[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 21 (Monday, February 9, 2015)]
[Senate]
[Page S846]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         BOTTICELLI NOMINATION

  Mr. McCONNELL. Madam President, Senator Alexander and Senator Enzi 
are here on the floor. I want to briefly address the nominee we will be 
voting on this afternoon and then turn to the matter the three of us 
wish to address.
  Today the Senate is going to vote on the nomination of Michael 
Botticelli to be the next Director of National Drug Control Policy. I 
look forward to working with our Nation's next drug czar just as I have 
with previous drug czars.
  Drug abuse is a serious problem in my home State. Kentucky is the 
fifth highest prescribing State when it comes to pain killers, and we 
have the Nation's third highest drug overdose mortality rate, with many 
deaths driven by prescription pain killers.
  Heroin abuse is also a problem in the Bluegrass State. Heroin deaths 
accounted for 32 percent of the drug overdoses back in 2013, and they 
continue to climb. The epicenter of the heroin problem is located in 
the northern region across the river from Cincinnati, although I am 
hearing more and more from constituents that drug abuse is rising in 
other parts of the Commonwealth as well.
  All told, the Kentucky Office of Drug Control Policy reports that 
about 1,000 Kentuckians lose their lives overdosing on drugs every 
year, which is more than we lose in fatal car crashes.
  There is another reason I am pleased to welcome prior drug czar Gil 
Kerlikowski to tour Kentucky. We had him there a couple of years ago to 
take a closeup look at the problems we face. He visited Louisville, 
Lexington, London, and Pikeville--four communities, both urban and 
rural, across the State. He met with Kentuckians who worked to tackle 
this issue from every single angle--public health officials, medical 
professionals, law enforcement officials, drug courts, members of the 
business community, and Kentuckians involved with prevention. The drug 
czar's visit helped focus more Federal attention and Federal resources 
on this issue, and in a time of strained budgets, the extra attention 
and those extra resources are particularly important.
  I am also pleased to report that Mr. Botticelli plans to visit 
Eastern Kentucky soon. He also plans, at my invitation, to visit 
Northern Kentucky this spring. Visits such as these help ensure 
continued Federal focus on Kentucky's drug problem, and I look forward 
to working with the next drug czar to move closer to the day when drug 
abuse is no longer ravaging our families and our communities.
  (The remarks of Mr. McConnell, Mr. Alexander, and Mr. Enzi pertaining 
to the introduction of S.J. Res. 8 are printed in today's Record under 
``Statements on Introduced Bills and Joint Resolutions.'')
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Massachusetts.

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