Remarks by Homeland Security Advisor Dr. Liz Sherwood-Randall at the President’s Summit of the Global Coalition to Address Synthetic Drug Threats | New York, NY
Good afternoon. I am Liz Sherwood-Randall, President Biden’s Homeland Security Advisor.
In closing, on behalf of the Biden-Harris Administration, I want to thank each of you for joining us here today. In particular, I want to express our gratitude to each of the Heads of State and Government and your cabinet members who accepted President Biden’s invitation to participate and make an enduring commitment to this vital endeavor.
This is the first ever gathering on this scale of leaders from every continent across the planet who are dedicated to the fight against fentanyl and synthetic drugs. And that reflects how seriously we take the threat that it is creating in our respective homelands.
As you may know, I have devoted much of my life to countering the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. I view fentanyl as a weapon of mass destruction. The lessons from that enduring challenge are directly relevant to the fight against illicit fentanyl and synthetic drugs today.
This is a global problem that requires a global solution. None of us can meet it effectively alone. We need to weave a strong and resilient web of committed countries, and we need to work in close collaboration with partners in international organizations and the private sector. That is the only way we can meet the moment. And the moment is now. We are in a fight to save lives.
So I especially want to thank each of the Coalition Members whose leaders have agreed to mobilize new initiatives to:
Disrupt the supply chain for fentanyl and other illicit goods
Detect emerging drug trends; and
Prevent and treat those affected by this crisis, through increased public health interventions and distribution of life-saving medications.
Because of the new initiatives, we will be doing even more than we have already done to map and disrupt transit routes, establish early warning systems to detect new drug trends before they reach crisis levels, and prevent deaths by expanding treatment, training more health care workers, and distributing life-saving medications.
I urge each of you to participate in these accelerated efforts. And I also encourage each of you to sign on to the Member Pledge that we shared with you. This pledge to take additional steps in each of our countries reinforces our collective commitment to turn words into concrete actions. Together we can make a real difference in our communities by disrupting drug traffickers and protecting our people from harm.
On behalf of President Biden, thank you again for joining us here in New York today, and I look forward to our ongoing work together.
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