Cotton, Graham, Kennedy, Cassidy & Reed Hold Press Conference on Bill to Fight Opioid Epidemic

[00:00:07] we they forgot me once [00:00:22] [Music] [00:00:33] [Music] [00:01:17] [Music] [00:02:22] [Music] [00:03:41] we have every [00:03:54] [Music] [00:04:10] [Music] [00:04:16] [Music] [00:04:22] the best position of all worried [00:04:35] [Music] [00:04:49] [Music] [00:05:03] [Music] [00:05:29] [Music] [00:05:55] [Music] [00:06:04] [Music] [00:06:24] first [00:06:59] smug video like pre-planning okay [00:07:22] [Music] [00:07:31] [Music] [00:08:22] good morning ladies and gentlemen thank [00:08:23] you for joining us today we're here to [00:08:25] talk about the drug epidemic in our [00:08:26] country and in particular the fentanyl [00:08:28] crisis that our country faces in 2016 [00:08:32] sixty-four thousand Americans died of [00:08:34] drug overdoses that metz more than died [00:08:36] in the entire Vietnam War and it was [00:08:39] probably more last year and [00:08:40] unfortunately will be more this year [00:08:43] 20,000 of those almost 1/3 just 20,000 [00:08:46] were from fentanyl [00:08:47] that's a 400% increase over recent times [00:08:50] over 50 people per day in this country [00:08:53] dying from a fentanyl overdose [00:08:55] that's because fentanyl is almost unique [00:08:57] among drugs it's a synthetic drug it's [00:09:00] manufactured and crooked laboratories in [00:09:03] China it's often smuggled here by [00:09:05] Mexican drug cartels and it is so potent [00:09:07] it is so potent that just much this just [00:09:12] this much fentanyl this much less than [00:09:16] 40 grams could kill 20,000 people this [00:09:20] could kill the 20,000 people who died [00:09:22] from fentanyl overdoses in our country [00:09:24] last year that's as much like a weapon [00:09:27] of mass destruction as it is a drug in [00:09:30] fact recently to give you a sentence [00:09:31] scale of the danger but also the [00:09:34] inadequacy of our laws there was a [00:09:37] hundred-pound bust of fentanyl in New [00:09:39] Jersey 100 pounds by some estimates that [00:09:42] could kill 18 million people more [00:09:46] fatalities than any nuclear weapon known [00:09:48] to man and the drug dealer only got six [00:09:51] years in prison [00:09:52] only six years for a hundred pounds of [00:09:54] fentanyl that's why mandatory minimum [00:09:56] sentences are so important and our [00:09:58] sentences for fentanyl are so inadequate [00:10:01] even though even though this could kill [00:10:04] 20,000 people a drug dealer we get less [00:10:07] than five years in prison for holding [00:10:09] this that simply doesn't work that's why [00:10:12] we proposed legislation that will [00:10:14] increase the mandatory minimums so if [00:10:16] you have two grams to grams just 5% of [00:10:20] what you see here one twentieth of what [00:10:22] you see here you'll get at least five [00:10:24] years in prison and the more fentanyl [00:10:26] you have the more prison time you get [00:10:29] our legislation is supported by the [00:10:31] administration is supported by the [00:10:32] Department of Justice the professionals [00:10:34] at the DEA [00:10:35] by law enforcement officials and [00:10:37] organizations across the state of [00:10:38] Arkansas I look forward to working with [00:10:40] my colleagues here to get this passed [00:10:42] out of the Senate and the house and to [00:10:44] put it on the President's desk to sign [00:10:45] to help stop the fentanyl crisis we face [00:10:48] now I'll turn over the microphone [00:10:50] Senator Graham well thank senator cotton [00:10:53] for leading on this we should approach [00:10:55] this as a national emergency we should [00:10:57] pass his bill as if lives depended on it [00:11:00] because they do I've been a prosecutor [00:11:01] most of my adult life before I got in [00:11:04] politics the one thing I can say as you [00:11:07] drive up the cost of doing business in [00:11:09] the drug trade less of it will occur and [00:11:12] if you want to focus on fitting all the [00:11:14] way Thomas focusing on it it will get so [00:11:16] costly that people will go to some other [00:11:19] business and that's the goal is to take [00:11:21] this very dangerous drug and make