OFFICIALS LEGISLATION INTEREST GROUPS PUBLIC STATEMENTS COMMITTEES VETOES

Department of the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2018

Floor Speech

Date: Sept. 13, 2017
Location: Washington, DC
Issues: Health and Health Care

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Mr. Chair, I rise in support of my amendment which supports expanding access to Naloxone for first responders.
Equipping police officers and EMTs with Naloxone means they can immediately save the life of a person who is overdosing.

Although drug overdose deaths rose by 33 percent in the past five years, states, like Rhode Island, Maryland and Pennsylvania, are experiencing severe shortages of Naloxone. The cost of Naloxone has skyrocketed--rising by thousands of dollars in some cases--and it only has a shelf life of 18 to 24 months.

States have had to find alternate sources of funding, including tapping into emergency funds and cutting state programs, just to keep Naloxone in stock.

Some communities have also had to make extremely tough choices, like rationing funds and deciding how many lives they will save.

We must make additional investments in Naloxone for our first responders in order to stem the rising tide of opioid deaths.

I urge my colleagues to support my amendment.

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