▶ 0:12:57[no audio]
▶ 0:15:45-- so, don't ever think that things don't get done in a bipartisan way. There might be too much partisanship, but not as much as people think. This bill will classify this highly toxic drug as a schedule three under the controlled substance act. While at the same time, protecting legitimate use by veterinarians, farmers, and ranchers.
▶ 0:16:15This bill has been a top priority of both democrat and republican administrations. Mr. thompson, did you get that? The biden harris administration asked congress to, "make xylazine a schedule three drug."
▶ 0:16:46This quote was in what was called the counter fentanyl legislative proposal. In our first day in office, attorney general bondi doubled down on the same request. These two administrations didn't agree on most things, but they agreed on the importance of what we're doing here in this committee today. That is why this bill, again, to repeat for Mr.
▶ 0:17:12Thompson, 14 democrats in 15 republicans are supporting it. I want to thank senator cortez masto for her leadership and partnership on this critical issue. For those who do not know, xylazine is an animal tranquilizer legally used in large animals and livestock on a regular basis.
▶ 0:17:39It is not approved for human use. In humans, xylazine causes vital functions like breathing to plummet to potentially fatal levels. Over the past decade it's increasingly appeared on the streets mixed with fentanyl and other narcotics.
▶ 0:18:08You would know it by its street name, tranq. Xylazine has caused an increasing number of fatal drug poisonings involving fentanyl because it compounds sedative effects when mixed with opioids. The overdose reversal medicine, narcan, doesn't work on xylazine .
▶ 0:18:37This drug is dangerous because it is a cheap way to cut other deadly drugs, like fentanyl and heroin. Dealers use it to maximize drug profits at the expense of human lives. The data tells a harrowing story.
▶ 0:18:59The maps that I hope you put up here, the maps I'm about to show you are from the centers for disease control, illustrating how this drug has ravaged our country. In 2020, most states didn't collect data relative to xylazine, but even with limited data, if you look at 2020, if you look at a 2020 map you will see 571 deaths.
▶ 0:19:31In pennsylvania. 431 in maryland. All connected to xylazine. Looking at a 2024 map, you can see a startling increase in deaths where xylazine was detected, 13 with 100 and 50 or more. 230 in illinois. 200 69 from tennessee. 874 from pennsylvania. 340 three from maryland. 200 18 in new jersey.
▶ 0:20:03Three hundred 45 in connecticut. 727 in new york. This data tells a story. It is what we are here today about. Former dea administrator bill graham during the biden administration explained "dea has seized xylazine fentanyl mixtures and 48 of 50 states.
▶ 0:20:27We know where this xylazine comes from, it comes from a powder, as powder from china, and as liquid diverted from brett neri supply chains. Despite that, it is not yet a controlled substance.
▶ 0:20:47This is why it is so important for it to be scheduled." the dea has tried to schedule this drug since the biden era administration, but ran into problems that require congress to act.
▶ 0:21:08Under the current law, the dea cannot create a special car out for lawful users of xylazine, like veterinarians and farmers. Simply, they cannot schedule it on their own without harming the agriculture community. So, we are here today to do what dea cannot do by regulation.
▶ 0:21:34Few people know the pain that this drug can cause more than the families who have lost loved ones to poison like xylazine and fentanyl. Some are here today, as I think you can see. Many others are watching across the nation. I see that some of you have photographs of your loved ones. I want to thank everyone of you for coming today.
▶ 0:22:02Some of you travel 10 hours, I've been told. I would like to have those of you that have lost a loved one to these drugs, if you would please stand for two seconds. Thank you very much for coming and you have our love for your loss. Thank you.
▶ 0:22:28Instead of plunging into despair and grief, you stood up to the fight. To do that to save other families from the horror you experienced. This is shannon miller, ohio. Lost her daughter two years ago. Her grandson found his mother cold. Tomorrow would be shannon daughter's 37th birthday.
▶ 0:22:55Because of xylazine, she is now forever 35. Mrs. deborah santos is here from garfield, new jersey. She lost her son, ricky, to xylazine overdose as well.
▶ 0:23:13She wrote to the committee, "my son, ricky, should be here today , and instead our family lives with the reality that a hidden substance in the drug supply took his life before he ever had a chance to know it was there. I respectfully urge the committee to act quickly on s. 545, so that fewer families don't have to endure the same heartbreak.
▶ 0:23:47Misses denise prince traveled here today to honor her son, joey. When she lost him three years ago, his toxicology report listed fentanyl and xylazine as the cause of death.
▶ 0:24:03She told us "even if I had found my son sooner, I most likely would not have been able to save him, due to the effects of xylazine, which cannot be reversed by narcan." Mrs. debbie mullet also came here today from new jersey. She lost her son, jesse, when he took a pill that he didn't know had fentanyl and xylazine and it.
▶ 0:24:34Mrs. kimberly schreier lost her son, jordan, after he fought addiction for his entire life. She recalls that even if she had had narcan, it couldn't have saved jordan from xylazine. The stories show us, these and a lot of other stories, that this legislation isn't an abstract policy debate.
▶ 0:25:00We are talking about taking action to keep parents from losing children and children from losing parents. I can't tell you every story this story this morning, but I want to let everyone who shared their painful story to us know that we hear you, you are why we are here today. Before senator durbin, I would like to enter into the record letters and documents supporting the bill.
▶ 0:25:31The department of health and human services urging this committee to pass legislation "as written." a letter from the dea saying the same thing. A copy of the biden harris encounter fentanyl legislative proposal calling on congress to "xylazine make a schedule three drug." mmo from the attorney general, from the first days in office, calling on congress to add
▶ 0:26:02Xylazine to schedule three. An article from bloomberg government describing efforts of the office of national drug control policy to advance this letter, or this legislation. And then letters from more than a dozen law enforcement organizations urging passage of the bill.