those [00:11:23] who handle it feel like it's not worth [00:11:26] it anymore and how do you do that well [00:11:29] number one let's lower demand by dealing [00:11:31] with treatment and prevention let's make [00:11:34] it harder to get here by securing our [00:11:36] border and once it is here let's put [00:11:39] people who touch this stuff under the [00:11:42] jail house and they'll go on to do [00:11:44] something else because the cost of [00:11:46] business is too high to the president [00:11:48] you're absolutely right to focus on the [00:11:51] detention I mean the deterrence part of [00:11:53] this so on April 11th I'm gonna have a [00:11:55] hearing I'm gonna try to take this one [00:11:57] step further Tom's done a good job [00:11:59] describing how lethal a small amount of [00:12:02] fentanyl is so here's the concept if you [00:12:06] put arsenic out in a substance we know [00:12:10] that if a human being and just arsenic [00:12:13] they're likely to die so if you're if [00:12:15] you have a system of giving people [00:12:18] arsenic you could be charged with murder [00:12:21] I'm gonna try to establish that fentanyl [00:12:24] is in a class by itself that those who [00:12:27] trade in this should be subject to the [00:12:30] Feli felony murder doctrine that if [00:12:33] you're selling fentanyl because it is so [00:12:35] lethal in small amounts that if anybody [00:12:38] dies based on the product you created [00:12:41] the felony murder doctrine would take [00:12:43] over which would put the death penalty [00:12:46] in play for fentanyl [00:12:48] drug traffickers and that really will [00:12:51] change the game that will make the cost [00:12:53] of doing business [00:12:54] completely different so Tom's construct [00:12:56] a mandatory minimums is going to get [00:13:00] attention to the people who deal in this [00:13:02] and I'm going to try to take it one step [00:13:04] further and achieve the goal the [00:13:06] president laid out making the death [00:13:08] penalty an option in cases where people [00:13:11] trafficking fentanyl because it is so [00:13:13] deadly Senate committee Thank You [00:13:17] Lindsey a few weeks ago I introduced a [00:13:27] bill called the stop trapping in [00:13:30] trafficking and fentanyl bill Tom had [00:13:35] some very good ideas about how to [00:13:37] address this problem as did Lindsey and [00:13:40] as did bill and as did the compliment so [00:13:42] we decided to partner up and and do [00:13:44] everything in one bill you Philip [00:13:49] Seymour Hoffman was an extraordinary [00:13:52] actor but he wasn't acting when he stuck [00:13:55] that needle in his arm [00:13:57] and I know there's some that there's [00:14:02] some confusion over whether the heroin [00:14:05] that he took was cut with fentanyl but [00:14:08] there are thousands and thousands of [00:14:10] philip Seymour Hoffman's out there and [00:14:13] when they found mr. Hoffman the needle [00:14:16] was still in his arm I mean he hit him [00:14:19] like a Mack truck and that's how [00:14:22] powerful this stuff is I mean you can [00:14:24] see how little fentanyl equates to the [00:14:29] same them to the same of the heroin that [00:14:32] has the same effect it takes this this [00:14:34] little bit this little bit to kill you [00:14:39] now you know if you're an addict and [00:14:44] you're you're jonesing for a fix [00:14:49] you'll take just about anything but most [00:14:53] addicts have to buy their heroin from [00:14:56] somebody and those sub bodies are drug [00:15:00] dealers [00:15:00] and they cut the hair when within them [00:15:03] and they're not exactly precise and how [00:15:06] they do it if you're trafficking in this [00:15:10] drug you ought to be punished to the [00:15:13] full extent of the law and I don't think [00:15:17] that a drug trafficker in fentanyl I [00:15:20] don't think he or she is confused I [00:15:23] don't think he's mixed up I don't think [00:15:27] his mama it's not a question whether his [00:15:30] mama loved him enough I think there's [00:15:33] evil in this world and as Lindsey said [00:15:36] if you're gonna traffic in fentanyl as [00:15:39] far as I'm concerned you're just plain [00:15:40] damn bad and this is this this bill is [00:15:44] gonna try to take a small step to deal [00:15:46] with it and I'm I'm proud to be a part [00:15:50] of it hey thank y'all thank y'all for [00:16:00] introducing the bill [00:16:01] it's my temptation to approach this as a [00:16:03] doctor look at this ratio a little bit [00:16:06] of fentanyl that much heroin and also [00:16:09] understand that patients as someone [00:16:11] mentioned when they're looking for a fix [00:16:13] they don't stop to ask what's in it but [00:16:15] I'm not gonna approach it as a physician [00:16:17] I'm gonna approach it as a parent [00:16:18] there's folks back home whose sons 17 [00:16:22] years old was in treatment recidivism in [00:16:27] treatment going back on drugs but [00:16:29] progressing to where he would finally [00:16:33] become free and that's the way this [00:16:35] works you you try break out of the [00:16:37] lifestyle pulls you back in but finally [00:16:39] you break out he was in the cycle and [00:16:41] they were very hopeful very hopeful he [00:16:44] comes out of treatment his friends grab [00:16:47] him [00:16:47] they give him drugs this time laced with [00:16:50] fentanyl and their 17 year old is dead [00:16:54] now there's many things we need to do to [00:16:56] prevent that tragedy but as a tragedy [00:16:59] which is increasingly playing out across [00:17:00] our country this is one of the things [00:17:03] that we can do it's not the end of it [00:17:08] it's not the only thing but it is it is [00:17:11] a significant thing that whoever's [00:17:14] applied the fentanyl to this young man [00:17:16] would understand that there was going to [00:17:19] be a higher price to pay that whoever he [00:17:23] or she was but perhaps have a second [00:17:26] thought before they tempt him out of [00:17:28] treatment let's face it they're losing a [00:17:31] market they want to keep him hooked and [00:17:33] if they keep him hooked and he dies then [00:17:36] their life is over too maybe not [00:17:38] literally but prison term a longer [00:17:40] prison term is part of that and so if we [00:17:44] approach this not as members of the [00:17:46] House or the Senate [00:17:47] not as physicians not as prosecutors you [00:17:49] name it but as parents I think we should [00:17:52] favor this for the hope that there would [00:17:54] be another 17 year old or sixteen year [00:17:56] old or fifteen year old whose life would [00:17:58] be saved because of it again thank you [00:18:01] for the legislation I turn over to Tom [00:18:02] Reed thank you well then Karen Tom Reed [00:18:07] New York 23 House member to stand here [00:18:10] with my former colleagues in the house [00:18:11] senator cotton and senator Cassidy and [00:18:14] I'm pleased to be joined and to join [00:18:16] senator Graham and Senator Kennedy in [00:18:19] standing shoulders shoulder in regards [00:18:23] to this legislation [00:18:24] you know we dropped a the help act in [00:18:27] the house to send the message that you [00:18:29] know what as the doctor said this isn't [00:18:31] the only tool to help solve or to solve [00:18:35] this problem but it's a tool in the [00:18:37] toolbox that I firmly believe is [00:18:38] necessary for our law enforcement to [00:18:41] community to have available to it to [00:18:43] send the message to the worst of the [00:18:46] worst the folks that are peddling [00:18:50] fentanyl and these other products to our [00:18:55] young men and women to our fellow [00:18:57] citizens across the entire country and [00:19:00] killing them and in my humble opinion [00:19:03] doing it knowingly that that is a risk [00:19:06] that they recognize when they put this [00:19:08] into the marketplace of this illicit [00:19:11] product and they should be held [00:19:13] accountable for killing our fellow [00:19:16] Americans to the highest level and that [00:19:20] means taking their own life too and I [00:19:23] will tell you talking to law enforcement [00:19:24] back in our district they need these [00:19:26] tools [00:19:28] because we're not going after the [00:19:30] low-level carriers we're not going after [00:19:32] the low-level distributors with this [00:19:34] legislation what we are doing is using [00:19:36] this as a tool to get to the worst of [00:19:39] the worst and holding them accountable [00:19:41] for their actions and in the meantime by [00:19:46] getting that information and holding [00:19:48] them accountable [00:19:49] hopefully we'll take them out of the [00:19:52] distribution cycle and if they have one [00:19:54] less product with fentanyl onto the [00:19:56] marketplace that saves one life that's [00:19:59] what we're trying to do we're here to [00:20:01] save lives of our fellow American [00:20:03] citizens and that's what this tool in [00:20:06] this arsenal that is necessary to take [00:20:08] on this battle is designed to do and I'm [00:20:12] proud to stand here with my Senate [00:20:13] colleagues to send the message to [00:20:16] America as a whole we care we will do [00:20:19] whatever it takes in order to address [00:20:21] this issue and that includes this tool [00:20:23] for law enforcement but we're gonna also [00:20:25] stand for firm with rehab treatment [00:20:27] prevention awareness and in crisis [00:20:31] intervention with the narcan supplies [00:20:33] across the country this is a broad [00:20:36] comprehensive type of approach to it and [00:20:38] I just want to say this is the right [00:20:40] thing to do to hold these worst of the [00:20:43] worst accountable but they're clear and [00:20:46] knowing actions in killing our most [00:20:50] precious assets our young men and women [00:20:52] and our fellow American citizens with [00:20:54] that let's turn it back over well [00:20:58] entertain your questions now [00:21:05] was clear but we point any evidence or [00:21:09] history that this will in fact be have [00:21:11] to turn for dealers who are largely [00:21:13] motivated by the problem well as [00:21:16] congressman Reid said this bill is [00:21:18] designed to go after the worst of the [00:21:19] worst those who are trafficking in the [00:21:20] largest quantities like that New Jersey [00:21:22] dealer got a hundred pounds of fentanyl [00:21:24] yet got less than six years in prison [00:21:26] that filters down through the drug [00:21:28] distribution network though again [00:21:29] because fentanyl is so potent because [00:21:31] opioids are so addictive someone who is [00:21:33] trafficking only two grams of it could [00:21:36] kill 20,000 people and yet today they'd [00:21:38] get virtually no time in prison at all [00:21:40] so they need to think about what they're [00:21:42] trapping in that doesn't mean they're [00:21:44] gonna stop trafficking in drugs entirely [00:21:45] but at least it may mean that they're [00:21:47] gonna stop trafficking in this most [00:21:49] deadly kind of drug that is killing so [00:21:52] many of our fellow citizens there's no I [00:22:01] people have a multitude of reasons for [00:22:04] doing what they do but a lot of a lot of [00:22:07] these people that traffic intentional [00:22:09] I'm gonna say it again they're they're [00:22:12] not emotionally disturbed or mixed up or [00:22:15] confused they know exactly what they're [00:22:16] doing there's plain damn bad and a lot [00:22:19] of them are very intelligent and if you [00:22:22] make it clear that if you cut your coke [00:22:24] you're a heroine with fentanyl and you [00:22:27] get you get caught then you're gonna go [00:22:30] away a long time and I think it will [00:22:32] make a lot of them think twice and say [00:22:34] huh maybe we better stop doing this you [00:22:38] sure aren't gonna motivate them by [00:22:39] pleading to their conscience you're [00:22:42] gonna have to motivate them I think [00:22:44] people respond to this and send them [00:22:46] respond to incentives and this is a [00:22:48] pretty big incentive here it says you [00:22:50] know if you traffic the fentanyl and you [00:22:53] cut the heroin with fentanyl and you get [00:22:55] caught we're gonna dig a hole under the [00:22:58] jail and put you there and you're gonna [00:23:00] stay in a long time [00:23:09] well Tom's got a provision sorry our [00:23:13] legislation also gives the Postal [00:23:14] Service more authorities to go after [00:23:17] fentanyl that's being shipped directly [00:23:19] in from China but is also coming in [00:23:21] through Mexico as well where they don't [00:23:23] face that kind of interdiction