Opioid Review Modernization Act of 2016

Floor Speech

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Mr. LANCE. Mr. Speaker, I certainly thank Mr. Guthrie of Kentucky and Mr. Gene Green of Texas for their leadership on this overall issue. We on the Energy and Commerce Committee have worked in a completely bipartisan fashion on this terrible crisis that affects the American people.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 4976, the Opioid Review Modernization Act. I thank Congressman Sean Patrick Maloney from the State of New York for his partnership on this legislation, and I certainly thank Chairman Upton and Ranking Member Pallone of the Energy and Commerce Committee for leading this and many other bipartisan bills to passage today that address this pressing national issue.

This bill and the larger package together are a great step forward in the fight against the scourge of drug addiction. In my home State of New Jersey, we face a drug epidemic that is hitting many communities hard, and that is true across the entire Nation. This crisis strains law enforcement and taxpayer resources, and, of course, tragically, it cuts too many lives short.

H.R. 4976 targets opioid addiction's strong ties to prescription drug abuse and the issue of overprescription. Studies have shown healthcare providers write nearly 300 million opioid prescriptions a year in this country. That number is truly staggering.

Our legislation will make sure that the Food and Drug Administration rigorously reviews the benefits and risks of opioid pain medications and how they are communicated to prescribers and patients. The bill reforms critical product approval and labeling decisions and encourages the development and approval of opioids with abuse-deterrent properties.

Our Federal health agencies must be working in concert with the medical and pharmaceutical communities to combat drug abuse, and this legislation helps make that happen.

Just last week I met with Hunterdon County, New Jersey, Prosecutor Anthony Kearns on what law enforcement is doing on the ground level to fight this epidemic. In New Jersey, Mr. Speaker, the county prosecutor is the equivalent of the county district attorney in most States across the Nation.

Public servants like Prosecutor Kearns and others are doing all they can to protect our children and keep our local communities drug free, but this legislative package will help in their efforts and give them and other governmental entities more critical tools.

Those in Washington and local leaders need to be working together for the benefit of the American people. H.R. 4976 and the larger package will work toward that goal and ultimately help combat this drug abuse crisis.

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