Americans for Securing All Packages Lauds Bipartisan 21st Century Cures Act, Calls for Congress to Close Global Pipeline Fueling America’s Opioid Epidemic
Washington – Americans for Securing All Packages (ASAP) commends bipartisan legislators in the House and Senate for passing the 21st Century Cures Act, a bill that will provide critical resources to address America’s opioid crisis. The bipartisan bill will provide states with $1 billion for opioid addiction and recovery services and will invest in key research projects at the National Institutes of Health and the Food and Drug Administration.
While this legislation is a positive step in helping communities fight our nation’s growing opioid crisis, ASAP urges Congress and President-elect Trump to take action and support efforts such as the Synthetics Trafficking & Overdose Prevention (STOP) Act to curb the flow of lethal opioids from foreign countries through the global postal system.
“The 21st Century Cures Act builds on growing bipartisan efforts to end America’s opioid crisis, but it cannot stop there – we need to address this epidemic from multiple angles,” said Gov. Tom Ridge, Senior Adviser to ASAP. “During the campaign, President-elect Trump indicated his intention to shut down dangerous pathways that allow toxic substances into our communities through the global post. Congress should act immediately and vote on the STOP Act that will close the loophole and a major source of the problem. With the passage of this legislation, we could begin to make very real progress in combatting the opioid scourge in our communities.”
“We are pleased to see Democrats and Republicans working together to better support addiction treatment services in the wake of the opioid epidemic. But to truly address the crisis, we must ensure we are stopping deadly drugs from getting into the country in the first place,” said Juliette Kayyem, Senior Adviser to ASAP. “We urge members of Congress to continue to put politics aside and work with President-elect Trump and others to close the global postal loophole that makes our country vulnerable to drug traffickers, terrorists and other bad actors.”
The Synthetics Trafficking & Overdose Prevention (STOP) Act requires mail shipped by foreign postal services to include electronic security data that would allow law enforcement to track and stop packages containing dangerous materials including deadly, synthetic drugs. The bill was introduced in September 2016 by Senators Rob Portman (R-OH), Ron Johnson (R-WI) and Kelly Ayotte (R-NH). One week later, Congressman Pat Tiberi (R-OH) and Congressman Richard E. Neal (D-MA) introduced identical legislation in the House of Representatives.
President-elect Trump also acknowledged the importance of closing the postal loophole in a speech in New Hampshire and also stated that his administration would “crack down on the abuse of the loopholes in the Postal Service to literally mail fentanyl and other drugs to users and dealers in the United States.”
About Americans for Securing All Packages
Americans for Securing All Packages (ASAP) is a bipartisan coalition composed of health care advocates, national security experts, businesses and nonprofits who believe it is time for the U.S. government to take action and ensure that all packages being shipped to the United States from any foreign postal service are adequately screened before arriving on the doorsteps of unsuspecting Americans.
Learn more about ASAP by visiting SecurePackages.org or following @SecurePackages on Twitter.