▶ 0:26:25Multiple letters from individuals who lost loved ones from xylazine and fentanyl, and from a coalition of more than 200 family advocacy groups, and finally a letter from the american veterinary medical association supporting the legislation. So, without objection, these will be entered into the record. Senator durbin?
▶ 0:26:48Sen. Durbin: Two years ago, catherine cortez masto asked to meet with me in this office to discuss this legislation. She's an accomplished legislator and before that was the attorney general of the state of nevada. She worked long and hard on this concept of dealing with xylazine , which was new on the horizon. People were trying to understand what was happening with this veterinary drug that was being laced into fentanyl and the like.
▶ 0:27:20Sen. Durbin: She convinced me to years ago and I want to personally thank you, Mr. chairman, this was the first and it won't be the last time you reach across the aisle to do something on a bipartisan basis that helps everyone, an issue we can agree on. The family of the victims here today are a grim reminder of the price that has been paid already by so many from this terrible drug. I will gladly support this bipartisan legislation and thank you for making certain it was brought before this committee on a timely basis.
▶ 0:27:50Sen. Durbin: We are also considering some nominees where we do have some differences and I would like to say a few you -- few words. This committee will consider nominees who help the president as he approaches his take on our justice system. Colin mcdonald is nominated to head the so-called national fraud enforcement division," which the administration created out of thin air.
▶ 0:28:16Sen. Durbin: There are already offices in the justice department responsible for investigating and prosecuting fraud, but over the past year the trump administration has systematically dismantled these offices. Meanwhile, the president has engaged in an unprecedented fraud spree, doubling his net worth since returning to office. The office of president has been very, very good to the trump family.
▶ 0:28:44Sen. Durbin: Fraudsters who make massive contributions to the president are regularly rewarded with pardons. In april 2024 the founder of finance was sentenced to prison and ordered to pay a 50 million dollar fine for money laundering. He then brokered a deal to channel $2 billion into the trump family crypto business. The president pardoned him shortly after and he did not pay a penny in fines.
▶ 0:29:09Sen. Durbin: Finance accounts have funneled $1.7 billion to iranian entities linked to terrorism. The trump family crypto company, the world liberty financial, continue to partner with this agency. Trevor milton was convicted of securities fraud and ordered to pay 700 million in restitution to investors.
▶ 0:29:32Sen. Durbin: He learned how to escape the fine when he and his wife donated $1.8 million to president trump's reelection campaign. The president turned around and pardon he and his wife once he returned to office.
▶ 0:29:50Sen. Durbin: Convicted fraudster, paul wieder hor, convicted for stealing $27 million, later in the year sponsoring a $100,000 donation to the trump inaugural parade -- committee and a few months later the trump justice department dropped the case completely. Do any of my republican colleagues have the courage to condemn this corrupt pay for pardon scheme?
▶ 0:30:18Sen. Durbin: When there was an announcement on the new paper fraud division, vice president vance said it would be run out of the white house under his and the president's supervision. Can anyone under -- with a straight face argue that this will be a nonpartisan law enforcement agency? Clearly, the real purpose is to weaponize fraud enforcement against presidential opponents. Last month attorney general bondi sought more details about the fraud division.
▶ 0:30:50Sen. Durbin: She still hasn't responded. I know she's busy, but you would think she would over the course of several months. The committee should not consider this until these aunt -- questions are answered. Today the committee will also consider dan bishop, another maga extremist. Like lindsey madigan, darren smith, phil williams, and other trump U.S. attorney nominees, dan bishop has never been a prosecutor.
▶ 0:31:22Sen. Durbin: We couldn't have gotten by with presidents, but it is a regular occurrence now, U.S. attorneys who have never prosecuted a case. His only qualification is loyalty to the trump white house.
▶ 0:31:36Sen. Durbin: He voted against certifying the 2020 election results, falsely claiming that democrats attacked the election that was coordinated and widespread." even today he refuses to disavow the root -- the debunked big lie crackpot theories.
▶ 0:31:58Sen. Durbin: In response to my question, he said this about the insurrection, "I have heard credible accounts that black block nt for agitators were in the crowd and among the first to vandalize the capital, so I think that leftists participated in and perhaps instigated the mayhem." president trump is nominating these january 6 apologists to help interfere in the 2020 six election. The president is in hiding it.
▶ 0:32:28Sen. Durbin: He told us "we should take over the voting, republicans ought to nationalize the voting." senate democrats are doing everything in our power to resist it. Thank you, Mr. chairman.
▶ 0:32:39Chair Grassley: Say, we don't have a quorum yet to get these nominees out. So, I think we will go to the first bill, the combating illicit xylazine act. It's led by senator cortez masto and I'm helping her, cosponsored by blumenthal, britt, along with 24 other senators of both parties.
▶ 0:33:06Chair Grassley: The bill does what both the biden and trump administrations have asked congress to do, place xylazine in schedule three, allowing the dea to track the distribution of this drug, requires the attorney general to report to us on a proliferation of xylazine. I will now call up the manager's amendment sil 26441.
▶ 0:33:36Chair Grassley: Without objection, it will be adopted. >> Mr. chairman, can I ask unanimous consent to be a cosponsor and add a word to the bill?
▶ 0:33:46Chair Grassley: We have a procedure.
▶ 0:33:51Senator: I would like to be recognized to speak afterwards, if possible.
