[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 140 (Thursday, September 15, 2016)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5825-S5826]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                            OPIOID EPIDEMIC

  Mrs. CAPITO. Mr. President, I would like to talk a little bit on the 
floor about an issue that is cascading across the country and is deeply 
troubling in the State of West Virginia, the region in which I live, 
and that is the opioid crisis we are seeing.
  Many of you have recently read about what has happened in the city of 
Huntington, WV. Huntington is a beautiful city. It sits right on the 
Ohio River at the corner of West Virginia, Kentucky, and Ohio. It is 
the home of the Thundering Herd of Marshall University. However, 1 
month ago today, on Monday, August 15, in just a 4-hour period, this 
small city of Huntington was the site of 28 overdoses. Responding to 
this mass overdose occupied all of the ambulances in the city and more 
than a shift's worth of the police officers in Huntington.
  Of the 28 people affected, 26 were revived using naloxone, a 
lifesaving drug that helps reverse overdoses. However, the heroin they 
had used was likely laced with a substance so potent that the ordinary 
dose of naloxone was not enough. Responders had to use two and 
sometimes three doses of naloxone to bring people back to life and out 
of the overdose.
  Rashes of overdoses due to particularly strong batches of heroin have 
been happening more and more frequently. This is heroin that is likely 
laced with fentanyl or a new product we have heard about--a synthetic 
product--called carfentanil, which is a drug used to sedate elephants 
and other large animals that is 100 times as potent as fentanyl. 
Apparently, this is happening much too frequently.
  Versions of this chaotic scene are happening day after day in big 
cities and small towns in Kentucky, New Hampshire, Ohio, and Florida. 
The region and area of my friend Senator Portman, the State of Ohio and 
Cincinnati, probably 2 or 3 days after this occurred in Huntington had 
the same thing occur but much larger.
  What makes the recent spate of overdoses in Huntington so noteworthy 
is that Huntington is a city that knows it has a problem and is doing 
all the right things to fight it. Under the mayor's guidance, they have 
really worked hard to put together a great consortium, which began in 
2014, to fight this scourge on their town. The mayor started the office 
of drug control policy. They have staffed the office with people who 
have intimate knowledge of the problem.
  They are not hiding their head in the sand. They are not saying it is 
something else. They know what this problem is, and they are trying to 
hit it face on. In staffing the office, they have a former police 
chief, a fire department captain who is also a registered nurse and 
works at the hospital, and a police department criminal intelligence 
analyst. They have created a strategic plan which focuses on three 
general principles: prevention, treatment, and law enforcement.
  The plan embraces harm reduction strategies, including weekly 
training for citizens on how to use naloxone. I actually went to a 
naloxone training seminar myself, just to see. If you are trained on it 
properly, it can make the difference. It can make the difference in 
preventing people from inflicting irreversible damage to themselves and 
others.
  Huntington has expanded their adult drug court and recently received 
a grant to launch the Women's Empowerment and Addiction Recovery 
Program--a specialized track within the drug court that will expand 
services to address the needs of drug-addicted prostitutes. Even in the 
face of the overdose, they are making progress. In fact, the 
cooperation among local agencies--and the sad reality that they are 
well-practiced and well-trained--can also be accredited with the 26 
lives they have saved.
  While the overdose rate in Huntington has remained steadily high, the 
number of deaths from overdose has fallen, and that is an encouraging 
sign. Jim Johnson, who is the director of the Huntington Mayor's Office 
of Drug Control Policy has said:

       What we are seeing around the country is overdose deaths 
     going up--[especially] with the rise of fentanyl and . . . 
     [other substances]. It's not good that our [Huntington] 
     overdose rate is holding--but compared to others having real 
     increases--it's encouraging. And we are happy the death rate 
     is down.

  As I have heard from West Virginians and read in local and national 
news accounts about this rash of overdoses, I think: What have we done 
and what do we need to do to help cities all across this Nation?
  The Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act, or CARA, marked a big 
first step forward. It reflects some of the best practices we have seen 
in places like Huntington. It includes reforms to help law enforcement 
respond to this epidemic, such as the successful drug court programs 
that operate in West Virginia and in many other States.
  It expands the availability of naloxone and allows funds to be used 
for followup services for those who receive another chance at life. 
When somebody comes into the emergency room in an overdose situation, 
is administered naloxone, and 1 or 2 hours later gets up and just walks 
out the door, we haven't really followed through on our public health 
obligation.
  In this bill, we have followup services so that person can be 
followed by a home visit or a home phone call to see what their 
situation might be.
  I proudly voted for CARA, as most of us did, and believe it is an 
excellent first step, but that is exactly what it is--a first step. Now 
we must take a fresh look at this epidemic--an epidemic that, to me, is 
threatening to take an entire generation, this next generation of our 
best and brightest.
  We must look at ways to stop the drugs from getting to our 
communities. One solution is the Synthetics Trafficking and Overdose 
Prevention Act, or STOP Act, which was recently introduced by Senators 
Portman, Ayotte, and Johnson.
  The STOP Act, of which I recently became a cosponsor, is designed to 
stop dangerous synthetic drugs such as