by US [00:23:25] authorities and then the traditional [00:23:26] Mexican cartel rubes can just get it [00:23:29] into the United States across our border [00:23:31] and then spread out through communities [00:23:32] across the country that was so that was [00:23:37] a state law example but the principle [00:23:39] still holds that as a matter of federal [00:23:40] law the federal law has not kept up with [00:23:43] the crisis again as Senator Kennedy said [00:23:45] this may not stop all drug dealing may [00:23:46] not even stop heroin and other opioids [00:23:48] but fentanyl is so deadly that it is [00:23:50] different in kind it's not a different [00:23:52] than degree and we need to take every [00:23:53] step we can to get fentanyl off our [00:23:55] streets whatever happens to other drugs [00:23:57] I mean ladies right if I will if I walk [00:23:59] into a winn-dixie to a grocery store and [00:24:03] I I drop a replace a six-pack of Bud [00:24:06] Light with a six-pack of battery acid [00:24:09] light in the same can just for just just [00:24:12] to see what happens somebody drinks and [00:24:13] dies I'm gonna get life I'm probably [00:24:17] gonna get gonna get get get the death [00:24:19] then I don't understand the difference [00:24:29] in relation to sir so I agree with [00:24:35] senator senator Gramm I agree with the [00:24:37] president that the death penalty should [00:24:38] be on the table for people who traffic [00:24:40] and this worst kind of drug the Attorney [00:24:42] General yesterday released guidelines to [00:24:44] US Attorney's encouraging the use the [00:24:45] kingpin statute which I always already [00:24:47] can use to seek the federal death [00:24:49] penalty [00:24:50] I would encourage state prosecutors to [00:24:52] use their felony murder laws to seek it [00:24:55] under the state law and as Senator [00:24:57] Graham said he's going to have hearings [00:24:59] and then I look forward to working with [00:25:00] him on federal legislation that will [00:25:01] make it easier for the federal [00:25:03] prosecutors to use the federal felony [00:25:06] murder roles to seek the death penalty [00:25:07] for these kind of drug traffickers it is [00:25:09] what we're trying to do is make an [00:25:10] argument that the lethality of the drug [00:25:14] the natural consequence of putting [00:25:16] fentanyl and heroin because it's so [00:25:18] lethal is that somebody's going to die [00:25:20] so if a bunch of us rob a bank we didn't [00:25:23] go in intending to kill anybody but if [00:25:25] one person kills somebody in a bank [00:25:28] everybody in the mob the the bank [00:25:30] robbery group can be held accountable [00:25:32] for felony murder because there's such a [00:25:34] dangerous activity so what we're trying [00:25:36] to do with Tom's legislation is make the [00:25:39] market forces change right now the [00:25:42] upside of dilling and fentanyl from a [00:25:45] drug dealers point of view is pretty [00:25:46] good you hook people for life it's a way [00:25:50] to keep them hooked a little bit goes a [00:25:53] long way the punishments are really no [00:25:56] different than anything else but if [00:25:58] senator cotton sledge accession passes [00:26:00] it's a game changer in this to whether [00:26:02] or not you want to go in this line of [00:26:04] drug dealing in the ultimate icing on [00:26:06] the cake in terms of deterrence would be [00:26:09] you could literally be put to death by [00:26:12] selling fentanyl and what I have to do I [00:26:14] have to make a scientific case that this [00:26:17] drug is unique among all other drugs and [00:26:20] that the felony murder principle makes [00:26:23] legal sense here a new theory the case [00:26:26] in as to China [00:26:27] the president's got to put this on the [00:26:29] agenda with China the Chinese need to do [00:26:32] more in their backyard to take down the [00:26:36] labs when it comes to Mexico this is why [00:26:39] you need a secure border but we need to [00:26:41] start court [00:26:42] with our Mexican law enforcement [00:26:43] partners in making the cost of doing [00:26:46] business in Mexico go up make the cost [00:26:49] of doing business in China go up one [00:26:51] thing I'd say