▶ 0:33:54Chair Grassley: Do I have any objection to the amendment? Nope. The amendment is adopted. I will call on you. Anyone can speak that wants to speak.
▶ 0:34:06Senator Whitehouse: I will be brief and I appreciate the recognition. As a general proposition we have set up the process for a scheduling of drugs that takes place over at the dea and brings the expertise of that administration to bear on whether the drug should be scheduled and at what level the drug should be scheduled. That's the ordinary process and I think there is merit to it if there's nothing wrong with that process.
▶ 0:34:35Senator Whitehouse: What I worry about is this committee becoming a bypass around that expert process. Now, there is a reason in this case for us to go around the expert process. That is the exemption for veterinarians, which we need to add by statute.
▶ 0:34:54Senator Whitehouse: But I think we would have done ourselves a service to have gotten a clearer dea recommendation and had it clear the dea process before we took it up as a matter of statute. I'm a yes on this bill, but I want to put up a warning flag that if there is a problem with the da -- dea process, we should fix it, and if there isn't, we should honor it, and we would do better in voting on scheduled
▶ 0:35:25Senator Whitehouse: Matters to have the benefit of that process before we vote. We have gotten it procedurally backwards in this case. I think we are doing the right thing here, but I worry that if this becomes a pattern and this committee becomes a sort of amateur bypass around dea expertise, we are setting ourselves up for failure in the future.
▶ 0:35:48Senator: I'm happy to defer. Senator coons?
▶ 0:35:53Senator Coons: I will be brief. In moving this bill, my home state of delaware is close to ground zero, where it began taking lives years ago. A close friend of my family, Dr. sandy gibney, we've been helping those addicted to fentanyl, distributing narcan, trying to educate the community. I've seen directly the horrific impact it has on people as well as the losses and the community.
▶ 0:36:24Senator Coons: I want to convey my regrets and condolences to the families here , you represent tens of thousands of families from the region I'm from. We have lost children, families, loved ones to this terrible drug. It is important that as we look to give law enforcement better tools and perverted -- preserve access to veterinarians, that we keep in mind what we just heard from senator whitehouse.
▶ 0:36:52Senator Coons: The manager's amendment ensures that we would have to come forward with their assessment of the drug, including scientific and medical evaluations that would have been ignored. As we continue to move ahead bills, we need to follow the slant and not let legislative schedule and be a way to leave the science behind or avoid so much more that we can do.
▶ 0:37:15Senator Coons: There are many other things we can do to address the opioid epidemic, research, demand, access to treatments and test strips, and we owe the funeral -- families and communities that and more.
▶ 0:37:27Chair Grassley: Senator booker?
▶ 0:37:31Senator Whitehouse: One sentence before senator booker, I forgot to express my appreciation to you in the supporters of this bill for supporting the language we recommended that gives us act -- after the fact access. I owe you a thank you and I forgot to put it in.
▶ 0:37:46Chair Grassley: Senator booker?
▶ 0:37:48Sen. Booker: I'm happy to yield again to a more senior senator.
▶ 0:37:55Senator: I wanted to give the agate perspective -- ag perspective. While this bill does some really good work, and we also worked to make sure we preserved the ability of veterinarians who have legitimate uses when treating livestock like cattle and horses to continue caring for animals.
▶ 0:38:19Senator: These legitimate uses cannot be protected if the dea and hhs go through standard scheduling processes. That's why it was so complicated. Thank you to the families for being out there who got it done and I want to note that the bill is supported by both law
▶ 0:38:36Enforcement Chair Grassley: And the veterinarian communities. Senator booker?
▶ 0:38:41Sen. Booker: The points my colleague have made are the points of my concern. I sincerely feel like this is groundhog day yet again. It's not a matter of debate that our country has been ravaged by substance abuse for decades. It's not a matter of debate that this is one of the greatest public health crises in our country.
▶ 0:39:05Sen. Booker: I'm going to say it again, if we were really serious as a committee about dealing with this crises, we would be doing things that are evidence-based, following the science, and having a much bigger public health crisis. There are so many people in my state who have lost people to drugs, including this horrific one. But there are many parents who continue to cry out for real action from congress and we do nothing. I have a letter I would like to enter for the record, please.
▶ 0:39:37Chair Grassley: Without objection.
▶ 0:39:41Sen. Booker: It's from one of my constituents, she's been coming to congress for years to ask about harm reduction and evidence-based programs that are shown to save lives. She has done this because everything we've done since the opioid crisis began was driven by pharmaceutical companies flooding our communities with addictive medications leading to a black market demand for even more illicit drugs.
▶ 0:40:08Sen. Booker: Rather than holding companies accountable, rather than investing in the services that could have saved her son's life, we have come back to this committee time and again to do the only thing we seem to know how to do, criminalizing drugs and creating harsh sentences so that people who use them can go to prison, where they don't get kingpins and organizers, but they get people who are addicted to, marginalized, swept into a system that costs taxpayers
▶ 0:40:40Sen. Booker: Hundreds of millions and not solving the problem. This past january, the trump administration cut 2 billion dollars in funding for substance use programs, evidence-based programs that prevent addiction, that reverse it, that save lives . Think about this right now. We are here and with bipartisan resources we passed to save lives, $2 billion cut and we are saying nothing.
▶ 0:41:08Sen. Booker: At the moment we are debating the scourge of drugs in the community, the federal government is stripping away the services that we know work. In a bipartisan way that we have supported. We should be investing more in the programs that actually save the lives of children like the ones we are talking about today. We should follow science and data. That's a public health response to this crisis.
