Establishing Pain Management Best Practices Inter-Agency Task Force

Floor Speech

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Mr. CRAMER. I thank Mrs. Brooks for her leadership on this--Mr. Kennedy's as well--and for bringing this important legislation to our committee and to the floor.

Mr. Chairman, I rise to support H.R. 4641.

With heroin addiction now being three times greater than it was a decade ago, we know it doesn't matter where you come from. Whether you are on an Indian reservation, on a farm, in the middle of a city, in a suburb, in a small town, or whether you are in a Fargo high school, at the University of North Dakota in Grand Forks, or at Bismarck State College, it doesn't matter what your lot is in life. It doesn't matter what your income level is. It doesn't matter what your social status is. This opioid abuse crisis affects people from all walks of life, and it is about time we acknowledged it and tried to deal with it at this level.

This bill is pretty basic, but is pretty profound as well because it takes advantage of the collective opportunity of the collective talents, experiences, and backgrounds of the people on the ground who are dealing with it every day. It brings it all together and facilitates it at every level of government in every community and in every State whether it is North Dakota or Indiana or Massachusetts. It is the beginning, I believe, of a profound solution.

Just as much as anything, I applaud the efforts of the leadership who brought this to us, and I grieve with so many parents as we have heard their stories. This year, in the Fargo, North Dakota, area alone, there have been a minimum of 10 fatal overdoses because of this crisis.

I will stand shoulder to shoulder with anybody and everybody in this Chamber, as well as in the Chamber on the other side of the Capitol, to help solve this problem.

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