PREVENT ACT of 2021

Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 5274) to amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to provide training for U.S. Customs and Border Protection personnel on the use of containment devices to prevent secondary exposure to fentanyl and other potentially lethal substances, and for other purposes.

Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and to include extraneous material on this measure.

Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 5274, the Prevent Exposure to Narcotics and Toxics Act, as introduced by my friend and colleague, Representative Joyce of Ohio. I see that he is here, so I will let him speak on his bill, and I will follow up shortly.

I urge my colleagues to support this bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.

House of Representatives,

Committee on Homeland Security,

Washington, DC, June 17, 2022.

Hon. Richard E. Neal,

Chairman, Committee on Ways and Means,

House of Representatives, Washington, DC.

Dear Chairman Neal: Thank you for your letter regarding

H.R. 5274, the ``PREVENT Act of 2021.'' I recognize that the

Committee on Ways and Means has a jurisdictional interest in

H.R. 5274, and I appreciate your effort to allow this bill to

be considered on the House floor.

I concur with you that forgoing action on the bill does not

in any way prejudice the Committee on Ways and Means with

respect to its jurisdictional prerogatives on this bill or

similar legislation in the future, and I would support your

effort to seek appointment of an appropriate number of

conferees to any House-Senate conference involving this

legislation.

I will include our letters on H.R. 5274 in the Committee

report on this measure and in the Congressional Record during

floor consideration of this bill. I look forward to working

with you on this legislation and other matters of great

importance to this Nation.

Sincerely,

Bennie G. Thompson,

Chairman,

Committee on Homeland Security.

Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague across the aisle, Mr. Joyce, a former prosecutor, someone who understands the importance of having the backs of law enforcement as they are on the frontlines in dealing with this deadly toxin. I, too, commend CBP for the hard work that they do every single day and the drugs that they are interdicting to protect our communities.

No doubt, fentanyl and other toxics have taken thousands of American lives. I can personally speak that in my family, we have seen a family member suffer through a fentanyl addiction. If I could wave a wand and get rid of all the fentanyl in the world, I would do it. Mr. Joyce's legislation makes sure that we are not exposing more people unnecessarily to it.

Madam Speaker, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimate that over 107,000 drug overdose deaths occurred in 2021, which is an increase of nearly 15 percent from 2020. And most of these originate overseas, primarily from China, who is not doing enough to stop the fentanyl leaving its borders.

But the heroes of U.S. Customs and Border Protection interdict and seize opioids and other illicit drugs at our borders before they make their way into American communities, and we know that their exposure is extremely dangerous and could be fatal.

When detecting or seizing opioids, frontline CBP personnel are at high risk of exposure to these substances through inhalation, ingestion, and skin contact. One way to prevent accidental

contact is through Mr. Joyce's legislation that would provide the use of containment devices. This legislation protects CBP officers and agents by ensuring that those at risk of exposure have access to containment devices and, most importantly, understand how to use them.

Last Congress, this body enacted Congresswoman Yvette Clarke's Synthetic Opioid Exposure Prevention and Training Act to protect CBP personnel from exposure to synthetic opioids. That law required CBP to implement a safety framework to protect its personnel from exposure to potential synthetic opioids.

We also enacted Congressman Clay Higgins' DHS Opioid Detection Resilience Act to ensure CBP implements a strategy to detect synthetic opioids at lower purity levels.

Together, these measures responded to concerns raised by the Department of Homeland Security's Office of Inspector General about the risk of accidental narcotics exposure to frontline CBP personnel.

Madam Speaker, consideration of H.R. 5274 is particularly timely as CBP's fentanyl seizures continue to increase.

Madam Speaker, I ask my colleagues to support H.R. 5274, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I have no more speakers, and I am prepared to close.

Madam Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time. Again, I thank Mr. Joyce. I thank the other side for their bipartisan interest in this legislation.

As I said, as the son of a police officer, a brother to a number of police officers--we are a law enforcement family--and I see every day and hear from my family about the exposure they face, particularly those on the southern border.

Madam Speaker, I seek swift passage of this legislation, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased that we are closing out the Congress with overwhelming bipartisan support for 23 important measures to make our communities more secure and improve Department of Homeland Security operations in the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2023.

