Biden calls on US Congress to take further action against fentanyl

Washington. US President Joe Biden has urged Congress to help him take further action to combat the scourge of fentanyl before his term ends.

The Democratic administration is exerting this new political pressure as former Republican President Donald Trump steps up his attacks on Vice President Kamala Harris, portraying her as Biden’s irresponsible lieutenant in the battle to slow the flow of illegal drugs and unauthorized immigrants into the United States from Mexico.

The White House on Wednesday announced a series of Biden proposals aimed at curbing the ongoing drug epidemic. They include pushing Congress to pass laws that would establish registration of pill presses and tablet-forming machines and increase penalties for people convicted of drug and fentanyl trafficking.

Biden also wants to tighten rules for importers sending small packages into the United States and require shippers to provide additional information to Customs and Border Protection authorities. The move is intended to improve detection of fentanyl precursors that make it into the United States in relatively low-value shipments that are not subject to customs and trade barriers.

The president’s new efforts to combat fentanyl could also benefit Harris, the presumptive Democratic nominee, as Trump and his surrogates seek to portray her as central to the Biden administration’s struggles at the U.S.-Mexico border throughout his term.

“Still, too many of our fellow Americans are losing loved ones to fentanyl,” Biden said in a statement. “It’s time to act. And it’s time to stand together — for all those we’ve lost, and for all the lives we can still save.”

Biden said he would also sign a national security memorandum on Wednesday aimed at improving information sharing between law enforcement and federal agencies to better understand the production and trafficking flows of the synthetic opioid that has devastated large parts of the United States. More than 442 million doses of fentanyl have been seized at U.S. borders in the past five months, according to the White House.