Protecting Wyoming from the Deadly Threat of
Fentanyl |
The Biden administration’s open-door policy at our southwest border has not only jeopardized our national
security, but it has exacerbated an already-raging opioid crisis. It is no secret that this administration has ceded control of our southwest border
to dangerous drug cartels who have flooded our communities with lethal drugs like fentanyl. Now, thanks to this administration’s weak policies,
every state has become a border state.
According to U.S. Customs and Border
Patrol (CBP), 27,000 lbs of fentanyl were seized at our southwest border in Fiscal
Year 2023 compared to 14,600 pounds in Fiscal Year 2022. This is an 800% increase since President Biden took office. To put this
crisis into perspective, that is enough to kill nearly 6 billion people. In the last six years alone, drug-related overdose deaths in Wyoming have
doubled, and across the country, fentanyl is the number one killer for Americans ages 18-45. The rapid increase in overdoses across the Cowboy State
has stretched law enforcement and medical services thin, especially in rural areas that are understaffed to begin with.
It is past time we address the growing crisis at the border. To start, we need to understand the extent of the
crisis at the border which is why I joined Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) in introducing the Southern Border Transparency Act which
requires the Department of Homeland Security to accurately report how it is handling illegal aliens encountered at the border and ensure the American
people have a full accounting of the number of illegal aliens being released into our country by the Biden administration.
This legislation will shine a light on the Biden administration’s attempts to mislead the public through
clerical reporting gimmicks. We need a clearer picture of the reality on the ground so we can appropriately deploy the resources required to secure
our southwest border and stop the flow of illegal aliens and deadly drugs that are poisoning Wyoming.
At home in Wyoming, I am committed to working with state and local law enforcement agencies to crack down on drug smuggling,
especially along the I-80 corridor, and spread awareness about the prevalence of fentanyl in our communities. Drugs do not just hurt the individual,
but they indiscriminately destroy families and leave a sea of devastation in their wake. Protecting Wyoming from deadly drugs has never been so important. Happy Trails, |
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Senator Lummis' Week in Pictures
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Team Lummis had a great time celebrating Halloween and trick or treating this week!
I had the honor of meeting with Members of the Subcommittee on Tax
Matters in European Parliament to discuss what leaders in America and Europe can do to help encourage financial innovation.
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| Legislative Actions:
- I
joined U.S. Senator JD Vance (R-OH) in sending a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland and Consumer Financial
Protection Bureau Director Rohit Chopra urging them to reconsider their joint statement on lending discrimination against “noncitizen
borrowers” that prevents financial institutions from asking about immigration status.
- Wyoming banks have a right to know if the person they are
considering for a loan will be deported and therefore will become unable or unwilling to repay the bank.
- U.S. Senator Michael Bennet (D-CO)
and I introduced legislation to require the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to
study the barriers that farming and ranching communities face to access mental and behavioral health care services.
- Wyoming farmers and ranchers do a
remarkable job feeding the nation but that critical work often comes at a great personal cost. With Wyoming having one of the highest suicide rates in
the nation, we have a responsibility to improve accessibility to mental health care services for our nation’s producers.
- I joined U.S.
Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) in introducing the Preventing Recognition of Terrorist States
Act to direct the U.S. Secretary of State to designate the illegitimate Islamic
Emirate of Afghanistan as a state sponsor of terrorism and the Taliban as a Foreign Terrorist Organization.
- In addition to being one of the most savage
and inhumane groups on the planet, the Taliban has a proven track record of aiding radical terrorist organizations that pose a direct threat to the
safety and well-being of the people of Wyoming and this country.
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| Working for
Wyoming: The federal
permitting process has become a years-long slog which discourages investment and innovation all together. A more efficient permitting process will
allow Wyoming energy producers to boost their output and help restore our nation’s energy independence.
Wyoming energy producers have proven that new projects and technology have the power to lower
costs, create jobs and provide cleaner energy. The federal government just needs to get out of the way.
News Around Wyoming:
Cowboy State Daily
Gabe Joyes is tougher than a $2 T-bone steak.
Anyone who can
run 180 miles on rocky, steep trails through the mountains of northwest Wyoming in four days would have to be.
Cowboy State
Daily A legislative committee has passed a draft
bill that would dedicate $50 million to helping Wyoming fight the BLM’s proposed Rock Springs Resource Management Plan (RMP).
The $50 million proposal was brought through an amendment sponsored by Rock Springs Republican Sen. John Kolb, who
said the BLM’s current proposal could risk billions of dollars in lost revenue for the state and other states if similar proposals are
enacted. |
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GRANT OPPORTUNITIES FOR WYOMING | The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Natural
Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) in Wyoming is currently accepting applications for enrollment into the Environmental Quality Incentives Program
(EQIP). The
project focuses on agriculture and forestry mitigation practices in Wyoming. Some of the most popular practices in Wyoming that will be eligible for
this effort including cover crop, forest stand improvement, nutrient management and prescribed grazing. Producers interested in implementing
conservation practices to improve natural resources on their private agricultural land have until November 29, 2023, to submit applications.
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| WYOMING SHOUT
OUT |
Mary Martin has
just about seen and done it all in her 48 years as a University of Wyoming educator. She has worked on 4-H scholarships, emergency management,
community daycares, senior meal plans, low-income assistance, meditation and is currently developing an online financial literacy course.
Her nearly five decades of
service was honored with the Wyoming Business Report’s Lifetime Achievement Award. Thinking about how many lives Mary has influenced in her
career is jaw-dropping. I have no doubt that she has encouraged countless others to pursue a career helping others. Please join me in celebrating
Mary’s outstanding achievements and her invaluable contributions to the Cowboy State.
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| Photo courtesy of Oil City News. |
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Cody 1285 Sheridan Avenue, Suite 215
Cody, WY 82414
Phone: 307-527-9444
Cheyenne Federal Center
2120 Capitol Avenue, Suite
2007
Cheyenne, WY 82001
Phone:
307-772-2477
Casper Dick Cheney Federal Bldg.
100 East B Street, Suite 3201
PO Box 33201
Casper, WY 82601
Phone:
307-261-6572
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Sundance
120 North 4th Street (769)
P.O. Box 769
Sundance, WY 82729
Phone: 307-283-3461
Star Valley 80 1st Street
Suite 105
P.O. Box 1630
Afton, WY 83110
Phone:
307-248-1736
Washington,
DC
Russell Senate
Office Building
Room SR 127A
Washington, DC
20510
Phone: 202-224-3424 |
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