[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 155 (Thursday, October 22, 2015)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7439-S7441]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
PROTECTING OUR INFANTS ACT OF 2015
Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate
proceed to the immediate consideration of Calendar No. 246, S. 799.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the bill by title.
The bill clerk read as follows:
A bill (S. 799) to combat the rise of prenatal opioid abuse
and neonatal abstinence syndrome.
There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the bill,
which had been reported from the Committee on Health, Education, Labor,
and Pensions, with an amendment to strike all after the enacting clause
and insert in lieu thereof the following:
S. 799
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Protecting Our Infants Act
of 2015''.
SEC. 2. ADDRESSING PROBLEMS RELATED TO PRENATAL OPIOID USE.
(a) Review of Programs.--The Secretary of Health and Human
Services (referred to in this Act as the ``Secretary'') shall
conduct a review of planning and coordination related to
prenatal opioid use, including neonatal abstinence syndrome,
within the agencies of the Department of Health and Human
Services.
(b) Strategy.--In carrying out subsection (a), the
Secretary shall develop a strategy to address gaps in
research and gaps, overlap, and duplication among Federal
programs, including those identified in findings made by
reports of the Government Accountability Office. Such
strategy shall address--
(1) gaps in research, including with respect to--
(A) the most appropriate treatment of pregnant women with
opioid use disorders;
[[Page S7440]]
(B) the most appropriate treatment and management of
infants with neonatal abstinence syndrome; and
(C) the long-term effects of prenatal opioid exposure on
children;
(2) gaps, overlap, or duplication in--
(A) substance use disorder treatment programs for pregnant
and postpartum women; and
(B) treatment program options for newborns with neonatal
abstinence syndrome;
(3) gaps, overlap, or duplication in Federal efforts
related to education about, and prevention of, neonatal
abstinence syndrome; and
(4) coordination of Federal efforts to address neonatal
abstinence syndrome.
(c) Report.--Not later than 1 year after the date of
enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall submit to the
Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions of the
Senate and the Committee on Energy and Commerce of the House
of Representatives a report concerning the findings of the
review conducted under subsection (a) and the strategy
developed under subsection (b).
SEC. 3. DEVELOPING RECOMMENDATIONS FOR PREVENTING AND
TREATING PRENATAL OPIOID USE DISORDERS.
(a) In General.--The Secretary shall conduct a study and
develop recommendations for preventing and treating prenatal
opioid use disorders, including the effects of such disorders
on infants. In carrying out this subsection the Secretary
shall--
(1) take into consideration--
(A) the review and strategy conducted and developed under
section 2; and
(B) the lessons learned from previous opioid epidemics; and
(2) solicit input from States, localities, and Federally
recognized Indian tribes or tribal organizations (as defined
in the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act
(25 U.S.C. 450b)), and nongovernmental entities, including
organizations representing patients, health care providers,
hospitals, other treatment facilities, and other entities, as
appropriate.
(b) Report.--Not later than 18 months after the date of
enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall make available on
the appropriate Internet Website of the Department of Health
and Human Services a report on the recommendations under
subsection (a). Such report shall address each of the issues
described in subsection (c).
(c) Contents.--The recommendations described in subsection
(a) and the report under subsection (b) shall include--
(1) a comprehensive assessment of existing research with
respect to the prevention, identification, treatment, and
long-term outcomes of neonatal abstinence syndrome, including
the identification and treatment of pregnant women or women
who may become pregnant who use opioids or have opioid use
disorders;
(2) an evaluation of--
(A) the causes of, and risk factors for, opioid use
disorders among women of reproductive age, including pregnant
women;
(B) the barriers to identifying and treating opioid use
disorders among women of reproductive age, including pregnant
and postpartum women and women with young children;
(C) current practices in the health care system to respond
to, and treat, pregnant women with opioid use disorders and
infants affected by such disorders;
(D) medically indicated uses of opioids during pregnancy;
(E) access to treatment for opioid use disorders in
pregnant and postpartum women; and
(F) access to treatment for infants with neonatal
abstinence syndrome; and
(G) differences in prenatal opioid use and use disorders in
pregnant women between demographic groups; and
(3) recommendations on--
(A) preventing, identifying, and treating the effects of
prenatal opioid use on infants;
(B) treating pregnant women who have opioid use disorders;
(C) preventing opioid use disorders among women of
reproductive age, including pregnant women, who may be at
risk of developing opioid use disorders; and
(D) reducing disparities in opioid use disorders among
pregnant women.
SEC. 4. IMPROVING DATA AND THE PUBLIC HEALTH RESPONSE.
