SUOZZI MEETS WITH PARENTS AND SIGNS ON TO “FEND OFF FENTANYL“ BILL
Glen Cove, NY - Congressman Tom Suozzi met last week in Glen Cove with a group of Long Island parent activists who had all lost a child or grandchild from fentanyl overdoses.
“It’s a national emergency,” Suozzi said. “I am committed to ensuring that Congress and the Federal government do all in their power to stop the deadly scourge of fentanyl.”
More than 109,000 drug overdose deaths occurred in the United States in 2022; nearly 70% involved illegally manufactured fentanyls (IMFs). Fentanyl is the leading cause of death for people 18 to 45 years of age.
The group discussed the Fentanyl Eradication and Narcotics Deterrence (FEND) Off Fentanyl Act, introduced in 2023 when Suozzi was not a member of Congress. The legislation targets the entire illicit fentanyl supply chain, from the chemical suppliers in China to the cartels that transport the drugs in Mexico, by directing the Treasury Department to target, sanction, and block the financial assets of transnational criminal organizations.
At that point, Suozzi paused the meeting and called his legislative staff in Washington, directing them to immediately include him as a co-sponsor of the bill. He promised to work hard to see it become the law.
“It’s way past time that America takes action against the smuggling of this deadly drug,” he told the group.
Each parent spoke of their children and grandchildren who lost their lives: Carole Trottere (son Alex), Lori Carbonaro (son Nicholas), Larry and Eileen Lamendola (daughter Lisa), and Corrinne Kaufman from Glen Cove, who lost her granddaughter Paige Grace Gibbons.
Paige’s parents shared their story of loss as part of a PSA commercial that aired nationwide during this February’s Super Bowl. “She took one pill, one time, she thought it was Percocet, and it was fentanyl; Paige overdosed and died,” her mother Kate explained in the commercial.
Lamendola spoke to Suozzi about a local Levittown organization he is involved with: Levittown Young Organizers United to Help, or Levittown Y.O.U.T.H., a coalition dedicated to the prevention of youth substance use. He invited Suozzi to learn more about the group, and the Congressman pledged to support its efforts.
Trottere, who works with the Suffolk County Police Department at NARCAN training sessions, suggested that Suozzi look into promoting the availability of NARCAN kits in all federal buildings.
Suozzi later said that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the General Services Administration (GSA) recently announced new guidance recommending that all federal facilities nationwide include overdose reversal medications in their safety stations.
“And the Biden administration just launched an initiative dubbed the 'Challenge to Save Lives from Overdose.' It’s a nationwide call to increase training on and access to life-saving opioid overdose reversal medications,” Suozzi added.
He also cited funding from the federal government’s State Opioid Response grant program that has helped deliver nearly 10 million free naloxone kits across the country,
During the hour-long meeting, Suozzi said that he was also “really very concerned about the mental health of young people.” Citing figures that Americans consume 80% of the opioid global drug supply, Suozzi wondered out loud why our youth are suffering so much anxiety and depression.
As County Executive, Suozzi introduced a revolutionary, nationally recognized “No Wrong Door” human services system creating a consolidated campus with all health and human services offices, a “one-stop shop” that looked holistically at each person who sought help.
“We need to take that ‘No Wrong Door’ approach and implement it in America’s communities, schools, and youth centers. We need to do more to respond to the real needs of our young people and to those who are most in need,” he said.
“We had a very productive meeting. Congressman Suozzi really listened to us. He gave us as much time as we needed. He really did care about what we have been through and what we are now trying to accomplish,” declared Trottere. “We now have a good partner in Congress,” she added.
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