about a Chinese drug [00:26:53] manufacturer in fentanyl if the Chinese [00:26:56] government really got serious the death [00:26:59] penalty definitely applies there [00:27:02] gentlemen I have to go vote we stand [00:27:04] with you thank you senator what well to [00:27:20] step back for a moment that's just a [00:27:21] Senator Graham's point it's not just [00:27:23] that it's so potent but it's also that [00:27:25] it's so concentrated so it poses a [00:27:27] unique risk in a way that other drugs do [00:27:29] not but no luck like all drug laws [00:27:32] you're responsible for what you're [00:27:33] carrying and what you're selling and new [00:27:35] that has the deterrent effect of making [00:27:37] it less likely that you're gonna deal [00:27:38] with anyone at any point in the drug [00:27:40] distribution chains that is used in the [00:27:42] past or stills using fentanyl and makes [00:27:45] you less likely to traffic any other [00:27:46] drugs that might become fentanyl yes [00:27:58] well so mandatory minimums that came out [00:28:02] of the 80s and 90s [00:28:04] three-strikes-you're-out it's basically [00:28:07] taking people in urban and rural areas [00:28:09] who are more likely to engage with law [00:28:11] enforcement and have large sentences for [00:28:14] relatively minor offenses that [00:28:16] accumulate over time so we changed the [00:28:19] punishment for crack cocaine and powder [00:28:21] cocaine because it disproportionately [00:28:23] affected african-american and Hispanic [00:28:26] males I mean the effects on the drugs [00:28:28] were not much different but the [00:28:29] punishment for crack cocaine was [00:28:31] disproportionate to powder cocaine so I [00:28:33] want to do two things at once I want to [00:28:35] go through our legal system and see if [00:28:37] we can give some mandatory minimum [00:28:38] relief from the three-strikes-you're-out [00:28:40] concept that probably overreached and at [00:28:43] the same time take Senator Cotton's lead [00:28:46] and come down like a hammer on this [00:28:49] concentrated drug of death I mean this [00:28:52] is almost certain death if you take this [00:28:55] overtime [00:28:56] and up mandatory minimums and I think [00:28:58] there's a trade to be made but what [00:29:00] senator cotton is doing is long overdue [00:29:02] the punishment in terms of trafficking [00:29:05] and fentanyl is so disproportionate to [00:29:07] the effect and I want to make sure [00:29:09] judges can look the defendant in the eye [00:29:11] and say you're going to jail for a long [00:29:13] time based on what you possessed and I [00:29:15] have no discretion you're just going to [00:29:17] jail well you know my agenda is less [00:29:23] ambitious than Wednesday's I I just want [00:29:27] to do something about the fentanyl [00:29:29] I mean I'm said again it takes takes us [00:29:31] much and there's somebody in the supply [00:29:35] chain who is cutting the heroin with the [00:29:39] fentanyl and doesn't care now if he [00:29:43] sells to somebody else that somebody [00:29:46] else as far as I'm concerned is [00:29:48] responsible you either believe in free [00:29:50] will or you don't and and you're not [00:29:53] gonna stop this stuff by saying you know [00:29:56] can we talk you know are you disturbed [00:30:00] are you upset about something are you [00:30:02] mixed up these are bad people there's [00:30:05] evil in this world and I try to be a [00:30:08] good Methodist but and I believe in [00:30:10] grace but I also believe believe in in [00:30:13] consequences now [00:30:15] and to me this is no different from you [00:30:19] from somebody just taking a six-pack of [00:30:21] battery acid and certainly going into a [00:30:25] grocery store and replacing the Bud [00:30:27] Light and say let's see what happens if [00:30:31] somebody drinks it that's how bad some [00:30:33] of these people are for God's sakes now [00:30:36] and and I can't guarantee you it's gonna [00:30:38] stop every single one of them but I can [00:30:41] tell you guarantee you one thing the [00:30:43] ones that get caught they gonna have a [00:30:45] long time to think about it and I would [00:30:49] add I support mandatory minimum [00:30:51] sentences I think