic opioid overdose.
01:11This marks a dramatic increase from just 23 deaths in 2014.
01:18Now in 2023, Utah set a record for the most fentanyl pills seized in a year.
01:25Then by the very next year, just six months into the year, by July of 2024, the DEA's
01:32Rocky Mountain Field Division had already confiscated well in excess of that, close
01:37to 800,000 pills, suppressing the entire year, record-breaking year of 2023, which
01:47recorded 664,200 pills in just six months.
01:53The sharp increase in fentanyl-related deaths has significantly outpaced the decline that
02:00we've seen in deaths from prescription opioids.
02:02So we took all these steps as the crisis emerged as significant, you know, roughly
02:08a decade or so, and then all of a sudden, we've seen the number of deaths from the non-prescription-related
02:18drugs exceeding those.
02:19The number of fentanyl-related deaths more than doubled between 2019 and 2020 alone,
02:24and that trend has only gotten worse since then.
02:28The victims of this deadly scourge include our loved ones, our neighbors, our friends.
02:34Mr. Puerta and Ms. Noring, I thank you for being with us today in particular and for
02:40sharing your testimonies, and deeply sorry for your loss.
02:45No parent should ever have to face that heartbreak and heartbroken for you that you have.
02:53President Trump has prioritized securing our borders and prosecuting violent gang members
02:58that traffic fentanyl into our country and throughout our communities, and in Congress,
03:03I hope we can stand with him in his effort to make America safe again.
03:09Sheriff Barnes, I'd like to start with you.
03:12From October 2023 to October 2024, officials seized roughly 22,000 pounds of fentanyl at
03:19U.S. ports, U.S. ports of entry.
03:23Enrolling nearly 1.1 million doses.
03:26Now, according to the DEA, ingesting just two milligrams of fentanyl can be fatal.
03:32Federal officials estimate that at most 10 percent of fentanyl crossing from Mexico is
03:38actually caught.
03:39Do you believe the Biden administration's open border policies contributed to that rapid
03:44increase of fentanyl entering the United States illegally, and if so, what can be done to
03:49reverse that now?
03:52Senator, unequivocally, unequivocally, the crisis of the border that allowed the drug
03:59trafficking organizations, cartels, opened a gateway, and they exposed our weaknesses
04:04and used it against us.
04:05So yes, the border, open border policy undoubtedly resulted in harms to this country through
04:12the trafficking of not just fentanyl, but human trafficking and other things that put
04:15us at risk.
04:16Not to mention the 1.4 million gotaways that we have no idea who they are.
04:21There's so much greater risk beyond fentanyl that were created as a result of the open
04:25border policies.
04:26Right.
04:27I appreciate what you've done in Orange County.
04:30It's sparked the creation of all kinds of memes that are in fact flattering of your
04:34county and the efforts that you have undertaken there.
04:37Memes suggesting, for example, that more people cross into your county.
04:40There's sometimes shock to learn at the extent to which you're willing to enforce the law.
04:43And yet, California law in some meaningful ways has impeded your ability to enforce the
04:47law and make Californians safer.
04:50Can you tell us about that and how sanctuary jurisdictions are adversely affecting your
04:54work?
04:55Well, first, as far as laws, in 2014 we had Prop 47 passed.
05:01We said Prop 36 passed, which reversed a lot of the Prop 47 impacts.
05:05We're already seeing incarceration rates go up, which is unrepentant crime.
05:10So we're seeing some positive results there with accountability being restored back into
05:14California.
05:16Regarding the issues, your second question was specific to immigration policy.
05:21Sanctuary jurisdictions and California law.
05:23I can speak for myself.
05:24I cooperate with our federal partners to the extent allowable by law.
05:28I believe those are creating harms by restricting our ability to communicate.
05:32I have to release people back into our communities that reoffend and come right back.
05:36I do not believe they should be allowed to do that.
05:38I would support changing that, challenging that law and give us the ability to cooperate
05:44with our federal partners.
05:45Senator Blumenthal.
05:47Thank you, Mr. Chairman.