▶ 0:41:33Sen. Booker: I have filed some amendments and I filed them because I just see this pattern repeating itself since the time I was in law school. Every time a new substance emerges, the only thing we ever seem to be able to do is criminalize it, put on higher and higher penalties, and every time, we pay the price for it. We all know the story well in this committee. This was the exact response we had to crack cocaine.
▶ 0:42:00Sen. Booker: We didn't follow the science, we followed fear, alarm, people demanding higher and higher scheduling, making mistakes that for years we've been trying to correct and they still haven't been fully corrected even with bipartisan support. It breaks my heart to think about all the time and resources we have spent trying to fix past mistakes while doubling down on the same strategies.
▶ 0:42:27Sen. Booker: I again filed an amendment that would require the attorney general to follow the process, as senator whitehouse says. The process that we laid out is not what we are doing here. The law provides a process. That process centers not politics and politicians, but scientific evaluation and medical research.
▶ 0:42:50Sen. Booker: When the controlled substance act was passed, congress had a clear and specific procedure for scheduling drugs. The attorney general for the dea advised it should be controlled and a scientific medical evaluation be requested from the secretary of health and human services.
▶ 0:43:10Sen. Booker: Hhs does a fact or out -- analysis on pharmacological effects, scientific knowledge, patterns of abuse, risks to public health, and submits that evaluation with scheduled recommendations to the dea. Under the statute, scientific and medical findings are binding on the attorney general. Binding.
▶ 0:43:31Sen. Booker: If they disagree, they have a path to provide hhs with additional evidence, request reevaluation, hold hearings. Now, this is the frustration that we have right now. Hhs with this process, with xylazine, recommended schedule five. It returned to the recommendation.
▶ 0:43:54Sen. Booker: Rather than go through the scientific evidence dictated by the law, rather than present new evidence, rather than even hold hearings or request a reevaluation, the dea came to us. It came to congress to place xylazine on schedule three, the bill that we have again, it's groundhog day.
▶ 0:44:18Sen. Booker: We have the authority, but what troubles me is that we are being asked to do the bill without even getting provided the information. The federal agencies now in charge, we are about to literally make this decision and they refused to share with the full senate -- I haven't been able to get my hands on the actual scientific evaluation they conducted. They are refusing to give it to this committee. This is the evaluation required by law. The evaluation that was done.
▶ 0:44:48Sen. Booker: The evaluation that hhs recommended, schedule five, and this committee isn't even demanding to have that evidence. Why? It should get -- give every committee pause that a federal agency is concealing the analysis that is supposed to guide our decision-making and in doing so, I can only assume, because the analysis undercuts their preferred outcome. This matters in concrete terms. I know it's going to happen here.
▶ 0:45:17Sen. Booker: We are going to pass this legislation. You know what's going to happen to the families suffering? We won't do anything as the trump administration cuts billions from harm reduction, billions from things that would save american lives, billions from the interventions that we know work in our communities. I have worked to pass some of those evident -- evidence-based things that work and are being defunded.
▶ 0:45:46Sen. Booker: The data on xylazine, the usage of it is going down. Xylazine since 2024 has decreased without being scheduled. The landscape has changed. You know why? We all know it. They are running to other drugs. Every time we turn around, by the time it starts working they are running to other drugs to kill our children.
▶ 0:46:12Sen. Booker: Two or three years from now we will have the same committee hearing again while the underfunded programs that we know save lives are not getting the resources they deserve. So, we are not following medical scientific evidence as we are obliged to do. Xylazine is a substance that farmers and ranchers need, but with the evidence that's clear, congress can find a way to let farmers be licensed and we have done it for other drugs.
▶ 0:46:42Sen. Booker: Look at what happened to -- sorry, pronouncing that is difficult, but we have done it before with other drugs. It is killing me that yet again we are not doing what was prescribed by law. This committee does not have a simple scientific report being held back.
▶ 0:47:07Sen. Booker: We are rushing to do this and are leaving with the belief that we are doing something different that we didn't do with crack cocaine or the opioid crisis and are frankly sitting by while the administration is undercutting the work we have done, followed by science, actually helping to save the lives of our children.
▶ 0:47:30Sen. Booker: I'm not going to gum it up with 10 amendments, I'm simply going to ask for the amendment we should want, give us the dam report. Everyone should want that report that they are refusing to give this committee, everyone on both sides, everyone on this committee has been upset when we don't get the scientific information that we want. I simply want to call up that one amendment.
▶ 0:47:55Sen. Booker: Can my colleagues agree with me as you pass this bill, because I know it will pass out of committee, that we should have at least for the record that one scientific document that recommended, that recommended that we get the information that by law we should have. So, I would like to ask to bring up my amendment, sil 26 412. 415, sorry.
▶ 0:48:24Chair Grassley: We will get back to your amendment. We will go to the nominations now and then come back to your amendment.
▶ 0:48:29Sen. Booker: Thank you. But hold on. I would like to, I would like to object to going to nominations. I would like to do that.
▶ 0:48:37Chair Grassley: Go ahead, please. Did he say he wanted to speak on a nominee?
▶ 0:48:47Sen. Booker: I'm asking that we finish this debate.
▶ 0:48:50Chair Grassley: No, we need to go to the nominees. Then we will come back. So, we will now turn to collin mcdonald, assistant attorney general, proceed. Before we call the roll, senator durbin wants to speak.
▶ 0:49:07Sen. Durbin: Before Mr. mcdonald hearing, I had many questions about the newly created fraud division. Still, no answers. One thing is clear, he is more committed to scoring political points than finding waste, fraud, and abuse.
