Bipartisan bill includes FEND Off Fentanyl Act and key provisions of Casey’s Stop Fentanyl at the Border Act
Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Bob Casey (D-PA) endorsed the bipartisan emergency border and national security funding bill released last night by his Senate colleagues.
“This bipartisan bill provides critical steps towards securing our southern border, stopping fentanyl from coming into our Nation and destroying Pennsylvania communities, and cracking down on the transnational criminal organizations in the fentanyl supply chain. It also provides key assistance to Ukraine in the war against Vladimir Putin and to Israel as it works to defeat Hamas, while providing much-needed humanitarian assistance to civilians in Gaza, the West Bank, and around the world. I urge my colleagues in both the Senate and House of Representatives to put politics aside and pass this bill quickly. Our border and our national security are too important to not get this done.”
The emergency supplemental spending bill includes funding to secure the southwest border by hiring additional border patrol agents and funding additional border security inspection technology and equipment to detect and stop fentanyl that is flowing into the United States through official ports of entry along the southwest border—provisions also included in Senator Casey’s Stop Fentanyl at the Border Act. The bill also includes the Fentanyl Eradication and Narcotics Deterrence (FEND) Off Fentanyl Act. Casey has been traveling around Pennsylvania meeting with law enforcement and families of victims of fentanyl overdoses as he pushes for passage of both bills. The emergency bill also makes policy changes to streamline the asylum process and make it more orderly and increase the number of employment and family-based visas. The legislation also creates a pathway to residency for our Afghan allies who fought alongside U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan.
The bill also provides much-needed support to Ukraine as it fights back against Vladimir Putin’s brutal invasion and assistance to Israel in its war against terrorist group Hamas. Additionally, the bill provides billions of dollars in humanitarian assistance to provide food, water, shelter, medical care, and other essential services to civilians in Gaza and the West Bank, Ukraine, and others caught in conflict zones around the world.
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