WASHINGTON, D.C.– Senator Rick Scott today announced the introduction of his bipartisan School Access to Naloxone Act with Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR). This new legislation would ensure school personnel have the training to administer lifesaving drugs and devices for emergency treatment in cases of known or suspected opioid overdose. Earlier this year, Representatives Dean Phillips (D-MN) and Dave Joyce (R-OH) introduced a bipartisan version of this bill in the House of Representatives.

Senator Rick Scott said, “Across the United States, the fentanyl crisis continues to rage and take the lives of innocent Americans. I’ve talked to parents all across the Sunshine State who have dealt with the crushing loss of a child to fentanyl, and know too well that Florida has not been spared from this deadly crisis, and neither have our schools. Parents deserve the comfort that if the unimaginable happens, our schools are as prepared as possible to save lives. That is why Senator Merkley and I have introduced the bipartisan School Access to Naloxone Act to make sure that our schools have the resources they need, like training and Naloxone, to respond effectively in the case of an overdose. I hope to see this deadly crisis end soon, but until that happens I won’t stop fighting to protect our kids from these killer drugs.”  

Senator Jeff Merkley said, “Oregon currently faces the fastest growing drug-related death rate among teens in the entire nation—we must show up for our younger generations and present effective solutions to this crisis. Naloxone saves lives, and helping schools stock and administer it is an important part of what needs to be a multi-pronged effort to tackle this crisis.”

Senator Scott has been a leading voice on combatting the fentanyl crisis. Earlier this year, he hosted a roundtable to discuss this crisis which focused on personal stories from parents who have suffered the loss of a child from this crisis, and featured input from leaders representing border patrol agents and law enforcement, as well as subject-matter experts. Senator Scott has introduced the following bills during the 118^th Congress to crack down on the deadly fentanyl crisis and protect American families:

• Eradicating Narcotic Drugs and Formulating Effective New Tools to Address National Yearly Losses of Life (END FENTANYL) Act
• Requires the Commissioner of CBP to review and update the Office of Field Operations’ policies and handbooks, as necessary and at least once every three years in order to respond to illegal activity, such as the trafficking of drugs and humans, along the border. Also requires the Commissioner of CBP to submit a report to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate and the Committee on Homeland Security of the House of Representatives that summarizes the policy and manual changes every three years. 

• Uniform Postal Data Acquisition for Transparency and Early Detection within the United States Postal Service (UPDATED USPS) Act
• This bill would curb the flow of fentanyl through the mail. The bill strengthens electronic data requirements on shipments from foreign adversaries, which blocks packages that lack digital tracking data. With these improvements, the U.S. will be able to stop foreign cartels from circumventing border patrol agents.

• Upholding the Law at Our Border Act
• The bill requires the Inspector General of the Department of Homeland Security to investigate the vetting and processing of migrants apprehended along the southwest border and to ensure that all laws are being upheld.

• Extending Limits of U.S. Customs Waters Act
• This bill extends the customs waters territory of the United States from 12 to 24 nautical miles from the baselines of the United States, allowing U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Air and Marine Operations (AMO) and the U.S. Coast Guard the jurisdiction necessary to keep American families safe from drug and human traffickers.

• Caribbean Border Counternarcotics Strategy Act
• Requires the Office of National Drug Control Policy to produce an overall strategy focused on preventing the illegal trafficking of drugs from the Caribbean region into the U.S., specifically relating to Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

• Overcoming Prevalent Inadequacies in Overdose Information Data Sets (OPIOIDS) Act
• This bill allows for better data collection from law enforcement agencies, grants to contain suspected narcotics and upgrade essential testing and tracing systems, and increased collaboration between the Office of National Drug Control Policy and other federal and state agencies.

• Continuing High-Quality Evaluations of Concerning and Known Persons of Interest through National Training Updates (CHECKPOINT) Act
• This bill will require regular updates to internal secondary internal border checkpoints’ drug seizure data categories, establish a Southern Border Intelligence Center to develop an understanding of the threat in the environment along the southern border, and ensure that the Checkpoint Management Office at U.S. Border Patrol remains consistently staffed.

• Bipartisan Bicameral Naloxone Awareness Day Resolution
• This resolution recognizes June 6th as Naloxone Awareness Day. The resolution promotes awareness of the life-saving drug, Naloxone, which reverses opioid overdoses and prevents unnecessary deaths. It also aims to educate members of the public about the importance of recognizing the signs of overdose, and equipping themselves with the life-saving antidote.

•  National Fentanyl Awareness Week Resolution
• This resolution would name February 26th - March 4^th as National Fentanyl Awareness Week.

• Stopping Online Confusion for Investigative Agencies and Law Enforcement by Maintaining Evidence Determined Interparty Arrangements (SOCIAL MEDIA) Act
• To combat the sale of fentanyl and other illicit drugs on social media platforms. The SOCIAL MEDIA Act will allow for better law enforcement coordination in criminal cases with social media platforms by requiring 24/7 staffed-in-the-U.S.A. call centers for fielding information requests with clear guidelines for agencies to best expedite the process. Time is critical when catching these criminals. This bill will promote enhanced data collection, transparency in the data collected, and uniformity in data presented to better compare platform to platform on their efforts to combat illegal drug sales.

• Opioid RADAR Act
• To allow for more grants to support improved data and surveillance related to opioid-related overdoses, reforms the ONDCP's role as a Cabinet-level position and improves interagency collaboration and adds fentanyl test strips to the list of excluded materials in the drug paraphernalia category of the Controlled Substances Act.

MORE HERE:

• Senator Scott is working with Senator Marco Rubio to pass the Felony Murder for Deadly Fentanyl Distribution Act to make the distribution of fentanyl, resulting in death, punishable by federal felony murder charges.

• Senator Scott and his colleagues sent a letter to President Biden to urge him to pursue a comprehensive strategy to combat this epidemic by designating illicit fentanyl analogs and all precursor chemicals as weapons of mass destruction (WMD).

• Senator Scott is fighting to have the FEND Off Fentanyl Act, a bill he is working with his colleagues on, included in the Senate’s version of the National Defense Authorization Act, and looks forward to its passage.

• Senator Scott has cosponsored Senate Resolution 215 supporting National Fentanyl Awareness Day in 2023, which advocates increasing individual and public awareness of the impact of fake or counterfeit fentanyl pills on families and young people.

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