▶ 0:49:27Sen. Durbin: He supervises the so-called " weaponization working group," which he co-led with disgraced nominee ed martin prior to his demotion because of the alleged improper handling of grand jury material. According to him, the goal of the committee was to name and shame political opponents even if they hadn't committed a crime .
▶ 0:49:53Sen. Durbin: The working group also employs the infamous jared weiss, whose name comes up regularly, who stormed the capital on january 6, was charged with assault after encouraging riders who attacked the police by yelling "eff them, kill them." he repeatedly refused to state whether he had seen the working group violate the justice department and refused to
▶ 0:50:24Sen. Durbin: Condemn the continued employment of Mr. weiss, he's demonstrated that he's not willing to stand up to the extreme members of the trump administration and grifters, I oppose.
▶ 0:50:33Chair Grassley: Clerk will call the roll. >> Mr. graham? >> aye by proxy. -- >> aye. >> Mr. cornyn? >> Mr. lee? >> aye. >> Mr. cruz? >> aye. >> Mr. hawley? >> aye. >> Mr. tillis? >> aye. >> Mr. kennedy? >> Ms. blackburn? >> Mr. schmitt? >> Ms. britt? >> Ms. moody? >> aye. >> Mr. durbin? >> aye by proxy. >> Mr. whitehouse? -- >> no. >> Ms. klobuchar? >> no. >> Mr. coons? >> no. >> Mr. blumenthal? >> Ms. hirono?
▶ 0:51:04Chair Grassley: >> no by proxy. >> Mr. booker? >> no. >> Mr. padilla? >> no. >> Mr. welch? >> no by proxy. >> Mr. schiff? >> no. >> Mr. grassley? >> aye. >> ayes 12, nay thes majority of the committee will be reported for Mr. mcdonald. 10.
▶ 0:51:23Chair Grassley: Now we go to senator durbin.
▶ 0:51:27Sen. Durbin: U.S. attorneys are supposed to support the law without fear or favor. As deputy director of the office of management and, pay attention here, folks, Mr. bishop was the right hand man wreaking havoc across the federal government, playing a key role in omb, illegally withholding the restricted funds appropriated by congress.
▶ 0:51:55Sen. Durbin: I am equally troubled by his long history of opposing lgbtq rights and he told the committee that the supreme court holding on over to fellow cases were wrongly decided and also opposed the respect for marriage act, and legislation that passed both chambers on a strong bipartisan vote and doesn't have the requisite experience to serve as a U.S. attorney. 3% of its legal work has been in criminal proceedings.
▶ 0:52:25Sen. Durbin: And he has never served as a prosecutor prior to becoming an attorney. -- U.S. attorney. Never served as a prosecutor. We know why he was nominated. He's another maga extremist, please vote no.
▶ 0:52:41Chair Grassley: Senator tillis?
▶ 0:52:45Senator Tillis: People condemning it -- can debate parts of my personality, but being an extremist is not one of them. I know dan bishop well. He and I disagreed on certain legislative matters, but I think he's a man of integrity and I encourage everyone to vote for him.
▶ 0:53:04Chair Grassley: The clerk will call the roll. >> Mr. graham? >> aye. >> Mr. cornyn? >> aye. >> Mr. lee? >> aye. >> Mr. cruz? >> aye. >> Mr. hawley? >> aye. >> Mr. tillis? >> aye. >> Mr. kennedy? >> aye. >> Ms. blackburn? >> aye. >> Mr. schmitt? >> aye. >> Ms. britt? >> aye. >> Ms. moody? >> aye. >> Mr. durbin? >> no. >> Mr. whitehouse? >> no. >> Ms. klobuchar? >> no. >> Mr. coons? >> no. >> Mr. blumenthal? >> no. >> Ms. hirono? >> no by proxy. >> Mr. booker? >> no.
▶ 0:53:34Chair Grassley: >> Mr. padilla? >> no by proxy. >> Mr. welch? >> no by proxy. >> Mr. schiff? >> no. >> Mr. grassley? >> aye. >> on this vote, ayes are 12.
▶ 0:53:47Chair Grassley: Majority in favor, nominee will be reported. Now we go to brian barber, U.S. marshall, western district of louisiana. The clerk will call the roll. >> Mr. graham? >> aye. >> Mr. cornyn? >> aye. >> Mr. lee? >> aye. >> Mr. cruz? >> aye. >> Mr. hawley? >> aye. >> Mr. tillis? >> aye. >> Mr. kennedy? >> aye. >> Ms. blackburn? >> Mr. schmitt? >> Ms. britt? >> aye. >> Ms. moody? >> aye. >> Mr. durbin? >> no.
▶ 0:54:17Chair Grassley: >> Mr. whitehouse? >> no. >> Ms. klobuchar? >> no. >> Mr. coons? >> no. >> Mr. blumenthal? >> no. >> Ms. hirono? >> no by proxy. >> Mr. booker? >> no. >> Mr. padilla? >> no. >> Mr. welch? >> no by proxy. >> Mr. schiff? >> no. >> Mr. grassley? >> aye. >> on this vote, the ayes are 1 2, nos are 10.
▶ 0:54:50Senator Whitehouse: May I be recognized briefly?
▶ 0:54:52Chair Grassley: Mr. barber will be reported, let me just announce that. Senator whitehouse? Senator
▶ 0:55:01Whitehouse: I am generally inclined to vote yes on marshalls, as long as they have some law enforcement experience. I voted no on this last one. The problem with me as lack of law enforcement experience. It's particularly important when our federal judges live in an atmosphere of such a heightened threat of violence that people who seek the position of U.S.