The Secretary may continue activities, as appropriate,
related to--
(1) providing technical assistance to support States and
Federally recognized Indian Tribes in collecting information
on neonatal abstinence syndrome through the utilization of
existing surveillance systems and collaborating with States
and Federally recognized Indian Tribes to improve the
quality, consistency, and collection of such data; and
(2) providing technical assistance to support States in
implementing effective public health measures, such as
disseminating information to educate the public, health care
providers, and other stakeholders on prenatal opioid use and
neonatal abstinence syndrome.
Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the
committee-reported substitute amendment be agreed to; that the bill, as
amended, be read a third time and passed; that the committee-reported
title amendment be agreed to; and that the motions to reconsider be
considered made and laid upon the table.
=========================== NOTE ===========================
On page S7440, October 22, 2015, in the middle column, the
following language appears: The PRESIDING OFFICER. Mr.President, I
ask . . .
The online Record has been corrected to read: Mr. McCONNELL. Mr.
President, I ask . . .
========================= END NOTE =========================
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
The committee amendment in the nature of a substitute was agreed to.
The bill (S. 799), as amended, was ordered to be engrossed for a
third reading, was read the third time, and passed.
The Committee-reported title amendment was agreed to, as follows:
Amend the title so as to read: ``To address problems
related to prenatal opioid use.''.
Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I was pleased to see the Senate pass by
unanimous consent just now the bipartisan Protecting Our Infants Act.
As prescription drug abuse and heroin use have increased in Kentucky
and other States across the Nation, no demographic, socioeconomic
status, age, or gender has been left untouched.
As the father of three daughters, particularly concerning to me is
the increase in prenatal opiate abuse, which has resulted in a
staggering 300-percent increase in the number of infants born suffering
from withdrawal symptoms since 2000.
To address this crisis, I introduced the Protecting Our Infants Act,
along with my colleague Senator Bob Casey. The bill would direct the
Health and Human Services Secretary to conduct a departmental review to
identify gaps in research and any duplication, overlap, or gaps in
prevention and treatment programs related to this issue. It would also
direct the Secretary to work with stakeholders on recommendations to
address the problem. Furthermore, this measure would encourage the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to work with States in an
effort to help improve their public health response to this epidemic.
Also, I want to acknowledge the outstanding work of the Senator from
New Hampshire, Ms. Kelly Ayotte. I know that one of the things New
Hampshire and Kentucky actually, unfortunately, share is that this has
reached epidemic proportions. Nobody has been more involved in this
issue than the Senator from New Hampshire. She has been on top of it
from the very beginning. She shares the concerns of others, obviously,
who have States that are suffering from this enormous problem.
I would also like to thank Representatives Katherine Clark and Steve
Stivers for leading the effort to advance a similar message in the
House of Representatives. I look forward to the House taking up this
bill and it being sent to the President for his signature.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from New Hampshire.
Ms. AYOTTE. Mr. President, I want to thank our leader and thank
Senator Casey for introducing and pushing to pass this very important
legislation. This legislation, the Protecting Our Infants Act, of which
I was proud to be an early sponsor, will help address the increasing
number of newborns born with opioid dependency. I thank the additional
Members, including the chairman of the HELP Committee and Ranking
Member Murray, for helping get that through this important committee.
New Hampshire is facing a public health epidemic. In fact, the heroin
and prescription drug addiction crisis is the single most urgent issue
facing my State right now. So many families who have lost children have
come to me. The other day, I was buying something, and the woman behind
the counter said to me: Keep working on this issue. I asked her why.
She said: I lost my granddaughter.
Too many families are experiencing losing their loved ones, their
family members who are struggling with addiction. Our first responders
are inundated. They are saving lives with lifesaving drugs such as
Narcan. Public health and safety officials in our State--this is truly
something on which we all need to work together to address.
One of the tragic results of this growing opioid abuse epidemic--it
has often been overlooked--is the increasing number of infants who are
born dependent on opioids and suffering from withdrawal.
Researchers estimate that almost every hour in this country, there is
an infant being born who is suffering from withdrawal symptoms or born
with dependency symptoms from opioid addiction.
This is an issue which I am so glad is being addressed in this bill,
the Protecting Our Infants Act. How we treat our children and our
infants is so much a reflection of who we are. That is why I was proud
to cosponsor this bipartisan legislation which will call for the
development of recommendations to prevent and treat prenatal opioid
use, including neonatal abstinence syndrome.
