[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 30 (Thursday, February 25, 2016)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1017-S1018]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          PROTECTING FAMILIES AFFECTED BY SUBSTANCE ABUSE ACT

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, by now, many know the numbers. Overdose 
deaths in Kentucky were responsible for more than 1,000 deaths in 2014 
alone. This is a devastatingly high number, among the highest rates in 
the Nation, but it is even more heartbreaking when you consider the 
real-world toll substance abuse can take on friends and family members, 
not to mention their children.
  The trickle-down effects of opioid and heroin abuse are palpable and 
widespread, lasting and cyclical, but there are steps we can take today 
to help families impacted by drug abuse and keep more families from 
ever going through it to begin with. That is why I am proud to join my 
colleague, the senior Senator from Iowa, in introducing the Protecting 
Families Affected by Substance Abuse Act, which would reauthorize 
grants to help children in foster care or at risk of being placed there 
because of their parents' drug habits. This is what one Kentucky group 
said about their experience with these grants:

       The Regional Partnership Grants have been integral to the 
     implementation of Kentucky-START, which has helped more than 
     800 Kentucky families and more than 1,600 Kentucky children. 
     It's programs like these, which focus on better outcomes for 
     children and safely reuniting families, that are helping 
     combat the negative effects of the opioid, heroin, and other 
     drug epidemics facing the Commonwealth.

  I am also proud of the work that is being done in the Commonwealth to 
address the opioid crisis, particularly in rural communities. For 
instance, the Appalachia High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas Program, 
HIDTA, was recently recognized by Director Botticelli and the Office of 
National Drug Control Policy as the top program of its type for 2015. I 
recognize all they have done in the fight against drug trafficking and 
illegal drug use. I have no doubt that without their efforts and those 
of the other leaders in the Commonwealth, the toll of the epidemic 
would be much greater than it already is.
  So whether it is working to support the local HIDTAs or working 
together with the senior Senator from Iowa and me to pass our 
legislation to reauthorize grants for local communities, there are many 
opportunities for Senators to help ensure we respond to the drug 
epidemic wreaking havoc on our communities at home. For example, there 
are a number of other important pieces of related legislation in the 
Senate.
  This week Senators discussed one of these bills in the Finance 
Committee. It would allow Medicare Advantage and Part D plans to 
implement a prescription drug abuse prevention tool similar to what is 
already available and used in Kentucky in the Medicaid Program and in 
private plans. I was proud to join the junior Senator from Pennsylvania 
as a cosponsor of that bill as well.
  Of course, there is the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act, 
CARA. The junior Senators from Ohio and New Hampshire have been leading 
the charge on that effort, and I thank the chairman of the Judiciary 
Committee, Senator Grassley, and the chairman of the HELP Committee, 
Senator Alexander, for working together to have the bill reported out 
of Judiciary, and it came out of the Judiciary Committee on a voice 
vote.
  In the coming days we will be working to move that important 
bipartisan bill forward. It has garnered a great deal of support from 
both sides of the aisle because of its provisions to expand prevention 
and educational efforts, strengthen prescription drug-monitoring 
programs, improve treatment programs, and give law enforcement 
officials more of the tools it needs to address this awful epidemic.
  With bipartisan support, we can pass legislation such as CARA and the 
others I have discussed today in order to promote healthier families 
and a healthier country.

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