COLUMBUS, OH – Sherrod’s “ambitious portfolio of bipartisan legislation,” including the FEND Off Fentanyl Act which was signed into law yesterday and will protect Ohioans from dangerous fentanyl by cracking down on the chemical suppliers in China and the drug traffickers in Mexico, stands in “bright contrast” to Bernie Moreno.
While Sherrod worked with Republicans for months to keep Ohioans and law enforcement safe from dangerous fentanyl, Moreno, who said he “reject[s]” bipartisanship, opposed the FEND Off Fentanyl Act. Sherrod’s legislation was endorsed by the Fraternal Order of Police and law enforcement officers across Ohio.
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Politico: Sherrod Brown touts fentanyl bill win in Ohio Senate slugfest
Burgess Everett – April 25, 2024
- The FEND Off Fentanyl Act, which Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown worked on for more than a year with GOP Sen. Tim Scott to pass… [is] hugely important for Brown.
- The bill empowers the president to sanction drug traffickers and gangs, a big deal for Brown since Ohio has one of the highest overdose death rates in the country.
- It’s also a bright contrast with Brown’s GOP opponent in his tight Senate race, Bernie Moreno, who said he would have opposed the foreign aid package Tuesday.
- The Senate Banking chair has perhaps the most ambitious portfolio of bipartisan legislation he hopes to pass of any at-risk senator.
- Finally this month, [FEND Off] was included as essentially the only major border-related item in the foreign aid package, which is now law.
- Brown touted law enforcement’s endorsement of his and Scott’s bill, saying they had asked for “more tools to stop fentanyl at its source.”
- And Ohio Democrats quickly tweaked Moreno’s campaign for saying he’d oppose the package Tuesday, after he said he only supported the Israel component. He also was no fan of the first border package in February, which contained the FEND Off Act.
- “Sherrod’s leading the fight to stop the flow of fentanyl into Ohio and working with Republicans to get it done — the fact that Bernie Moreno has opposed it every step of the way is another reason he’s wrong for Ohio,” said Reeves Oyster, a Brown spokesperson.
Ohio Capital Journal: Ohio U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown’s FEND Off Fentanyl Act signed into law
Nick Evans – April 25, 2024
- Passage of Brown’s measure comes nearly a year to the day after he and U.S. Sen. Tim Scott, R-SC, introduced the idea. The proposal declares fentanyl trafficking a national emergency and places new sanctions on the leaders of trafficking organizations. The measure also gives the U.S. Treasury Department more latitude to combat money laundering tied to trafficking and gives officials the authority to make use of forfeited property for law enforcement efforts.
- “Law enforcement in Ohio and around the country made it clear that we needed more tools to stop fentanyl at its source,” Brown said in a statement shortly after President Biden signed the bill into law.
- “Because of our work together, those tools are now law and can begin to be put to use going after the cartels,” he added. “Today is an important step in our fight to stop the illicit fentanyl that is flooding Ohio communities.”
- Brown’s campaign team, for instance, was quick to seize on Republican Bernie Moreno’s statement that he would’ve supported aid to Israel but not the broader package of legislation.
- …Moreno vehemently opposed an earlier Senate bill pairing Ukraine funding with several conservative immigration policy changes. In an interview with the Ohio Press Network, Moreno insisted, “I did read all 357 pages…It’s grotesque, it’s disgusting, and I would do everything in my power to make certain that something like that bill never got passed,” Moreno said. Brown’s FEND Off Fentanyl Act was included on page 225.
- Brown’s package of sanctions and anti-money laundering provisions has the backing of several law enforcement organizations including the Fraternal Order of Police, National Association of Police Officers, the National Sheriff’s Association.
