[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 146 (Tuesday, September 27, 2016)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1374-E1375]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          PERSONAL EXPLANATION

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. JAMES P. McGOVERN

                            of massachusetts

                    in the house of representatives

                      Tuesday, September 27, 2016

  Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, on September 26, 2016, I joined U.S. 
Secretary of State John Kerry and other U.S. leaders in Cartagena, 
Colombia, for the formal signing of the peace agreement between the 
Colombian

[[Page E1375]]

government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC).
  As a result, I was absent for roll call votes 557 and 558. Had I been 
present, I would have voted no on roll call 557, final passage of the 
Dangerous Synthetic Drug Control Act, H.R. 3537, because it adds new 
synthetic drugs to Schedule I, expanding mandatory minimum sentences 
and hindering research on these substances.
  I would have voted yes on roll call 558, final passage of H.R. 5392, 
the No Veterans Crisis Line Call Should Go Unanswered Act. I strongly 
support H.R. 5392, which will help support veterans experiencing 
emotional or mental health crises by requiring the Department of 
Veterans Affairs to develop a plan to ensure that every call paced to 
the Veteran Crisis Line is answered by a live person.

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