[[Page S7441]]
This bill would also ask the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention to assist States in data collection and increased
surveillance to better monitor the prevalence and causes of neonatal
abstinence syndrome so that we can work on more support for prevention,
treatment, and recovery to help mothers get support and get into
treatment so that we don't have infants who are born with opioid
dependence and withdrawal symptoms.
As the leader said, across the Nation the number of infants diagnosed
with newborn withdrawal has increased 300 percent since 2000. In my
home State of New Hampshire, in May of this year, I visited the
Catholic Medical Center in Manchester and heard directly from medical
personnel there and first responders who have been treating and
responding to cases of newborn withdrawal. Catholic Medical Center
officials reported that 7 percent of newborn babies at that hospital
were born with neonatal abstinence syndrome. That is a significant
increase from last year. According to officials at Catholic Medical
Center's Pregnancy Care Center, close to half of the mothers cared for
are struggling with addiction.
I thank the leader. I thank Senator Casey. Today's passage of the
Protecting Our Infants Act is one very important step to address the
crisis of opioid abuse seen in New Hampshire and across this country.
Now that we have passed this in the Senate, I want to thank those
Members in the House who have led this effort. I hope the House quickly
passes this and sends it to the President of the United States.
I hope the Senate will continue to focus on this public health
epidemic because there are many solutions that are bipartisan. One is
called the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act. This is a bill I
helped introduce with Senator Whitehouse, Senator Portman, and Senator
Klobuchar. This is a bill which will deal with prevention so that we
can make sure we get that message out to prevent people from overusing
and misusing prescription drugs and also turning to heroin. It is so we
can have more support for treatment and recovery where there is a big
gap in my State and so we can support our first responders and make
sure they have access to the lifesaving drug Narcan.
One experience I had recently was I went on a ride-along with our
largest police department, and I had previously gone on a ride-along
with our largest fire department. Within half an hour of the fire
department ride-along, we went to a heroin overdose. I watched the
emergency personnel--police, fire, emergency first responders--bring
someone back to life using Narcan. When I did the police ride-along,
within an hour and a half, we went to two heroin overdoses. Again,
first responders saved those two individuals' lives.
I have to tell you, I was a murder prosecutor. I saw a lot of tough
things when I was attorney general. But I couldn't breathe when I was
sitting in that room and watching that second individual, a young man,
on the ground, the first responders doing everything they could,
another dose of Narcan--I thought he was gone. This is what our first
responders are dealing with every single day.
Mr. McCONNELL. Will the Senator yield for a question?
Ms. AYOTTE. Yes.
Mr. McCONNELL. I naively thought that my State was uniquely afflicted
with this scourge--we had the drug czar come down to Northern Kentucky,
which is a part of my State, a suburb of Cincinnati--only to find that
it is a problem all over the country. I was curious as to how this
rates with the people of New Hampshire as one of the things they are
concerned about.
Ms. AYOTTE. Leader, I will tell you, Director Botticelli came to New
Hampshire as well, and he testified at a field hearing Senator Shaheen
and I had in New Hampshire. For the people of New Hampshire right now,
this is a crisis. It is a public health epidemic. I did a townhall last
night, and the single biggest issue I got asked about was this because
I believe this is one of the top issues, if not the top issue on the
minds of people in New Hampshire because they see their friends and
family being impacted by this. Every socioeconomic group is being
impacted by, unfortunately, prescription drugs and then heroin, which
is so cheap on our streets right now, also sometimes mixed with a
deadly drug called Fentanyl. In fact, we had a 60-percent increase in
drug deaths. There were 320 drug deaths last year.
Mr. McCONNELL. Now we are losing more to drug overdoses and heroin
overdoses than we are losing in car accidents. Is that true in New
Hampshire as well?
Ms. AYOTTE. It is the exact same thing in New Hampshire. In our
State, more people are dying from heroin, Fentanyl, and abuse of
prescription drugs than car accidents, which is staggering when you
think about it. This is a national epidemic. That is why I appreciate
the bill that was passed today. I think there is more that we in this
body could do that would benefit the Nation and would benefit our
States of Kentucky and New Hampshire to help give tools to the first
responders, the public health officials, treatment providers, those
supporting recovery and helping prevent this in the first instance. It
is something that would obviously help address this crisis but also
something that is a public health issue we should all care about.
Mr. McCONNELL. I thank the Senator from New Hampshire for her
outstanding work on this important issue. I have a feeling we will be
grappling with this in all of its various forms for many years to come.
Ms. AYOTTE. I thank the leader for this bill today, which I am glad
was passed, and I look forward to working on additional legislation.
Mr. President, I yield the floor.
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