WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said on Sunday that he will push to include in upcoming defense policy legislation a bipartisan amendment to sanction China over its alleged role in producing the synthetic opioid fentanyl.
Schumer blamed China for much of the fentanyl that U.S. authorities say is responsible for the overdose deaths of tens of thousands of Americans. He said the drug comes from production sites in China “with the total acceptance and acquiescence of the Chinese government.”
“I will push an amendment bipartisan into the defense bill that will include major fentanyl stopping and sanction empowering legislation, and we will bring that bill to the floor this week,” Schumer told a news conference in New York.
“I hope it will pass, I believe that will pass with strong bipartisan support. And it should. It must.”
He said the amendment has been put forward by Republican Senator Tim Scott and Democratic Senator Sherrod Brown.
(Reporting by David Morgan; Editing by Josie Kao)
