WASHINGTON – Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today joined Sens. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) in introducing the Protecting Americans from Fentanyl Trafficking Act. 

The legislation makes permanent the Drug Enforcement Agency’s emergency scheduling of fentanyl, which classifies it as a highly addictive drug with no medical value. It would also allow the DEA to permanently control the substance and automatically schedule new analogues.

“Fentanyl is stealing the lives of unsuspecting Louisianians and devastating our families. President Biden needs to secure the open border that’s allowing this poison to flow in America, and his Justice Department needs to permanently classify this drug as one of the biggest threats to American lives today,” said Kennedy.

“Illicit fentanyl is made with the intent to create addicts and to kill. Granting the DEA permanent control of this deadly drug and its analogues will provide law enforcement the tools needed take these dangerous drugs off the streets,” said Cotton.

“Ms. Rebecca Kiessling testified before Congress yesterday that when it comes to fentanyl we’re at war and we need to act like we’re at war. She tragically lost both her sons to fentanyl overdoses from a single pill laced with enough fentanyl to kill an individual four times over. Her sons bought what they thought to be Percocet, and it turned out to be pure fentanyl. They both died from the ingestion. Fentanyl is the leading cause of death among 18-45 year olds in America. More Americans die from fentanyl poisoning than car accidents and gun violence combined! Under President Biden, we’ve lost complete operational control of the border. Fentanyl is flooding into our country. We should be going after Mexican drug cartels and other transnational criminal organizations who deal this deadly drug by designating them as foreign terrorist organizations – giving us even more tools to combat this epidemic. I will be working with my colleagues on the Senate Judiciary Committee to dramatically increase the punishment for fentanyl distribution, including charging the crime of murder if an overdose death occurs as a result. Bottom line: The Biden Administration response to the fentanyl epidemic has been lacking. I intend to do all I can to make them change course,” said Graham.

Full text of the bill is available here.

WASHINGTON – Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.), a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, today announced $5,053,346 in Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) disaster aid grants for Louisiana.

“Calcasieu Parish has been inundated with floods from hurricanes and other storms. This $5 million will support the parish’s recovery efforts and help prevent future flooding from devastating these homes,” said Kennedy.

The FEMA aid will fund the following:

• $4,787,380 to Calcasieu Parish to elevate 18 flood-prone residential structures and acquire and demolish two structures.
• $265,966 to Calcasieu Parish for management costs related to the elevation of residential structures.

WASHINGTON – Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) spoke on the Senate floor refuting Pres. Biden and Democrats’ claims that Republicans wish to cut Medicare and entitlements. Kennedy’s speech comes after Biden’s repeated comments falsely accused congressional Republicans of aiming to cut Medicare.

“The fact that the president is saying this and saying, ‘Well, you Republicans want to hurt Medicare,’ . . . I find to be quite ironic . . . maybe even a tad hypocritical,” Kennedy began.

In December 2022, Kennedy attempted to pass his Protecting Medicare Patients and Physicians Act through the Senate by unanimous consent. The bill would have protected patients and health care providers from a total of 8.5 percent in planned Medicare cuts to physician reimbursements, but Democrats immediately blocked the bill.

“A lot of physicians won't take Medicare anymore. Because they say . . . ‘We can't turn a profit. We're not looking to make,’ say the physicians, ‘obscene profits, but . . . we're in the middle of inflation. . . . We're paying more in rent. We're paying more for our nurses. We’re paying more for supplies, and the Medicare fees that were paid to treat folks on Medicare . . . they're not keeping up,’” continued Kennedy.

 “And, so, President Biden, 'the champion of Medicare,' . . . proposed a four-and-a-half percent across the board cut for every physician treating Medicare in America—that's 900,000 people in my state . . . in the middle of raging inflation.”

Kennedy offered a plan to protect the people who rely on Medicare and the doctors who take care of them—without taking another dime from taxpayers. His bill would have put unused Covid money from the Provider Relief Fund to use, requiring no new federal spending.

“I didn't come to my colleagues with just a problem. I came with a solution. . . . I'm not suggesting that we reject President Biden's attempt to cut Medicare and fill the hole by borrowing the money,” Kennedy explained.

Ultimately, no Republicans blocked Kennedy’s bill, but a Democratic senator did.

“I went to every one on my Republican colleagues, and they all said, ‘We're with you.’ I came to this floor to ask for unanimous consent, but Senator Wyden came to the floor and said, ‘I’m going to object to your bill.’ And he said, ‘I don't want you to worry about this. We're putting together a budget bill right now—we call it the omnibus—and that's why I'm objecting to your bill. Your bill, Kennedy, is unnecessary.’”

That omnibus spending package, which Kennedy voted against, included a two percent cut in reimbursements for every physician who treats a Medicare patient in America.

“The president can try and blame the Republicans and say, ‘Well, they don’t want to seriously negotiate about controlling spending, controlling debt. All they want to do is cut Medicare.’ He already did it—he did it in December,” Kennedy concluded.

Background:

Each year, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services establishes a Physician Fee Schedule, which sets out how much a doctor gets paid for a particular service rendered. Kennedy’s legislation would have protected patients and health care providers from a total of 4.5 percent in planned Medicare cuts to physician reimbursements.

The bill would have required no new federal spending, but, instead, would have employed unused Covid money from the Provider Relief Fund that had been returned to the Department of Health and Human Services. Using those leftover funds to help patients and doctors who are suffering under the Biden administration’s historic levels of inflation would have represented a fiscally responsible solution to help vulnerable Americans.

Video of Kennedy’s comments is available here.

WASHINGTON – Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today joined Sen. Mike Braun (R-Ind.) in introducing the Thin Blue Line Act to make the targeting, killing or attempted killing of a police officer an aggravating factor in favor of maximizing sentences.

“The Defund and Disrespect the Police movement has given violent offenders cover to target members of law enforcement. If a wicked person attacks one of the brave officers who protect our local and state communities, they’ve earned the heaviest penalties possible. We have to stop ceding ground to the criminals—because everyone is safer when we back good cops who do good work,” said Kennedy.

“There is a war on our cops, and it’s time we raise the price of targeting them. The Thin Blue Line Act will make targeting or killing a police officer in a violent crime an aggravating factor in favor the harshest penalties we have. President Biden said in his State of the Union speech last week that police officers put their lives on the line every day, and that we ask them to do too much. I agree, and as liberal cities continue to encourage crime by going easy on violent criminals, I’m calling on President Biden to announce his support for this legislation to increase the penalties for those who try to kill cops,” said Braun. 

When a jury in a federal case considers whether to impose the death penalty, the jury must consider certain "aggravating" factors.

Current law states that if the murder victim is a federal law enforcement officer or federal prosecutor, this fact shall weigh as an aggravating factor in favor of the maximum penalty.

The Thin Blue Line Act provides the same level of justice to local law enforcement officers, prosecutors and first responders.

The bill also enhances the penalty for a criminal who targets a law enforcement officer, prosecutor or first responder solely because that victim has chosen to protect and serve.

Sens. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), James Lankford (R-Okla.), Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.), Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.) and John Hoeven (R-N.D.) also cosponsored the bill.