WASHINGTON – Wednesday night, the House Armed Services Committee voted to include Rep. Jim Banks’ amendment to hold China accountable for the fentanyl crisis in the Fiscal Year 24 National Defense Authorization Act.
Banks’ amendment requires the Department of Defense to determine whether PRC officials assisted or were aware of the transportation of fentanyl precursors to Mexican drug cartels.
China Ambassador Nicholas Burns recently claimed that China’s government has not contributed to the fentanyl crisis, even though nearly all fentanyl in the US originates in China.
At a House Select Committee on China hearing, former Deputy National Security Adviser Matthew Pottinger testified to Rep. Banks that Chinese state-owned firms are involved in fentanyl manufacturing.
Earlier this year, Banks introduced the Stop CCP Fentanyl Act to sanction Chinese Communist Party officials for the fentanyl crisis that has killed hundreds of thousands of Americans.
