Exclusive: Rep. Andy Barr rolls out legislation to sanction Chinese fentanyl manufacturers and Communist Party officials

"We are sending a clear message that the United States will not tolerate the production and distribution of synthetic opioids that devastate our communities," Rep. Andy Barr told us. Here's how...

Rep. Andy Barr (R., Ky.) is rolling out legislation to hold Chinese fentanyl manufacturers accountable, “allowing Chinese entities to be sanctioned as foreign opioid traffickers if they are involved in the production, sale, financing, or transportation of synthetic opioids or their precursors but do not take sufficient actions to prevent opioid trafficking,” his office revealed exclusively to the Washington Reporter.

“The Stop Chinese Fentanyl Act is a critical step in our fight against the opioid epidemic,” Barr told the Reporter. Barr sits on both the House Foreign Affairs Committee and on the Select Committee on the CCP. “By holding Chinese manufacturers and officials accountable, we are sending a clear message that the United States will not tolerate the production and distribution of synthetic opioids that devastate our communities.”

Barr’s latest legislation amends the Fentanyl Sanctions Act and “permits the imposition of sanctions on Chinese officials who have significant regulatory or law enforcement responsibilities over such entities if they fail to take credible steps to combat opioid trafficking.”

This legislation passed last Congress and has the potential to pass under unified GOP control of the House, Senate, and White House.