they're important [00:30:52] deterrent effect but they have to [00:30:54] reflect the realities of the crisis that [00:30:55] our country faces and until just a few [00:30:57] years ago fentanyl was not dealt on the [00:30:59] streets fentanyl was used for legitimate [00:31:01] purposes by license medical doctors it's [00:31:05] only in recent years that it started to [00:31:07] be dealt on the streets and it's [00:31:08] increased in potency [00:31:09] and decreased in size that's why it's so [00:31:12] important that we update our laws and [00:31:14] impose stiff mandatory minimums for [00:31:16] dealing in fentanyl no more questions [00:31:23] what's any more questions on and far [00:31:26] Trump begins oh and we distinguish [00:31:38] between fentanyl in its analog some of [00:31:40] those analogues are even more potent so [00:31:42] that we get a little bit more in the [00:31:43] details of legislation actually the [00:31:45] mandatory minimums air would kick you in [00:31:46] at just one half of one gram two again [00:31:48] to reflect the immense potency of the [00:31:50] drugs they'd be here they'd be geared [00:31:56] towards the type of fentanyl and then [00:31:57] also the amount as well this is a really [00:32:00] well thought out bill I mean I want to [00:32:02] compliment Tom he's taking a lot of [00:32:03] these ideas and it's gonna change [00:32:05] behavior on the ground in terms of drug [00:32:07] dealing because the cost is going to go [00:32:09] really dramatically Frank yeah we've had [00:32:18] 400 deaths in Arkansas in 2016 and we've [00:32:23] heard from sheriffs we've heard from our [00:32:25] local prosecuting attorneys and from law [00:32:27] enforcement organizations that they need [00:32:30] more tools to combat this crisis that we [00:32:33] have in Arkansas again our law is a [00:32:34] federal law but most of our prosecutors [00:32:36] most of our sheriffs and police [00:32:37] departments work on interagency task [00:32:39] force that includes the FBI and the DEA [00:32:42] and the US Attorney's Office and we want [00:32:44] to do everything we can as legislators [00:32:46] here in Washington provide tools in [00:32:48] Arkansas and Louisiana and South [00:32:50] Carolina to help protect our communities [00:32:52] and save our kids lives Lenny had a [00:32:53] question okay [00:33:07] well you know we're not privy to all the [00:33:10] conversations that the president has had [00:33:12] with President Putin I think he was just [00:33:15] being polite I think the president [00:33:18] Trump's a very bright guy I think he [00:33:20] understands how Putin got elected I [00:33:23] think he understands how how [00:33:26] authoritarian he is in my opinion and so [00:33:28] and we're not privy to all the [00:33:30] conversations that they have I think he [00:33:32] was been polite just congratulating I'm [00:33:34] being election congratulating him does [00:33:36] not imply approval I will say this I [00:33:40] think mr. Putin is a thug I think he's a [00:33:44] pirate I think that he will push you [00:33:48] right through that wall if he can and [00:33:50] for eight years he did it to President [00:33:53] Obama I think President Trump has his [00:33:55] number if if I were king for day I'm not [00:33:59] and I do not aspire to be but I'd hit [00:34:02] mr. Putin so hard with sanctions he'd be [00:34:05] coughing up bones that next week and [00:34:08] just just hit him where it hurts because [00:34:10] that's all he understands and until you [00:34:12] do that we're going to have more [00:34:15] Ukraine's and more serious and more [00:34:17] careers and more nerve gas that's all [00:34:20] this is about and I was really happy to [00:34:23] see secretary minuchin finally bear down [00:34:26] on the sanctions doesn't mean you [00:34:28] shouldn't talk to the guy but he's a [00:34:31] thug he's a pirate he's a smart thug [00:34:35] he's a smart part but but trying to [00:34:38] appease him is like trying to hand-feed [00:34:40] a shark put me down as doubtful [00:34:47] yeah it sucks I wouldn't I'm gonna vote [00:34:53] against it twice if they will let me oh [00:34:55] you're gonna vote against letting it get [00:34:56] a vote before the deadline [00:34:58] [Music]