Music superstar Jelly Roll testified before the Senate Banking Committee on Thursday about the federal response to the fentanyl crisis.
Jelly Roll, whose real name is Jason DeFord, spoke about his lived experience as both a drug dealer and an addict and explained how he sought to humanize addiction for the general public. DeFord also used his testimony to urge Congress to take up and pass the FEND Off Fentanyl Act, which the banking committee unanimously approved last June.
“In the past two years, I have attended four funerals for loved ones lost to recreational drugs tainted with lethal substances,” Jelly Roll said in his opening statement. “My purpose here is not to defend the use of illegal drugs, and I recognize the paradox of my past as a drug dealer now addressing this committee.
“The essential truth is that enacting legislation to combat the supply and distribution of fentanyl will save lives,” he continued.
The hearing was overarchingly positive, with members on both sides of the aisle praising the two-time Grammy Award winner to the Washington Examiner for his willingness to share his struggles in an effort to, as he put it, “make people care.”
Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-GA), a pastor at the famed Ebenezer Baptist Church, went as far as to suggest that Jelly Roll may have a future in preaching.
“I think it’s good to have someone who embodies the issues rather than talking about it makes a huge difference,” Warnock said after the hearing wrapped up. “It helps us get to where the policy needs to be.”
“Everybody loves that guy,” Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) said of Jelly Roll, whom he praised for making his life story about redemption and forcing society to “rethink this whole idea” of addiction.
“It was incredible,” Sen. Katie Britt (R-AL) said. “I’m so grateful that he is willing to share his story. We see people’s peaks in life, but it’s your valleys that, if handled correctly, give you the strength to climb up the next hill.”
Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC), one of the members Jelly Roll was scheduled to meet individually after the hearing, said he hoped the country and rap star would be willing to act as a spokesman for implementing the Safer Communities Act.
Speaking to reporters outside the hearing, Jelly Roll described it as an incredible experience that was “cool to see.”
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
“It’s the first time that I’ve seen something about politics that didn’t disturb me,” he explained, pointing to “the separation and the divide and the constant fighting.”
Senate leadership agreed to include the FEND Off Fentanyl Act in last year’s National Defense Authorization Act, Congress’s annual must-pass defense spending bill, but the measure was scrapped from the final legislation that reached President Joe Biden’s desk during conference negotiations with the House.