Stop Pills That Kill Act

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Kentucky for yielding.

Mr. Speaker, I am proud to rise today in strong support of my bill to help combat the epidemic of fentanyl deaths that have been driven by the proliferation of counterfeit pills.

My bill, the Stop Pills That Kill Act, is commonsense legislation that will help save American lives by cracking down on criminals who traffic poison disguised as prescription drugs.

Under Republican leadership, the United States has thankfully seen a steep decline in monthly synthetic opioid deaths, driven by policies that strengthen border security and target cartels and drug dealers. Unfortunately, my State of Colorado has seen the exact opposite trend, with an average overdose rate of about 800 deaths per month at the end of 2024 increasing to 1,000 deaths now. Because Colorado's trends have not matched the Nation and have, in fact, gone the other direction, my State has, unfortunately, seen more than 1,600 tragic and preventable excess overdose deaths.

I was a cop in the Denver area for over a decade. I know that this figure isn't just a tragic coincidence. It is a direct result of failed policies. While I was working to keep communities in Colorado safe from the poison that is fentanyl, Denver Democrats chose repeatedly to push soft-on-crime policies that lessened criminal sentencing for drug offenses while refusing to take a hard line on fentanyl.

The Stop Pills That Kill Act counteracts these deadly policies by doing three simple things: It closes a sentencing loophole that allows poison peddlers off with a slap on the wrist. It implements serialization requirements for pill presses and their critical components. And it makes it illegal to manufacture, distribute, or import pill presses with the intent to illicitly produce a controlled substance.

I will remind my colleagues that every 15 days under the previous administration we lost the same number of Americans to drug overdose deaths that we lost in the entirety of the September 11 terrorist attacks. I was a cop for 10 years, and I was a soldier for 12. I deployed to a combat zone as part of the global war on terror, and that statistic speaks volumes. We must remember the impacts that fentanyl has had on hundreds of thousands of American families.

During the legislative process, two bills were folded into mine, the Fight Illicit Pill Presses Act, led by Representative Hageman, and the PRESS Act led by Representative McDowell. I thank both of them for their work, but I want to particularly recognize my friend, Mr. McDowell, who tragically lost his own brother to fentanyl nearly 10 years ago. Representative McDowell's dedication to fighting this crisis is a fitting honor to his brother's legacy.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting this critically important, commonsense bill.

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 8005. This legislation addresses the supply chains that turn illicit chemicals into counterfeit pills by targeting the equipment, importation, and production behind the fentanyl crisis. Over the past several years, we have worked together in a strong, bipartisan way to make real progress in combating the overdose crisis. However, it is important to recognize that an enforcement-only strategy is not the answer. This legislation prioritizes enforcement, and enforcement alone ultimately does not save lives.

The good news is that we know what does: expanding access to treatment for opioid use disorder and harm-reduction interventions like fentanyl test strips and naloxone.

That is why the Trump administration's actions to slash substance use treatment funding is so alarming. It could threaten the real progress that we have made. The Trump administration has dismantled the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, SAMHSA, the agency responsible for addressing the overdose crisis, and it has kept hundreds of millions of dollars in addiction and overdose prevention funding.

If we truly want to protect our community, we need to work together to increase access to treatment and stop these attacks from this administration.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, as we have noted, this legislation addresses supply chains that turn illicit chemicals into counterfeit pills, and it is a critical part of fighting back against the fentanyl crisis. We must do this and more, restoring funding, restoring programs, and ensuring access to treatment.

For these reasons, Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to vote ``yes'' on this bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 8005) to amend the Controlled Substances Act to prohibit certain acts related to fentanyl, analogues of fentanyl, and counterfeit substances, and for other purposes, as amended.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks on the legislation and include extraneous material on H.R. 8005.

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of H.R. 8005, the Stop Pills That Kill Act, that my good friend from Colorado (Mr. Evans) has brought forward.

The threat posed by illicit pill presses has risen as drug traffickers continue to press fentanyl, methamphetamine, and other illicit drugs into drug pills.

In 2025 alone, DEA seized over 47 million fentanyl-laced counterfeit pills. This bill makes important regulatory changes to strengthen DEA's ability to stop bad actors from misusing pill presses, tableting, and encapsulating machines and their critical components to illicitly manufacture controlled substances to poison our communities.

This bill will make our streets safer.

I applaud the tireless efforts of my friend from Colorado to protect Americans from these threats.

Mr. Speaker, I encourage my colleagues to support this bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Colorado (Mr. Evans), who is a tireless fighter on this issue and a very valuable member of the Energy and Commerce Committee.

Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the hard work of my friend from Colorado. I encourage a ``yes'' vote on the bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.