▶ 0:55:24Whitehouse: Marshall, which is responsible for court safety, have real backgrounds in law enforcement and in running investigations. I wanted to explain that vote, it runs counter to my usual yes on marshall's.
▶ 0:55:38Chair Grassley: The clerk will call the roll on steven lewis, eastern district of missouri. >> Mr. graham? >> aye. >> Mr. cornyn? >> Mr. lee? >> aye. >> Mr. cruz? >> aye. >> Mr. hawley? >> aye. >> Mr. tillis? >> aye. >> Mr. kennedy? >> aye. >> Ms. blackburn? >> aye. >> Mr. schmitt? >> aye. >> Ms. britt? >> aye. >> Ms. moody? >> aye. >> Mr. durbin? >> aye. >> Mr. whitehouse? >> aye. >> Ms. klobuchar? >> aye. >> Mr. coons? >> aye. >> Mr. blumenthal?
▶ 0:56:11Chair Grassley: >> no. >> Ms. hirono? >> no by proxy. >> Mr. booker? >> no. >> Mr. padilla? >> no. >> Mr. welch? >> aye by proxy. >> Mr. schiff? >> no. >> Mr. grassley? >> aye. >> on this vote, the ayes are 17, nays are 5.
▶ 0:56:34Chair Grassley: That will be favorably reported. The last one is priscilla lopez, U.S. marshall southern district of florida. The clerk will call the roll. >> Mr. graham? >> aye. >> Mr. cornyn? >> aye. >> Mr. lee? >> Mr. cruz? >> aye. >> Mr. hawley? >> aye. >> Mr. tillis? >> aye. >> Mr. kennedy? >> aye. >> Ms. blackburn? >> aye. >> Mr. schmitt? >> aye. >> Ms. britt? >> aye. >> Ms. moody? >> aye. >> Mr. durbin?
▶ 0:57:05Chair Grassley: >> aye. >> Mr. whitehouse? >> aye. >> Ms. klobuchar? >> aye. >> Mr. coons? >> aye. >> Mr. blumenthal? >> aye. -- >> no. >> Ms. hirono? >> aye by proxy. >> Mr. booker? >> no. >> Mr. padilla? >> Mr. welch? >> aye by proxy. >> Mr. schiff? >> no. >> Mr. grassley?
▶ 0:57:28Chair Grassley: Aye. Lopez getting a favorable reporting majority. Now I call on senator booker. Senator booker. -- booker: I appreciate that. I hope that what I'm asking for is not outrageous or partisan.
▶ 0:57:56Chair Grassley: It's just what everyone on the committee wants. Hhs did a full scientific report that backed up the recommendation to the dea for this drug to beat -- drug to be schedule five. What was in the report, what were the basis of their findings, what were their arguments? We cannot ignore science evidence. It's a simple request for the 2024 evaluation.
▶ 0:58:19Chair Grassley: We should all be making our decisions with a full amount of information, all the facts and science based on our opinions. I am simply asking, Mr. chairman, that my amendment, sil 26 for 15, be called up and voted on. It simply requires the transparency we need when we take this step. Evaluation was conducted, as I stated, and we should see that.
▶ 0:58:50Chair Grassley: It requires doj to publish these evaluations and recommendations before the placement of xylazine on schedule three taking effect. It doesn't disturb the placement of it on the schedule and doesn't undermine the sponsor intentions, it just conditions the scheduling on the publication of medical information that we have and should be privy to.
▶ 0:59:15Senator: Will the senator yield for question?
▶ 0:59:16Sen. Booker: Any time, Mr. kennedy.
▶ 0:59:19Chair Grassley: I did make it clear, we are back on the bill now, which is why I called on senator booker.
▶ 0:59:25Sen. Booker: I appreciate it and I appreciate the rational rascal from louisiana.
▶ 0:59:36Senator Kennedy: If you can enlighten us, who has the report and why have they not released it?
▶ 0:59:40Sen. Booker: This is not a partisan thing. It was under both presidents, hh and s, the report was not the least -- released. I know the former dea had told the members about the report, mentioned the report, told us what was scheduled in the report, but for years I have not been able to see the report. I'm not sure why it hasn't been released.
▶ 1:00:10Sen. Booker: I think that this committee has been disrespected by people of both parties when we ask for information in don't get it.
▶ 1:00:16Sen. Kennedy: Does anyone have an objection to releasing the report?
▶ 1:00:21Chair Grassley: I thought we took care of this problem through the manager's amendment. I have worked with the white house to draft transparency.
▶ 1:00:30Sen. Kennedy: Can't hear you, Mr. chairman. Real sorry.
▶ 1:00:34Chair Grassley: I'll get closer to the microphone. I have worked with the white house to draft transparency provisions in the manager's amendment. The amendment requires the drug enforcement administration and hhs to submit a report with an assessment of the control factors, including a scientific and medical evaluation for law enforcement.
▶ 1:01:02Sen. Kennedy: Wood, would, if no one has objection, an objection to releasing that report, would you consider incorporating into your management amendment a report to which senator booker is referring be released?
▶ 1:01:25Chair Grassley: Let me ask senator whitehouse.
▶ 1:01:30Senator Whitehouse: I'm aye on the amendment, let's -- there's no problem.
▶ 1:01:37Sen. Kennedy: I don't care how we do it. If there is no objection we will make it the manager's package or call at the booker act, whatever you want to do. We are fighting over nothing.
▶ 1:01:53Senator: How about the booker rational rascal act. [laughter]
▶ 1:01:57Sen. Kennedy: Now I want to see what's in this thing.
