During remarks on the Senate floor Tuesday, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) spoke about the Trump administration's cuts to the State Department's international narcotics control programs.
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00:00On fentanyl. Donald Trump promised on the campaign trail he would hold the
00:04Chinese government accountable to stop the fentanyl crisis. Over a hundred days
00:09into office, Donald Trump has failed on both accounts. Meanwhile, Donald Trump is
00:15also handed over all leverage to China through his stupid trade war. And now he's
00:20trying to gut key State Department programs that hurt that curb the flow
00:25of fentanyl into America. Today I joined three of my colleagues in demanding
00:31Secretaries Rubio and Besant use all possible diplomatic tools to push the
00:37People's Republic of China to take immediate action to stop the flow of
00:41fentanyl into America. This administration should also scrap the misguided 91% cut,
00:5091% to the State Department's international narcotics control and
00:55enforcement programs included in the president's budget proposal. Instead of
01:01working to hold China accountable and stop this crisis in its tracks, the Trump
01:06administration has to rage the destructive trade war with China and blamed allies
01:11like Canada for our fentanyl problem. And now Donald Trump's budget is trying to gut
01:16protect key programs that could actually do something about the problem. So
01:20specifically, I urge the Trump administration to first push the Chinese
01:25government to do three things. Do a better job policing illicit fentanyl and
01:30precursor chemical trafficking, increase precursor scheduling, and stop the
01:35illicit financing of precursor chemicals in China. We need commitments on all
01:39three points. Second, the Trump administration must use every diplomatic tool
01:44available to stop the flow of fentanyl into America. And finally, the Trump
01:49administration must immediately end cuts to programs that actually address the
01:55fentanyl crisis. When I met with President Xi two years ago, I told him
02:00directly about the devastating impact of the opioid crisis on American families. I
02:04demanded to President Xi that the Chinese government take immediate action to cut
02:09off the supply of precursor chemicals that are fueling this crisis. Some steps were
02:14taken, some important steps, but much more is needed from the Chinese government. And
02:19the President and his team should be working with the PRC to get these
02:23concessions and cooperation, rather than the current strategy, destroy our influence
02:29and competition with the PRC abroad.