I am particularly pleased that we were able to reach agreement on the Nonprofit Security Grant Program Improvement Act to expand and strengthen this vital program so that more nonprofits and houses of worship can access security assistance at this time of heightened threats of violent extremism and terrorism. With antisemitic and other violent threats on the rise, it is clear this legislation is needed now more than ever.

I also want to thank Ranking Member John Katko, as he retires from Congress, for his contributions to the Homeland Security Committee and his critical support throughout this process for the Committee's bipartisan package found in Division G of the NDAA.

While the package reflects the contributions of so many of my colleagues, l would like to give special acknowledgment to Congresswoman Val Demings who championed the Homeland Security Capabilities Preservation Act. This legislation directs DHS to explore ways to provide needed bridge funding to cities to preserve homeland security capability gains accomplished through the Urban Area Security Initiative grant program when they no longer receive such funding.

With respect to cybersecurity, I am pleased that we were able to reach agreement on bipartisan provisions that originated in the Committee on Homeland Security. They include Congresswoman Elissa Slotkin's legislation to reauthorize the Secret Service's National Computer Forensics Institute, Congresswoman Elaine Luria's bill to authorize DHS's President's Cup Cybersecurity Competition, and legislation authored by Congressman Eric Swalwell aimed at improving DHS's cybersecurity training to protect industrial control systems.

While I am enormously proud of the bipartisan homeland security provisions that were included, I would be remiss if I did not acknowledge my disappointment that we were not able to reach agreement with the Senate on amending the law to treat TSA's workforce like most other Federal employees or authorize the vital work of DHS's Office of Civil Rights and Civil Liberties. We will continue to seek an agreement on these critical measures.

Lastly, I am particularly proud that the NDAA honors my late friend, Congressman A. Donald McEachin, by including his bill, the DHS Mentor- Protege Program Act, to help small businesses better compete for DHS contracts. It is a fitting tribute to my friend that we came together to pass a bill to open doors of opportunity to small businesses-- something that he was passionate about doing.

Mr. Speaker, the full list of Homeland Security Committee measures that will be enacted by this year's NOAA is as follows:

H.R. 6825, the Nonprofit Security Grant Program Improvement Act of 2022, sponsored by Rep. Bennie G. Thompson (D-MS).

H.R. 5615, the Homeland Security Capabilities Preservation Act, sponsored by Rep. Val Butler Demings (D-FL).

H.R. 6387, the School and Daycare Protection Act, sponsored by Rep. Donald M. Payne Jr. (D-NJ).

H.R. 8801, the DHS Joint Task Force Reauthorization Act of 2022, sponsored by Rep. J. Luis Correa (D-CA) and S. 4656, the DHS Joint Task Forces Reauthorization Act of 2022, sponsored by Sen. Gary C. Peters (D-MI).

H.R. 2915, the Homeland Procurement Reform Act, sponsored by Rep. J. Luis Correa (D-CA) and S. 1009, the Homeland Procurement Reform Act, sponsored by Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH).

H.R. 6824, the President's Cup Cybersecurity Competition Act, sponsored by Rep. Elaine G. Luria (D-VA).

H.R. 7777, the Industrial Control Systems Cybersecurity Training Act, sponsored by Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA).

H.R. 7174, the National Computer Forensics Institute Reauthorization Act of 2022, sponsored by Rep. Elissa Slotkin (D-MI) and S. 4673, the National Computer Forensics Institute Reauthorization Act of 2022, sponsored by Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA).

H.R. 5574, the TSA Reaching Across Nationalities, Societies, and Languages to Advance Traveler Education Act (``TRANSLATE Act''), sponsored by Rep. Dina Titus (D-NV) and S. 3296, the TSA Reaching Across Nationalities, Societies, and Languages to Advance Traveler Education Act (``TRANSLATE Act''), sponsored by Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-

Madam Speaker, with over 108,000 Americans dying from a drug overdose last year, all of us are uniquely aware of the opioid crisis ravaging our country.

Similarly, Americans have watched as the crisis at our southern border has turned into an outright catastrophe. There is a threat that both these crises pose, and it has gone unaddressed for far too long: secondary exposure to fentanyl. Secondary exposure occurs when an individual is unintentionally exposed to fentanyl and the drug enters the bloodstream through accidental absorption.

This happened in my home State of Ohio. A police officer overdosed after brushing fentanyl off his uniform following the arrest of a drug dealer.

