WASHINGTON – Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), ranking member of the Judiciary Committee, has joined Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) and several of their colleagues to introduce the Prevent Exposure to Narcotics and Toxins (PREVENT) Act, which will provide drug containment devices to frontline border patrol agents. The bipartisan legislation ensures law enforcement officers operating on the front line are protected from secondary exposure to dangerous drugs.
 
“Dangerous and deadly drugs like fentanyl are coming across the southern border, poisoning our streets and causing a spike in overdose deaths. Curbing this alarming trend begins at the border with our brave border patrol officers, who form the first line of defense. We must ensure they have the protection and training needed to stay safe,” Grassley said.
 
“Border patrol officers are on the frontlines of our efforts to combat illegal and dangerous drugs at our southern border,” Brown said. “Following our success in securing new screening devices for federal law enforcement agents, we need to do more to protect border patrol agents from these dangerous drugs during transit.”
 
As record levels of fentanyl enter the U.S. through an open southern border, CBP and other federal law enforcement officers have been tasked with the monumental challenge of intercepting these drugs before they enter communities across the country. This work is particularly dangerous due to the risk of accidental exposure to narcotics and toxins.
 
The PREVENT Act:
  • Directs the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Commissioner of Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to purchase containment devices, a critical tool in safely storing illicit narcotics, for all frontline border patrol agents and provide training for their effective use; and
  • Trains officers on how to use containment devices to prevent potential synthetic opioid exposure.
 
Sens. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Bill Cassidy (R-La.), Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), Jon Tester (D-Mont.), Ed Markey (D-Mass.) and Gary Peters (D-Mich.) are also cosponsors of the bill.
 
The PREVENT Act is supported by the Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association.
 
Full text of the bill is available HERE.
 
Recently, Grassley – who also serves as the co-chairman of the Senate Caucus on International Narcotics Control – held a field hearing in Des Moines, Iowa to shine a light on the deadly fentanyl epidemic that is claiming lives in Iowa and across the country. Parents of Iowans lost to fentanyl poisoning and state and federal officials testified at the hearing. Grassley has repeatedly pushed to extend a key anti-fentanyl authority and introduced legislation to keep counterfeit pills containing fentanyl off the streets.
 

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