[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 129 (Thursday, September 24, 1998)]
[Senate]
[Pages S10883-S10884]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    LETHAL DRUG ABUSE PREVENTION ACT

  Mr. WYDEN. Mr. President, today I informed the minority leader that I 
will object to any unanimous consent requests to proceed to S. 2151 or 
any similar legislation containing provisions that would override 
Oregon's assisted suicide law. Should S. 2151, the Lethal Drug Abuse 
Prevention Act come to the floor, I intend to insist that this body 
clearly hear the arguments against this legislation before voting on 
it, even if I must filibuster to assure that this occurs.
  Let me state, as I have done before on this floor, that I have 
personal reservations about the assisted suicide concept. I voted twice 
against assisted suicide in my home State, and I joined our colleagues 
in voting against Federal funding of assisted suicide.
  I personally believe that nowhere near enough has been done to 
promote hospice care, pain management, comfort care, and other 
approaches to deal with the end of life.
  The people of my State entered into an honest, direct, and exhausting 
discussion on the issue of assisted suicide--not once, but twice--
through our public referenda process. I am not going to let that vote 
be set aside without an extended debate on the floor of the U.S. 
Senate.
  S. 2151 attempts to override the popular will of the citizens of my 
State who have made a judgment about what is acceptable medical 
practice. Medical practice is a matter that has been traditionally left 
to the States to regulate. However, in overriding the will of the 
Oregon voters, S. 2151 strikes at the people across this country who 
are terminally ill and the millions of individuals who suffer in great 
pain daily.
  Almost all of our States have laws in effect, or about to go into 
effect, with respect to physician-assisted suicide. All of our States 
have laws that regulate medical practice, including the use of 
controlled substances. The underlying message of S. 2151 is that the 
U.S. Congress knows better than voters in Coos Bay, Bend, and La 
Grande, OR. Does this Congress, meeting here in Washington, DC, believe 
it is better equipped than the citizens of my State to make moral 
decisions about acceptable medical practice in Oregon?
  This Senator is not going to sit by while there is an abbreviated 
debate that cuts off the rights of Oregonians. I want the Senate to 
understand that today.

[[Page S10884]]

  S. 2151 would amend the Controlled Substances Act to allow the Drug 
Enforcement Agency to deny DEA registration of providers determined to 
have assisted in causing or participating in a physician-assisted 
suicide. The advocates of this legislation say that good physicians 
would have no problem with this legislation.
  The record shows otherwise. The record shows that more than 50 
medical groups, including physicians, nurses, pharmacists, and hospice 
programs--a variety of medical groups--believe this legislation would 
have a chilling effect on pain management programs, on hospice care 
services, and on comfort care. I want my colleagues to understand that. 
More than 50 medical groups in our country believe this legislation 
will have a chilling effect on our ability to make sure that our 
citizens can get good pain management services, hospice programs and 
comfort care.
  What is especially striking is that even Americans who are opposed to 
Oregon's law and are opposed to assisted suicide do not want to see the 
U.S. Congress overturn this law. Pain management, palliative care, and 
hospice services are still evolving fields. Not enough has been done to 
comfort patients in these tragic situations, and Americans know that in 
the current regulatory environment there can be a chilling effect on 
the pain management services by laws such as the one proposed in S. 
2151. This legislation also runs counter to the recent Supreme Court 
decision on physician-assisted suicide that encourages the States to 
continue to debate this question.
  Mr. President, this bill is not going to stop assisted suicide. What 
it is going to do is set up new roadblocks to ensuring that there are 
good pain management programs in our country. This bill is going to 
harm pain management for millions of Americans, turn the resources of 
the Drug Enforcement Agency from looking at drug diversion and drug 
trafficking to reviewing the intent of physicians and pharmacists as 
they try to alleviate the pain of their patients. That is not what the 
DEA was set up to do. It was not set up to deal with overseeing hospice 
programs, and the like.
  If Congress tramples on the twice-expressed popular will of the 
people of Oregon, it is going to feed the fires of cynicism and 
frustration about Government across our land.
  Mr. President, I will conclude with this. We all know that so often 
in coffee shops, churches, grange halls and senior centers, we hear 
Americans say: You know, our vote doesn't matter. After we vote, those 
politicians are going to say we really don't get it, the citizens don't 
understand. So we will just vote again; we will just vote, vote and 
vote until we set aside what their judgment has been.
  I am here to say that I don't think the U.S. Congress knows better 
than those voters in Coos Bay and Bend and La Grande. I don't think the 
U.S. Congress, meeting here in Washington, DC, is better equipped than 
the citizens of my State to make a moral decision about what is 
acceptable medical practice in Oregon. This Congress should not try to 
settle this issue in a hasty debate in the last hours of the U.S. 
Congress.
  I have informed the minority leader that I will have a hold on this 
legislation. Senator Grassley and I have, for some time, been 
encouraging Senators to announce publicly their intentions with respect 
to holds. I have done that in a letter to Senator Daschle. I will make 
that letter a part of the Record. I am going to insist on my rights as 
a Senator, representing thousands and thousands of Oregonians who have 
weighed in on this issue, that this Senate is going to have a real 
debate on this legislation before there is a vote on it. I am going to 
assure that there is such a debate, even if I must filibuster to assure 
that this occurs.
  I ask unanimous consent that my letter to Senator Daschle be printed 
in the Record.
  There being no objection, the letter was ordered to be printed in the 
Record, as follows:

                                                  U.S. Senate,

                               Washington, DC, September 23, 1998.
     Hon. Tom Daschle,
     Minority Leader,
     U.S. Capitol, Washington, DC.
       Dear Senator Daschle: I previously wrote you requesting I 
     be consulted should S. 2151 or any other legislation 
     concerning physician assisted suicide come to the Senate 
     floor for consideration.
       I am now writing to clearly state that I will object to any 
     motion to proceed should S. 2151 or any legislation 
     containing provisions over-riding Oregon's physician assisted 
     suicide law come to the Senate floor.
       Should you have any questions, please feel free to contact 
     Stephanie Kennan of my staff at 4-6070.
           Sincerely,
                                                        Ron Wyden.

  Mr. GRAMS addressed the Chair.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Minnesota is recognized.
  Mr. GRAMS. I ask unanimous consent to speak as in morning business 
for up to 5 minutes.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  (The remarks of Mr. Grams pertaining to the introduction of S. 2517 
are located in today's Record under ``Statements on Introduced Bills 
and Joint Resolutions.'')

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