The threat of secondary exposure is consistently faced by one group in particular: Customs and Border Protection agents. CBP officers have seized over 340,000 pounds of drugs this fiscal year, including 5,300 pounds of fentanyl. That is enough to kill 2.4 billion people.

Madam Speaker, today, I am calling on my colleagues to pass my bill to better protect those working to secure our borders: H.R. 5274, the Prevent Exposure to Narcotics and Toxics Act. Known as the PREVENT Act, my bill would require CBP to issue containment devices to all frontline border security personnel and provide training on their proper use.

Congress already requires CBP to provide Narcan to all officers at risk of secondary exposure, making this legislation a simple but necessary extension of the tools we provide those who defend our borders. Containment devices are a critical safety technology that allows first responders to safely store fentanyl and other dangerous substances in a secure device.

They not only protect agents from secondary exposure, but also better preserve narcotics for forensic analysis, improving the integrity of investigations and the chances of further legal action against traffickers.

The crisis at our southern border has exploded to unprecedented levels, and with it, we have seen a shocking rise in the amount of fentanyl flowing into the United States. While those of us in Congress may differ on how we believe this crisis should be solved, we can agree that the men and women working to stop deadly drugs from reaching our communities deserve to be protected on this job. The PREVENT Act provides them with that protection.

Madam Speaker, I am proud to have introduced this bill and will always have the backs of the CBP agents working to keep our country safe. These men and women put their lives on the line every day. The least Congress can do is ensure they have what they need to do their jobs as safely as possible.

Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 5274, the Prevent Exposure to Narcotics and Toxics Act, introduced by my friend and colleague, David Joyce.

This bill addresses the important issue of protecting our frontline Customs and Border Protection personnel from the dangerous and illicit drugs they encounter every day.

This is especially important as the situation at our southern border continues to worsen by the day under this administration. In fiscal year 2021, Customs and Border Protection officers and agents seized more than 914,000 pounds of illicit narcotics, and so far this fiscal year, CBP is on track to seize a similar amount of illegal drugs.

Unfortunately, in 2019, the Department of Homeland Security's Office of the Inspector General issued a report that found CBP personnel were not adequately protected and were at greater risk of secondary exposure while handling illicit drugs such as fentanyl and methamphetamine.

CBP frontline personnel often work in challenging and dangerous environments as they risk exposure to these illicit drugs via inhalation, ingestion, skin contact, and contact with needles.

H.R. 5274 will require the CBP Commissioner to issue containment devices, which are critical tools that provide protection against secondary exposure to fentanyl and other chemicals to help protect our frontline officers and agents.

Madam Speaker, I strongly encourage all Members to support this bill to protect our dedicated frontline law enforcement at the border, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Joyce).

Madam Speaker, certainly, H.R. 5274 is a small step that we can take in managing the crisis at our southern border, in addition to emphasizing border security. I thank Representative Joyce for his very astute observation that our law enforcement is at risk and for his bill to help protect those who protect and serve us.

Madam Speaker, I have no further speakers. I urge Members to support this bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 5274, known as the PREVENT Act of 2021.

The Prevent Exposure to Narcotics and Toxics Act seeks to amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to provide additional training for U.S. Customs and Border Protection personnel.

The training outlined in the amendment would instruct U.S. Customs and Border Protection on containment devices which prevent secondary exposure to fentanyl and other lethal substances.

These containment devices reduce exposure to hazardous substances and can improve investigations by better preserving chemical substances for forensic analysis.

Fentanyl exposure as little as two milligrams can lead to trouble breathing, dizziness and a possible lethal overdose.

CBP (Customer and Border Protection) Officers are at an increased risk of exposure to fentanyl and other lethal substances through inhalation, ingestion, skin contact, etc. This exposure risk was reported by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Office of the Inspector General.

The same report cited that many CBP facilities were ill equipped to store fentanyl and other lethal substances.

These facilities were also not equipped with naloxone, a substance critical in preventing overdose when faced with accidental exposures.

Without proper training on how to contain and prevent these threats, our personnel are at risk of endangering themselves and the people they seek to protect.

It is imperative to defend our law enforcement officers from dangers they face while protecting our communities and Nation. This bill would promote the safety of CBP Officers while promoting the effectiveness of their investigations.

I urge my colleagues to vote in favor of H.R. 5274.