Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks, R-Iowa, told Newsmax on Friday that she was disappointed President Joe Biden didn't outline a "robust policy" for dealing with the ongoing fentanyl crisis.
"One of the most disappointing things about the State of the Union address was that there was no policy, or robust policy, for what is called an epidemic," said Miller-Meeks, who sits on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, in an appearance on "John Bachman Now."
"This has been called an epidemic, not by conservatives or Republicans, but by the CDC [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention], by The Washington Post, by the Council on Foreign Relations," she continued. "So we know in ... 2020 that there were 91,799 deaths [from] drug overdoses, 53,000 of those related to fentanyl. In 2021, there were 106,000 to 107,000, depending on the source you read, drug overdose deaths, 70,000 of which were related to fentanyl.
"This is the No. 1 killer now of those individuals between 18 and 45 years of age."
Miller-Meeks added, "The majority of this is coming across our southern border" from cartels who "use illegal immigrants and human smuggling ... to distract and to occupy the Border Patrol agents and then bring drugs across through another part of the border."
Theodore Bunker ✉
Theodore Bunker, a Newsmax writer, has more than a decade covering news, media, and politics.
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