Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act of 2016

Floor Speech

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Members of the House, I rise in support of the House amendment to S. 524, the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act.

Before starting out on the merits of the legislation, I want to commend the Judiciary Committee chairman, Mr. Goodlatte, for shepherding our committee's five bills to House passage.

I also commend the subcommittee chairman, Mr. Sensenbrenner of Wisconsin, for authoring the legislation that is largely responsible for bringing us together today.

I also want to recognize the leadership of the Crime Subcommittee ranking member, Sheila Jackson Lee of Texas, who was an original cosponsor of the primary Judiciary Committee bill and who has helped us find common ground in addressing the issue of drug addiction and treatment.

This week the House considered and passed a wide range of bills aimed at combating the devastating impact of drug abuse and addiction that is afflicting communities all across our Nation.

We must take this action because our Nation is in the midst of a major public health crisis caused by an epidemic of prescription and opioid abuse. It is a crisis that affects Americans of all ages, of all races, and of all income levels. It has devastated communities across the United States. It affects families, the workplace, and also our Nation's economy.

Drug overdoses are now the leading cause of injury-related deaths in our Nation. In my State of Michigan, for example, there were 1,745 drug overdose deaths in 2014, and more than half of those overdose deaths were attributed to opioids and heroin. In fact, 78 Americans die from an opioid overdose every single day. Without question, this is a crisis that cries out for immediate relief.

Fortunately, there may be effective solutions. For example, several States have undertaken various innovative measures to better respond to the rapid increase of individuals who are addicted to prescription opioids and heroin and to prevent individuals from dying as a result of drug overdose.

As I mentioned only yesterday during debate with respect to our consideration of H.R. 5046, which has been incorporated into the House amendment to S. 524, this measure would fund new, innovative ways to address the nationwide epidemic of opioid drug abuse addiction. These innovations include, for instance, the Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion approach, which has been utilized with great success in two cities of which I know--in Seattle and in Santa Fe. Programs such as this diversion approach underscore the fact that we cannot arrest our way out of opioid abuse addiction. Treating addicts as criminals only makes matters worse for them and also for the rest of us.

The diversion approach, which reduces, by the way, recidivism by 60 percent, is just one example of innovation at the State and local levels that we must encourage through increased funding assistance, and it is more evidence that treatment alternatives to incarceration work.

The funding authorized under this measure would establish a competitive grant program to provide funds to State and local governments to continue and improve their efforts to protect Americans from the dangers of opioid abuse and heroin use; and it will help ensure that addicts have access to the services that are provided.

These funds would support such initiatives as providing treatment alternatives to incarceration; fostering better collaboration between State criminal justice agencies and state substance abuse systems; providing first responders with the ability to purchase naloxone and to receive training on how to administer this lifesaving drug; establishing medication-assisted treatment programs by criminal justice agencies; in addition, investigating more of the illegal distribution methods of opioids; creating Prescription Drug Monitoring Programs; addressing juvenile opioid abuse, which is, unfortunately, increasing; and establishing comprehensive opioid abuse response programs.

The House amendment to S. 524 also includes a number of important provisions that have been added pursuant to a series of amendments that were passed by the House only yesterday.

In sum, these additional provisions expand the range of allowed purpose areas under the new program to more fully address the range of problems and solutions that are presented by opioid abuse. Whether we provide separate, new grant programs for each of these approaches or whether we consolidate them into one grant program, it is critical that we change our ways of addressing addiction. The scourge of drug abuse and its overwhelming impact on our communities requires us to address this problem not only immediately, but effectively.

I thank all of the committees and individuals who have participated in this effort. Accordingly, I support House amendment S. 524.

I support the House amendment to S. 524 because it will help address our Nation's crisis of opioid abuse and heroin use. My support for this legislation is based, in part, on the fact that it includes H.R. 5046, which is legislation that I have worked on with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle, that would provide critical grants to States and local governments, intended to prevent and treat opioid abuse addiction. Most importantly, I support this legislation because it would help save lives.

The House amendment to S. 524 provides a comprehensive approach to the opioid substance abuse public health emergency that is currently ravaging our Nation. Accordingly, I urge my colleagues to support this measure.

Jackson Lee).
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