[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 32 (Monday, February 29, 2016)]
[House]
[Page H1004]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]





                        OPIOID AND HEROIN ABUSE

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Connecticut (Mr. Courtney) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. COURTNEY. Mr. Speaker, on December 22, 2015, Zachary Paul-Allen 
Greenough, a veteran of the U.S. Army, lost his life to an accidental 
overdose of heroin in the city of West Haven, Connecticut.
  The press accounts after his death, unfortunately, tell a story that 
is far too common in this country. During the time that he served in 
the Army, he suffered an injury, which caused great pain and resulted 
in the prescription of painkillers. That pathway started, which led to 
an opioid addiction and, unfortunately, him losing his life on December 
22 to an overdose of heroin.
  The Centers for Disease Control tells us that, in 2014, 27,000 
Americans suffered accidental overdose deaths across the country, a 
drastic increase from 2013. This trend is happening again all across 
the country.
  In the State of Connecticut, the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner 
reported its statistics for 2015, which showed that 723 individuals 
lost their life, including Mr. Greenough, to overdoses of heroin and 
opioids. Again, this is a trend line which shows that it was a 20 
percent increase from the year before.
  We are in the midst right now of a problem that is sweeping across 
the country, that is affecting States that are Republican and Democrat, 
blue and red, and we as a Nation need to get all hands on deck and come 
to grips with it.
  President Obama, in his budget that he submitted a few weeks ago, 
made a promising start. He proposed $1.1 billion in new funding to law 
enforcement, to folks who are involved in treatment, whether it is 
detox centers or treatment programs, or whether it is programs for 
education and prevention; because we know, from talking to people in 
the field, you need to get early and quickly to young people to make 
sure that they understand that this pathway, which has exploded across 
the country, is something that people need to know about and to avoid.
  In New London, Connecticut, over the course of 2 days in February, we 
had a summit involving law enforcement, healthcare providers, and 
others. We had the Director of the Office of National Drug Control 
Policy from the White House, Michael Botticelli, come in. Again, the 
good news is that there is a lot of good work that is being done at the 
local level--not just in New London County, Connecticut, but all across 
the country--where people understand that this is a problem that 
requires everyone working together in all those factions and all those 
sectors.
  But the fact of the matter is that President Obama's proposal is not 
until 2017. We need help now. We need to get an emergency 
appropriation, just as we would if there were a hurricane or an 
earthquake or a wildfire that was sweeping across different regions of 
this country.
  We need to understand that emergency appropriations for our military, 
which the Speaker and I will be voting on together in the Committee on 
Armed Services, that this problem which is affecting thousands of 
families and resulting in fatalities for people, again, who follow a 
pathway that, through legally prescribed medications, needs to be 
addressed, and we need to get those resources out to people as soon as 
possible.
  I have a bill in the House that tracks a bill sponsored by Senator 
Shaheen in New Hampshire, another State that has been hit hard by the 
problem. The bill provides $600 million of emergency assistance--again 
allocated to police, providers, education, and prevention--and this 
week they will begin consideration in the U.S. Senate. It has been 
endorsed by law enforcement groups. It has been endorsed by people who 
are in the field dealing with this problem, who are dealing with 
families who can't get beds in detox centers, who can't get beds in 
treatment facilities, with police departments that are trying to get 
Narcan, a miracle drug, so that they can save lives. But the fact of 
the matter is we need everybody involved, particularly the Congress, to 
help communities solve this problem.
  Last week the National Governors Association--Republicans and 
Democrats--convened in Washington, D.C., to talk about their 
priorities. This emergency funding was their number one request to 
Congress because they are the ones on the front lines who are being 
confronted and forced to deal with this issue.
  We have an opportunity to listen to the people who know what they are 
talking about, to just drain away the politics and the partisanship and 
understand that veterans, people living in rural communities, people 
living in suburban communities, people living in urban areas of our 
country are getting hit with this problem. Just like any other 
disaster, we as a Nation need to come together to address it now and 
not wait for 2017--now--to pass this measure.
  We can do more in terms of reforming the protocols, as the VA and DOD 
and the civilian healthcare sector, frankly, have gone too far in terms 
of overprescribing. We can do more about the disposal of drugs. 
Walgreens, to their credit, has set up disposal sites all across the 
country where people can come in with excess opioids to get rid of them 
safely.
  The fact of the matter is that the willingness is there but the 
resources are not to deal with a problem of this magnitude. Let's pass 
the Shaheen-Courtney measure. Let's get emergency funding to the folks 
who need that help and who are ready. They are on standby. They are 
there to help those families and those individuals who need the help 
that we, as Americans, should come together and support.

                          ____________________