Jimmy Panetta

Not analysed yet

A requested analysis is usually ready within half an hour; come back to this page or reload it.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the ranking member for yielding me time, and I thank Chairman Guthrie and Ranking Member Pallone for their work on this bill. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 1266, my bipartisan legislation, the Combating Illicit Xylazine Act. This is a bill, as we have heard, that would provide an important tool for law enforcement to go after the illegitimate use of xylazine by scheduling it under the Controlled Substances Act. It would also protect the legitimate use of this animal sedative for farmers, ranchers, veterinarians, and other professionals. This is a bipartisan, bicameral bill that is a product of years of expert-driven work. This bill is not just about stopping the illegal use of xylazine on the streets. It is also about ensuring the legal use of xylazine on the farms. Mr. Speaker, xylazine is a veterinary drug used to sedate large animals. It is irreplaceable as a tranquilizer for horses and cattle, but it absolutely has no legitimate use for humans. Unfortunately, drug dealers are diverting it from legitimate uses to be combined with illicit drugs, especially fentanyl. That combination has become known on the streets as tranq, a drug that has become so popular that even the Emmy Award-winning series ``The Pitt'' portrayed the horrible effects of xylazine mixed with fentanyl. It is a zombie drug, Mr. Speaker, that makes fentanyl cheaper, easier, longer lasting, and deadlier. The mix has resulted in drug users, either knowingly or unknowingly, taking the drug, which turns out is also very dangerous to their health. The side effects of human ingestion include necrosis. That means, Mr. Speaker, deep wounds in which the skin and muscle simply rot away. It leads to ulcers and scabs. Mr. Speaker, when you see a picture of this stuff, you can't unsee it. They become infected and, in some cases, have been found to be filled with fleas or maggots. It has ultimately led to amputation. The drug also leads to miserable hangovers that makes users want more, making fentanyl more addictive. Tranq can also lead to a depressed heart rate, resulting in hours-long blackout stupors, which can make the drug users an easy target for assault or robbery. What is worse is that first responders have found that users of tranq who are overdosing were not responding to Narcan, or naloxone, which is the emergency treatment for an overdose of fentanyl. That means the users of tranq weren't able to come out of the overdose and were more likely to die from their drug use. Xylazine was first detected in the early 2000s in Puerto Rico. Although it stayed mainly in that area for the next decade, xylazine recently started to circulate in limited areas within the Northeast, especially in Philadelphia. However, the drug has now been detected in nearly every State in the Nation, including my State of California. In 2021, xylazine was in 12 percent of powdered fentanyl tested by the DEA. By the end of 2024, xylazine was in nearly 40 percent. Unfortunately, because xylazine is not regulated as a controlled substance, it is easily available to drug traffickers and can be bought for as little as $6 per kilogram on Chinese websites. The growing presence of xylazine complicates our difficult war against overdose deaths, and it risks making drug users even more vulnerable. To make things more difficult, xylazine cannot be scheduled through rulemaking without cutting off its access for legitimate users in animal health. Appropriately, controlling xylazine for those legal end users requires an act of Congress, and that is why we are here tonight. The Combating Illicit Xylazine Act would thread the needle by adding xylazine to schedule III of the Controlled Substances Act and, yes, punish those who traffic this drug. Also, this bill would authorize the DEA, the Drug Enforcement Administration, to track xylazine's legitimate dispensing and change the definition of an end user to those allowed to possess xylazine, including those who rely on this drug to care for animals and feed our country. The bill offers a targeted and nuanced solution to overcome the devastating effects of tranq. It will prevent further trafficking of illicit xylazine while preserving its access to those who need it. That is why the Combating Illicit Xylazine Act is not just a bipartisan bill. It is a consensus bill that is supported by Democratic and Republican Presidential administrations, by 41 bipartisan attorneys general across the country, by law enforcement groups, by DEA and HHS, by veterinary medicine, and by more than 100 Members in this Chamber. I thank the leadership of August Pfluger and Gus Bilirakis. That is why this legislation passed unanimously out of the Energy and Commerce Committee. This bill also has bipartisan support in the Senate, led by Senators Cortez Masto and Chairman Chuck Grassley. It is a popular bill in the Capitol because, unfortunately, the use of tranq has become popular on the street. However, by passing the Combating Illicit Xylazine Act, we are doing our job in Congress to prevent the illicit use of xylazine by drug dealers while ensuring its legitimate use for our farmers, ranchers, and veterinarians. That is why I authored this bill, and that is why I urge my colleagues to support this effort and to pass my Combating Illicit Xylazine Act.