House Committee Forms Group To Tackle CCP's Role In Fentanyl Crisis

Authored by Aaron Pan via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

A bipartisan working group to address China’s role in the fentanyl epidemic has been established by the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

The Fentanyl Policy Working Group, announced by the panel on June 20, will be in charge of creating legislation and raising public awareness through committee events to expose the CCP’s role in the fentanyl crisis in the United States and combat the threat.

“China has programs in place to reward companies with subsidies for exporting fentanyl and other drugs illegal under Chinese law to the United States. It is now abundantly clear that the CCP is not just turning a blind eye to the fentanyl crisis, it is causing it,” Rep. John Moolenaar (R-Mich.), the committee’s chairman, said in a press release.

Mr. Moolenaar and Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Ill.), the committee’s ranking Democrat member, announced the working group’s formation. Mr. Moolenaar said he formed the group “to determine what must be done to seek justice for the hundreds of thousands of victims and hold the CCP responsible for funneling this poison into American communities.”

The group will start by focusing its work on an April report from the committee titled “The CCP Role in the Fentanyl Crisis,” which found that Beijing directly subsidizes fentanyl production and exports the deadly substance to the United States, causing hundreds of thousands of American deaths in an effort to weaken and undermine the country.

“Fentanyl is the leading cause of death for people ages 18-45 in the United States, and we now know the Chinese Communist Party is the force behind that crisis,” Rep. Dan Newhouse (R-Wash.) said. “From funding the manufacturing and export of illicit fentanyl precursor chemicals to holding ownership interest in companies tied to drug trafficking, the CCP is not only an active participant in the drug trade—they are directly incentivizing it,” he added.

“While the CCP continues to economically enrich themselves at the expense of the health and safety of millions of Americans, it is imperative that the United States sends a clear message: the buck stops here.”

The working group aims to “codify, strengthen, and impose sanctions on entities involved in the fentanyl trade” and implement trade and customs enforcement measures to curb fentanyl trafficking. It also seeks to address “close regulatory and enforcement gaps” exploited by Chinese money launderers and fentanyl traders.

Mr. Newhouse and Rep. Jake Auchincloss (D-Mass.) will lead the working group, which includes Reps. Neal Dunn (R-Fla.), Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), Dusty Johnson (R-S.D.), Ritchie Torres (D-N.Y.), and Michelle Steel (R-Calif.).

A proposal to tackle the fentanyl crisis in the United States is also included in the Countering Communist China Act, introduced by Rep. Kevin Hern (R-Okla.) in February. The legislation includes sanctioning of Chinese officials and entities responsible for the flow of the synthetic opioid into the country, and encourages Americans whose family members died of fentanyl overdoses to sue Chinese officials.

CCP Tax Subsidies, Grants

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the number of estimated deaths caused by fentanyl overdoses reached nearly 75,000, or 200 every day, in 2023. The death toll is 24 times higher than in 2013 when 3,105 people died from the synthetic opioid. The bulk of the drugs responsible for those deaths are manufactured in Mexico using chemical precursors made in China.

Though most of the chemicals in question are illegal in both the United States and China, the committee’s April report found that the CCP is offering massive tax subsidies and giving grants to companies engaged in the production and export of such drugs to the Americas. It also found that the CCP has ownership stakes in some companies linked to drug trafficking.

While the Chinese regime has used its massive surveillance and censorship apparatus to prosecute and execute drug makers within China, it is actively contributing to the growth of those who sell their illicit goods overseas.

Data from the Drug Enforcement Administration indicates that in 2017, fentanyl from China represented 97 percent of the fentanyl seized from international mail.

The report also discovered that Chinese authorities consistently fail to prosecute manufacturers of fentanyl and its precursors. Instead of cooperating with U.S. law enforcement, Chinese security services have been accused of tipping off targets of American investigations.

Andrew Thornebrooke contributed to this report.