▶ 1:02:00Chair Grassley: If we adopt the amendment, it would delay the taking into effect of the legislation that we are trying to accomplish to make xylazine very put in the substance of the law, how dangerous the drug is.
▶ 1:02:20Sen. Kennedy: I'm sorry, Mr. chairman, I don't understand.
▶ 1:02:27Senator: Would it be possible to do a perfecting amendment to have a date certain on the report so that we get it if we are moving forward with rescheduling? That's one thing, but why not a date certain on the report as a perfecting amendment.
▶ 1:02:40Sen. Kennedy: Yeah, that's right. [laughter]
▶ 1:02:44Chair Grassley: Ok. It's in the bill. My staff says that in this legislation and in the amendment that the report, that we get our report in 12 months.
▶ 1:02:58Sen. Kennedy: But why in 12 months? Mr. chairman, I don't want my office moved to bethesda. I have great respect for you here, but I don't understand why we, if the report is ready, why we don't just tell them to release it and put that in the manager's package or do it separately without delaying everything.
▶ 1:03:24Chair Grassley: Let me check.
▶ 1:03:26Sen. Kennedy: It's not a new report.
▶ 1:03:29Sen. Booker: I agree with you and senator tillis, who said it in more precise language. Let's set a date, certain, for a report that is prepared, that they actually have, to give them an email send. It shouldn't take 12 months. Let's get that report. I like the way you think, my friend. [indiscernible]
▶ 1:03:57Sen. Kennedy: I don't know what to do . They arepowowing. We will get this worked out.
▶ 1:04:10Chair Grassley: If you want to amend your amendment so that the legislation goes into effect and is not delayed for 90 days? We've got these people out here. You are talking about history. These people are dead already. Just trying to make sure nobody else dies as a result of this legislation. Or that's what this legislation is for.
▶ 1:04:38Sen. Kennedy: We don't want to delay it.
▶ 1:04:40Sen. Booker: I have no intention to delay it.
▶ 1:04:44Chair Grassley: Will you accept an amendment to your amendment?
▶ 1:04:50Sen. Booker: Plain language, you are courageously cantankerous and I will don't want to cross horns, I want to explain this. This will pass out of committee today, we know the legislative process. It won't go to the floor tomorrow. There will be time before monday. I would amend my amendment to say date certain on monday, released a report. I'm not trying to delay this. It could be done this evening, this afternoon. They have this report.
▶ 1:05:20Sen. Booker: I'm not trying to delay it, I'm just trying to create the mandate that it be released. You and I both know this bill won't hit the floor of the senate. It has to go through a process and in that time they could release 1000 reports 1000 times and that's what I'm asking, if my colleagues will support me. My amendment simply says released a report and then this bill can move forward. It's not holding it up if they release it on monday were the first, or the 27th.
▶ 1:05:50Sen. Booker: We all know how the senate works. It's not going to slow the bill down if we get it out in the next few weeks. Or monday, frankly.
▶ 1:05:58Chair Grassley: I would assume that the peak -- the number of people in danger of this drug, there wouldn't be any reason to hold it up on the floor of the senate. I would like to have you take out of your amendment the fact that this bill doesn't go into effect that you --
▶ 1:06:13Sen. Booker: The bill has to pass through the senate and then the house. It will then have to go to the president's desks assigning. That won't happen for weeks to months. I'm simply asking for a report. It's not outrageous, things that both sides of the isle of asked for before. My amendment simply says release the report. It should be able to be done before this bill gets to the presidents ask for a signature.
▶ 1:06:38Sen. Durbin: Do we have bipartisan consensus that it should be 30 days?
▶ 1:06:42Sen. Booker: I will take 30 days. Mr. kennedy is right, it should be able to be done on monday, but I will take 30 days. It's a thing I've been asking for for years under two presidents to get a report that's definitely there that the dea had to reference to me.
▶ 1:07:00Sen. Kennedy: Mr. chairman, I support this legislation. I don't want to delay it. If there is a report that's ready that isn't being released, I would like it released. I didn't hear any objection from the committee on that.
▶ 1:07:16Chair Grassley: What about the 30 days? Will you accept the 30 days?
▶ 1:07:21Sen. Kennedy: Whatever makes you happy.
▶ 1:07:24Chair Grassley: Go ahead. 30 days?
▶ 1:07:31Sen. Booker: 30 days.
▶ 1:07:38Senator: Mr. chairman, can I just ask that this means we will condition the enactment of the act upon reception of the report?
▶ 1:07:49Senator Whitehouse: No, that's what I think we are getting around.
▶ 1:07:52Chair Grassley: You see the problem? You are delaying the legislation from going into effect.
▶ 1:07:58Sen. Booker: I do not understand how this will in any way affect the bill. It simply creates the mandate and finally the leverage that we as a committee are unanimously saying. When there is scientific data it would affect or at least expand our understanding of the problem.
▶ 1:08:20Senator: Which amendment number are you seeking?
▶ 1:08:22Sen. Booker: It is sil 26415. I will strike section 4 and section 5, the amendment made by section 3 shall take effect on the date that is 90 days after the date of the attorney general striking that and putting in the new within 30 days language.
▶ 1:08:54Sen. Booker: From today. From the day this passes.
▶ 1:08:56Chair Grassley: Can I ask a consideration of this approach? [laughter] senator booker, can I ask your consideration? If we can advance the bill, before the bill comes up on the floor of the senate, you have the ability to hold it up or work this out.
▶ 1:09:21Sen. Booker: That is exactly what this amendment does. It creates the pressure you're talking about, sir. The plain language of this, frankly, it shouldn't be -- it's so disrespectful to this committee.