[[Page S5826]]

fentanyl and carfentanil from being shipped through our borders and 
addresses any gaps in our mail security.
  Earlier this year, I announced that the DEA had established a 
tactical diversion squad in Clarksburg, WV. It probably doesn't sound 
like much but it will be a big help to enhancing our law enforcement 
efforts to stay one step ahead of this influx of drugs.
  Programs like the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Program, known 
as HIDTA, are critical in helping to coordinate initiatives that reduce 
drug use and abuse in communities. We must embrace and intensify 
prevention strategies in our schools, community centers, and our 
afterschool programs.
  Our youth cannot think that this epidemic is acceptable or that it is 
the new normal. We must ensure that when someone decides they want 
treatment for their drug use, they have access to this treatment. There 
are no lists of people to admit into incarceration. There is no waiting 
list here. Yet there is a waiting list for our drug treatment and 
prevention centers.

  September is National Alcohol Addiction and Recovery Month, and today 
Senator Murphy of Connecticut and I are offering a resolution which 
honors the significant achievements of those citizens who are now in 
recovery. The resolution also recognizes the nationwide need for 
increased access to treatment.
  This is an area where there is so much more work to do. We must have 
the detox beds available and the workforce trained and ready to assist 
those seeking treatment. We also want to make sure we have a range of 
treatment options available. This is definitely not a one-size-fits-all 
problem. Each addict found their way to addiction in a different way, 
and each must figure their own path out, whether through inpatient 
rehab, peer-to-peer rehab, medication-assisted therapy, a 12-step 
program, or, most likely, a combination of these and other options.
  It is also essential that we remember that recovery does not end when 
an addict finishes treatment. Services need to be available to assist 
with their transition back into society.
  We must look at the collateral effects substance abuse has on our 
communities, whether it is through increased violent crime, child 
neglect and abuse, or disease, especially hepatitis and HIV, given the 
rise in heroin use.
  Are there immediate solutions for all of these problems? No, we have 
found there aren't. But, like the city of Huntington, we must continue 
to come to terms with the extent of the problem in order to know what 
solutions do make sense, and, like Huntington, progress is going to be 
incremental and it will take time. We can begin to tackle some of the 
problems through commonsense changes and policies.
  One example is Jesse's Law, a bill named after a West Virginian. She 
was a daughter, a sister, and an addict in recovery. Following surgery 
from a running injury, despite her best efforts and those of her 
family, Jesse was discharged from the hospital--she had told the 
hospital she had addiction issues--she was discharged from the hospital 
with a prescription for 50 oxycodone pills and fatally overdosed later 
that evening. By amending the privacy regulations for persons with 
substance abuse disorders, we can ensure that those individuals receive 
the safe, effective, and coordinated care they need to prevent other 
tragedies like Jesse's and her family's from occurring.
  I recognize that these problems are also going to take additional 
funding. As a member of the Appropriations Committee, along with the 
Presiding Officer, I will work to ensure that these resources are going 
to programs that best meet a State's needs, whether it is HIDTA, the 
DOD's counterdrug program, or substance abuse grants. In the fiscal 
year 2017 Labor-HHS appropriations bill, there is a $126 million 
increase for programs fighting opioid abuse. In bills passed by the 
committee, funding to address heroin opioid abuse is more than double 
last year's levels. However, I also know this problem cannot be solved 
by simply throwing money at it.
  I look forward to working with my colleagues on both sides of the 
aisle to develop additional policies to tackle these problems. We must 
consider all options. The outcomes are sad. I mean, I personally know 
families who have been affected by this. I think everybody does. If you 
are in a townhall meeting and you ask for a show of hands from those 
who have a story or know somebody from their church or their children's 
friends, almost every hand in the meeting will go up.
  We need to work with State and local officials to learn what is 
working and what is not.
  I will also keep fighting for an additional issue, a side issue that 
is just as important, which is veterans who rely on the VA programs to 
help with their opioid addiction, or that newborn who is born dependent 
on opioids, or the addict who is willing to seek treatment, and any 
other person because practically every person in this country is 
touched by this disease.
  I will keep fighting for cities like Huntington that even in their 
darkest hours continue to move forward and fight every day toward a 
brighter drug-free future.
  I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. CASEY. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. CASEY. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to speak in morning 
business.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator is recognized.

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