Watch Kennedy’s comments here.

WASHINGTON – Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) explained how much money the federal government has wasted in payments to dead Americans in a speech on the Senate floor. Kennedy called on his colleagues to support his bill, the Ending Improper Payments to Deceased Americans Act, to help the federal government prevent improper payments to dead Americans.  

Key excerpts from the speech are below:

“I want to talk about dead people and the fact that they're getting money from the federal government. In fiscal year 2023 alone—this is just one year—our government sent $1.3 billion—not $1.3 million—we sent $1.3 billion in checks to dead people.”

. . .

“We need to go pass this bill. I mean, this makes no sense whatsoever. . . . You don't have to be Euclid to figure out that this is just fraud. It's abuse. It's low-hanging fruit, and it's so easily solved.

“All we have to do is direct the Social Security Administration on a permanent basis—not a three-year trial basis, on a permanent basis—to start sharing the list of dead people with the Department of Treasury and everybody else in the federal government who wants it. And then everybody's on the same page, and we know who's deceased, and we can stop sending the money to dead people who cash the checks.”  

Background: 

• Kennedy and Carper's Stopping Improper Payments to Deceased People Act became law in December 2020. The bill mandates the sharing of the Social Security Administration's Death Master File with the Department of the Treasury’s Do Not Pay working system for three years. The three-year exchange runs from December 27, 2023 to December 27, 2026.

• The federal government sent $1.3 billion to dead people in fiscal year 2023 alone, according to the Office of Management and Budget. From 2004 to 2022, the federal government spent roughly $2.9 trillion on improper payments, including payments to deceased Americans. 

• In 2021, Kennedy wrote this op-ed for CNBC sounding the alarm on billions of dollars in erroneous payments made by the government to deceased Americans. 

• In 2019, Kennedy questioned U.S. Government Accountability Office Comptroller General Gene L. Dodaro about improper payments to deceased people. 

Watch Kennedy’s full speech here.

Full text of the Ending Improper Payments to Deceased People Act is available here.

WASHINGTON – Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today introduced the Preventing Unnecessary Resource Expenditures (PURE) Act to remove the outdated distinction between pure and impure methamphetamine in federal criminal law.

“The meth on the streets today is far purer and more dangerous than it was 40 years ago because Mexican drug cartels and their Chinese chemical suppliers want to profit off of poisoning Americans. The PURE Act would keep Louisianians’ communities safe by making it easier to prosecute meth dealers,” said Kennedy.

Sens. Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.) and Ted Cruz (R-Texas) cosponsored the bill. 

“The drug overdose epidemic is devastating communities across the United States. The PURE Act closes an antiquated loophole that burdens drug testing laboratories and delays justice. I’m pleased to support this effort to empower our prosecutors and hold methamphetamine dealers accountable,” said Hagerty. 

“I am proud to join Sen. Kennedy in introducing the PURE Act to cut through outdated bureaucracy and ensure our criminal laws reflect modern science. The distinction between pure and impure methamphetamine is an unnecessary relic that complicates enforcement and hampers justice. This bill will give law enforcement the tools they need to go after dangerous drug traffickers while ensuring our legal system is fair, clear, and effective in protecting communities across America,” said Cruz.

Under current law, the mandatory minimum sentence that applies to a meth offense depends on the purity of the confiscated meth. Congress created the disparity in mandatory minimum thresholds for pure and impure meth because defendants in possession of purer meth were thought to be higher in the distribution chain and thus more culpable. 

However, the purity of meth is no longer a useful measure. In 1988, the average purity of meth was rarely greater than 50%. Today, however, meth samples rarely test below 90% pure. In 2022, meth samples had an average purity of 93.2% and a median purity of 98.0%. This shift toward purer meth coincided with the growing market share of Mexican drug cartels.

In addition to no longer being a useful measure, the requirement to establish purity for confiscated meth places a substantial burden on prosecutors and crime laboratories, which wastes valuable resources. The Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) conducts more than 8,000 hours of purity testing on meth samples each year. To do that, the DEA must also buy and maintain special equipment that it uses to test meth samples.

Background:

• Over recent decades, domestic production of illicit meth in the United States has decreased significantly. At the same time, Mexican drug cartels—relying on chemical precursors from China—have obtained a greater market share and begun distributing increasingly pure meth. 

• According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), between 2002 and 2022, the rate of overdose deaths involving psychostimulants, primarily meth, increased more than 34 times, with 0.3 deaths per 100,000 in 2002 and 10.4 deaths per 100,000 in 2022.

• In 2020, meth became the second most common drug involved in overdose deaths (after fentanyl). According to the CDC, from 2021 through 2023, meth was associated with 95,063 overdose deaths.

The full bill text is available here.

WASHINGTON – Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.), a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, today announced $5,494,688 in Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) grants for Louisiana disaster aid.

“Hurricane damage and saltwater intrusion pose major threats to Louisianians’ safety and property. This $5.5 million will help Lake Charles and other parts of our state recover from Hurricanes Laura and Ida, and cover the costs Plaquemines Parish faced because of saltwater intrusion,” said Kennedy.

The FEMA aid will fund the following: 

• $1,656,558 to the Office of Risk Management for repairs to 14 state agency buildings due to Hurricane Ida damage.

• $1,309,318 to Lake Charles, La. for the demolition of residential buildings in danger of collapse due to Hurricane Laura damage. 

• $1,282,648 to Plaquemines Parish for emergency protective measures at the Boothville Water Treatment Plant due to saltwater intrusion.

• $1,246,164 to Plaquemines Parish for emergency protective measures at the Port Sulphur Water Treatment Plant due to saltwater intrusion.

MADISONVILLE, La. – The House of Representatives today passed companion legislation to Sen. John Kennedy’s (R-La.) Crucial Communism Teaching Act. The bill would help educate students about the history and dangers of communism, and it now moves to the Senate for consideration.

More than 100 million people have died throughout history as a result of communist rule. Today, 1.5 billion people still suffer under communism. 

“Communist leaders have taken the liberties and stolen the lives of millions of people around the world. The Senate should follow our colleagues in the House by passing the Crucial Communism Teaching Act so that young Americans really understand the threat that Marxist leadership poses to freedom,” said Kennedy.

Rep. Maria Salazar (R-Fla.) introduced the Crucial Communism Teaching Act in the House.

“By passing my Crucial Communism Teaching Act, the House of Representatives will ensure future generations will remember the pain and suffering caused by the brutal communist ideology. My community in Miami is no stranger to the evils of communism, and we must ensure all Americans are aware of the death and misery it has caused. Their stories and memories will now live on in the minds of our youth,” said Salazar. 

A poll by the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation shows that most young adults lack understanding of the significance and history of communism. The same poll showed that one in five Millennials, as well as one in three members of Gen Z, views communism favorably.

The Crucial Communism Teaching Act would make educational materials available through the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation to teach high school students about the dangers of communism and totalitarianism. The bill would also require high schools to teach students the history of communism and how this ideology undermines America’s founding principles of freedom and democracy.

Text of the Crucial Communism Teaching Act is available here.