Issa, Calvert Host Fentanyl Crisis Roundtable in Temecula

Statement

Congressman Issa (CA-50) and Congressman Calvert (CA-42) held a roundtable yesterday in Temecula to address the ongoing fentanyl crisis. Reps. Issa and Calvert also announced the formation of the bipartisan House Fentanyl Trafficking and Prevention Caucus.

"We have lost operational control of our nation's borders," said Issa. "And the unprecedented and deadly fentanyl crisis is the net result. This has everything to do with the open border policies President Biden imposed on day one of his term that has allowed an unprecedented supply of this drug to enter the homeland and devastate our families and communities."

"At today's Fentanyl Roundtable we heard from people on the front lines of the fentanyl crisis. We also heard from one of the far too many families in America who have lost a loved one due to fentanyl," said Calvert. "I appreciate my colleague Congressman Darrell Issa for working with me to hold this event and in organizing the House Fentanyl Caucus. In the weeks and months ahead, the Fentanyl Caucus will discuss and advocate for policies that address this deadly crisis. We must send a message to international drug cartels and their Chinese suppliers that we will not accept the death and devastation their drugs are bringing to our communities."

Reps. Issa and Calvert were also joined by U.S. Border Patrol Agent Mark Dunbar of the Murrieta Station, Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco, Riverside District Attorney Mike Hestrin, and Temecula Resident Matt Capelouto, President of DrugInducedHomicide.

"We've lost so many lives to fentanyl. So many families will never be the same. If we don't win the fentanyl fight, we're going to lose this community," said Issa. "Today we say enough. This is the conversation that's needed now to find answers and save lives. I salute the outstanding law enforcement leadership of Sheriff Bianco and District Attorney Hestrin, and especially my new friend Matt Capelouto as he admirably turns anguish into action."

Congressman Issa is also a cosponsor of the Halt All Lethal Trafficking of Fentanyl (HALT) Act, a bill which would permanently classify fentanyl as Schedule I, in the same category as LSD and Ecstasy, and remove regulations that stifle research on other Schedule I substances.

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