Providing for Consideration of H.R. Establishing Pain Management Best Practices Inter-Agency Task Force, and Providing for Consideration of H.R. Comprehensive Opioid Abuse Reduction Act of 2016

Floor Speech

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Mr. GUINTA. Mr. Speaker, I am proud to rise in support of H.R. 5046, the Comprehensive Opioid Abuse Reduction Act, and H.R. 4641, which will establish an interagency task force to review, modify, and update best practices for pain management and prescription pain medication.

Overprescription of opioids is leading to addiction, shattering lives, and creating death around our country. In my home State of New Hampshire, deadly overdoses following the abuse of heroin and opioids claimed the lives of over 430 people last year alone. That is about 1 in every 3,000 people from my State falling victim to an epidemic, succumbing to a preventable problem. According to the CDC, overdose deaths have tripled over the last 10 years.

Desperate families, too long, are crying out for help. I commend my colleagues for rising to the occasion in this legislative response, tackling this issue in a bipartisan way, and making the proper commitment to fund an adequate response to help those who are in need.

These two pieces of legislation are designed to assist those battling the epidemic on the front lines, from law enforcement officers to underfunded recovery systems and personnel, and everyone in between. I am moved time and time again by the painful stories of the victims and courageous individuals coming to their aid, and I urge the House to offer its support in this struggle.

I was pleased that just last night the Committee on Rules accepted my amendment, allowing prevention and recovery programs to accept grant money authorized by the Comprehensive Opioid Abuse Reduction Act, and I urge my colleagues to support this amendment when it comes to the House floor tomorrow.

As the House response to the Senate-passed Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act, these bills are a joint step toward progress and safety. I am a proud sponsor of many of these bills coming to the floor this week, and I hope for their swift and timely passage as urgent relief for those who are suffering around our Nation.

We must provide a thorough and wide-ranging plan to meet the enormity of this terrible epidemic, which invades every corner of the United States, takes lives across traditional divides, and manifests itself in ways to which we are not accustomed.

My colleagues and I are committed to seeing the House of Representatives answer this challenge by passing the most vigorous and inclusive plan possible. I am confident we will do all that we can to pass this plan this week, go to conference with the Senate, and put a bill on the President's desk before June.

Our plan is urgently needed. Almost 130 people die every day from opioid overdoses. Eighty percent of the opioids prescribed worldwide are prescribed here in the United States. In my district and around the country, I hear from families and friends who know someone coping with substance use disorder.

We will only make a dent in this great challenge by listening to its victims. We need to listen to fathers like Doug Griffin of Newton, New Hampshire. His daughter Courtney fell victim to heroin abuse at 20 years old.

Doug remembers Courtney as a vivacious girl, funny, passionate, and charming. She loved music and s'mores and told Doug she planned to become a marine, a beautiful young woman prepared to sacrifice for her country in one of its greatest and most honorable services. That was Courtney.

But 3 years later, she was lost on the streets, overwhelmed by the sorrow and confusion this epidemic instills, moving from rehab facility to rehab facility. Prescription pills, fentanyl, and street heroin ensnared Courtney in a fatal web of addiction, and she lost the will to live. Courtney was a 20-year-old girl--20 years old--a neighbor, a friend, a daughter. How can we begin to comprehend the depth of that kind of tragedy?

Because Courtney's pain was so great and because she had so few options for treatment, Doug says he and his family hid the truth from the outside world. To help others, they are speaking out now; and by speaking out and listening, we start to understand this tragedy. Doug is courageously telling everyone he knows the warning signs of heroin abuse and the deficiencies in our public response. Millions of Americans share Courtney's story and Doug's anguish. It is only by speaking out and sharing grief that we will remove the stigma preventing far too many from seeking help.

This week, during Heroin and Opioid Abuse Awareness Week, we have an opportunity to hear, learn, share, and fight back. We can hear the stories of grieving and resolute families, the stories of resilient victims. We can learn of the intensity of their experiences and glean from them the lessons we need to fight back. We can share their lessons and bring them to bear in our discourse and through our legislation, and we can start to turn the tide.

As the House considers this vital legislation, I encourage my colleagues to listen to their constituents, hear their stories, share their struggles, and help them fight back.

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