▶ 1:09:38Senator: For clarification, my colleague has offered to remove the section of his amendment, section four, that delays the effective date of enactment in exchange for adding not 90 days, but 30 days, a requirement the a request that the be released within 30 days. That should make real the vehicle.
▶ 1:10:06Senator: Many of us believe this report should be made public in 30 days. >> there are two separate things and the bill has a 30 day requirement that the report be produced.
▶ 1:10:28Sen. Booker: The chairman of this committee -- I would take his word that you will ensure this gets released as well, sir.
▶ 1:10:36Chair Grassley: Put it this way. You have my assurance that I will attempt real hard to get it released.
▶ 1:10:45Sen. Booker: With this amendment passing, it now mandates that. We all know both administration of this committee have had these mandates before.
▶ 1:11:00Chair Grassley: I roll call vote on this amendment. >> before we have a roll call vote on an amendment, I want to know exactly what we are voting on before we do the overall vote . I would just like to know exactly what the text is we are voting on. I think I supported. I am all for it.
▶ 1:11:25Chair Grassley: Instead of 90 days, 30 days. And it says the bill -- >> senator booker, you are striking out lines one through eight? And on the next page, page outline 4, 90 is replaced with 30?
▶ 1:11:55Sen. Booker: The amendment shall require the attorney general within 30 days. >> so between the report and the implementation, it is delinked and this is a straight up mandate. Give us the report.
▶ 1:12:14Sen. Cruz: It still says on lines two through four the amendment made by section three shall take effect of that -- effect on the date.
▶ 1:12:21Sen. Booker: I struck it.
▶ 1:12:23Sen. Cruz: Who struck it on lines two through seven in the first page.
▶ 1:12:29Sen. Booker: Striking lines one through four and adding right before the attorney general the amendment shall require the attorney general to, within 30 days, with a lot of legal language, essentially to release it them.
▶ 1:12:49Chair Grassley: Are you satisfied, senator of missouri?
▶ 1:13:01Sen. Hawley: I think I understand what we are voting on now and I supported. I think we've got it. I just want to make sure we get the text right.
▶ 1:13:11Sen. Booker: I know the law school we both went to. I appreciate it.
▶ 1:13:22Sen. Cruz: As a nod to your alma mater, can you include four references to foucault? >> can we read the amendment as amended so we all understand exactly what we are voting on? We all know that once the bill passes out of the committee, it has to be sent for floor action.
▶ 1:13:47Sen. Cruz: Any individual senator could reject, which would require a vote of the united states senate at 60 votes to proceed to consider it, so it seems to me that we are making a mountain out of a mole hill. Can I ask the senator from new jersey -- do we know what is in the report?
▶ 1:14:08Sen. Booker: No, sir. >> nobody knows what is in the report. >> I know what the conclusion of the report was. It was the recommendation that the health and human services department call it a schedule five drug, based on scientific research. I want that analysis. It is something we all should have. Cracks we refresh our memory? What is a schedule five drug?
▶ 1:14:36Sen. Booker: It allows certain actions to be taken by dea as well. A schedule five drug -- I could look it up. It is not changing the decision of the committee.
▶ 1:14:59Sen. Cornyn: We are talking about releasing a report that you know the conclusion of. I don't know why we are wrapped around the action and delaying the consideration of this bill for something -- for information you already have.
▶ 1:15:15Sen. Booker: This committee does not have the information. This was written in the controlled substances act of 1970. It said we should make our decisions based on scientific conclusions. We have an agency that spent a lot of time, a lot of money, to produce a report for congress and is refusing to give us the report and the scientific data.
▶ 1:15:39Sen. Booker: We are making a decision, on recommendations of the dea, but not the scientists who we pay salaries to reprove -- to produce a report we paid for. The fullness of that information should not be held from congress. It is germane to this bill but also to an issue I have heard both sides of the I'll make time and time again, that we do not get the information from the administration that we demand. I'm grateful for colleagues on both sides who have said this is not that complicated.
▶ 1:16:09Sen. Booker: It is very simple. I have amended this now to take out what was requested by the chairman and my colleagues. Can we vote on that amendment? >> Mr. chairman, can I ask a question? Senator from new jersey, I want to make sure -- I have no issue with the report. On page two, line 21 through 23, it seems this is still requiring something more than just a report.
▶ 1:16:38Sen. Booker: It looks as though it is requiring hhs to publish something. That has not been taken out.
▶ 1:16:47Sen. Booker: I'm going to shrink this to two paragraphs and hope that my colleagues think that this is not outrageous and we can work together to get information that should have been given to us four years ago -- excuse me, 2024.
▶ 1:17:03Sen. Booker: The amendment shall require the attorney general to within 30 days publish the scientific and medical evaluation and recommendations of the secretary of health and human services, with respect to xylazine, as described in section 201 numeral b of the controlled substances act, and publish the full text of the recommendations in the federal register and on the
▶ 1:17:34Sen. Booker: Website of the department of health and human services, so not just we have it, but the public can see the report as well. Two paragraphs. All else struck. >> can I ask the senator from new jersey, if this amendment is accepted, are you going to vote in favor of the bill?
▶ 1:17:51Sen. Booker: I'm not going to vote in committee. I'm going to wait. >> that's what I thought.
▶ 1:18:06Sen. Booker: Can we move for a vote, please, these two paragraphs?
▶ 1:18:13Chair Grassley: Your answer to this last question --
▶ 1:18:18Sen. Booker: I would like to move to adopt the amendment as amended.
▶ 1:18:23Chair Grassley: I'm going to adjourn the meeting. >> what? I have a statement.