[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 63 (Wednesday, April 18, 2018)]
[House]
[Pages H3432-H3436]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                            OPIOID EPIDEMIC

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Garrett). Under the Speaker's announced 
policy of January 3, 2017, the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Burgess) is 
recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the majority leader.
  Mr. BURGESS. Mr. Speaker, the opioid epidemic has swept across the 
country impacting millions of Americans who lost loved ones to this 
preventable crisis. No community is immune.
  Just as the President of the United States has said, this is, in 
fact, the crisis next door.
  This is even more true in neighborhoods in north Texas where we are 
all too familiar with this fatal epidemic.
  Overdose deaths from opioids have increased more than five times in 
the last 30 years, and it is estimated that more than 115 Americans die 
each and every day from opiate-related overdoses. There is no question 
that we must act to stop this crisis.
  To that end, I am very grateful to the members of my committee, the 
Committee on Energy and Commerce. I am grateful to the chairman of the 
committee for participating in this hour.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Oregon (Mr. Walden), who 
is the chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee.

  Mr. WALDEN. Mr. Speaker, I thank Dr. Burgess and appreciate his 
leadership on this issue and the hard work he and his members on both 
sides of the aisle have done on the Subcommittee on Health in the 
Energy and Commerce Committee.
  As we all know, the opioid crisis is wreaking havoc and death on our 
Nation. It is striking at the heart of communities from one side of the 
country to the other. On any given day, you can browse the headlines to 
learn of yet another life lost to addiction or about a raid that seized 
overwhelming quantities of prescription painkillers or illicit drugs.
  At roundtables throughout my district in Oregon over the last few 
years, I have met with those victims. I have met with their families. I 
have talked to doctors and treatment advocates. I have met with law 
enforcement officers on the front lines of this fight. Sadly, their 
stories are all too similar and all too familiar, but they put the 
names and faces to this crisis that has touched every community in our 
country.
  We are here tonight because this crisis is having a devastating 
impact on each of our districts and the people who live in them. No 
community is exempt from the scourge of addiction. Nobody is immune 
from the dangers of powerful drugs. The crisis has taken a hold on the 
very fabric of our Nation, and we must do everything we can to stem the 
tide of addiction, to help those who are addicted, and to stop the 
deaths and destruction that follow the abuse of opiates.
  Earlier this week, I visited the Prescribed to Death opioid memorial 
that was stationed at the White House Ellipse. I was able to see the 
individual faces of Americans who lost their own battles with opioid 
addiction etched into the 22,000 pills on display. There was one for 
each fatal overdose in 2015.

                              {time}  1830

  It is a daunting visual. It was made only more poignant by the 
knowledge that those numbers have only continued to climb.
  More than 100 Americans die from opioid overdoses every single day, 
claiming the lives of more than 42,000 Americans who died in 2016 
alone. That same year, we lost 506 Oregonians from opioid overdoses.
  The committee--in particular, the Energy and Commerce Committee and 
your subcommittee, Mr. Chairman--has a long history of working to 
combat this evolving epidemic, from launching our earliest 
investigations in 2012 to advancing bipartisan legislation like the 
Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act, CARA, and the 21st Century 
Cures Act.
  Most recently, we included critical funding to aid in the fight in 
the recent government spending bill that President Trump signed into 
law. This legislation included a record amount of resources to combat 
the crisis, providing billions of dollars to communities across America 
to tackle one of the biggest public health problems in a generation. 
But we know that more can and must be done.
  Now, the good news is that combating the opioid crisis is our 
committee's top priority. It is why we have reviewed literally dozens 
and dozens and dozens of comprehensive, bold, and bipartisan pieces of 
legislation. In total, these bills will bolster our enforcement 
efforts, will protect our communities, will advance our public health 
and prevention efforts, and will address coverage and payment issues 
within Medicaid and Medicare.
  Tomorrow at the Energy and Commerce Committee, we will hear the 
personal stories from families affected by the drug crisis and 
individuals who are battling addiction. Then, next week, the Energy and 
Commerce Committee will mark these bills up in our Health Subcommittee. 
It is an important step forward to keep us on track in our goal of 
having legislation to this House floor ahead of the Memorial Day 
district work period.
  We know that there is no silver bullet, there is no one-size-fits-all 
approach that will remedy the catastrophic effects of this crisis that 
has been building for the last decade, but much more can be done. We 
will do much more, and we will do it on a bipartisan basis, to help 
vulnerable patients get the treatment they want and need, remembering 
there are some 20 million Americans with chronic pain. And we will 
ensure these powerful drugs are not getting into the wrong hands.
  As I conclude, I think it is important to point out that, if people 
want more information, they can go to energycommerce.house.gov/opioids 
and see the testimony that we have received and the work that we are 
engaged in to rid this country of this terrible scourge and make our 
communities safer again.

[[Page H3433]]

  

  Mr. BURGESS. Mr. Speaker, I thank the chairman of the full committee 
for his participation in this hour tonight.
  The chairman is correct; our committee has a history of working in a 
bipartisan fashion. This, obviously, is an illness that can strike 
regardless of political party or political persuasion; and in the 
interest of that theme, I am happy to yield to the gentleman from Texas 
(Mr. Gene Green), my counterpart, the ranking member on the Democratic 
side of the dais in the Energy and Commerce Committee and the Health 
Subcommittee.
  Mr. GENE GREEN of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I thank the chair of our Health 
Subcommittee for organizing this Special Order tonight because it is so 
important to our country.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise to bring attention to the countless Americans 
suffering from opioid addiction in Houston and Harris County, Texas, 
whom I represent, and throughout our great country. I call on Congress 
and the Trump administration to take immediate action to help our 
fellow Americans in need.
  The Department of Health and Human Services estimates that over 2 
million Americans suffer from opioid use disorder and millions more 
misuse their legally prescribed opioids. Most troubling are the 42,000 
Americans who died from opioid-related overdoses in 2016 alone, 
including over 2,800 victims of opioid addiction in Texas.
  The economic burden of prescription opioid misuse in our country is 
estimated to cost over $78 billion a year, including the cost of 
healthcare, lost productivity, addiction treatment, and the criminal 
justice system. We must do more to turn the tide against the opioid 
epidemic and give Americans the tools to overcome addiction and rebuild 
their lives.
  In the past 2 years, Congress has made a concerted effort to help 
Americans and prevent abuse from happening in the first place. In 2016, 
the Committee on Energy and Commerce wrote and passed the Comprehensive 
Addiction and Recovery Act, or CARA, the first major Federal addiction 
legislation in 40 years, the most comprehensive effort to address the 
opioid crisis.
  I supported CARA when it was considered by our committee and am proud 
of our results, a law that provides over $180 million annually to our 
State and local partners to help support prevention, recovery, overdose 
reversal, law enforcement, and criminal justice reform.
  The Health Subcommittee, on which I am proud to serve as ranking 
member, is currently holding a series of hearings on opioids. Last 
month, I introduced, with Congressman Brett Guthrie of Kentucky, the 
Comprehensive Opioid Recovery Centers Act, H.R. 5237. This legislation 
would fund designated treatment centers where individuals will receive 
comprehensive, patient-centered care for opioid addiction and other 
substance abuse disorders. It is our intention to build model practices 
for treatment and recovery that can be duplicated nationwide.
  I am also working on legislation that would clarify the Food and Drug 
Administration authority to consider potential for misuse and abuse 
when assessing risks and benefits of controlled substances for 
approval. Our expert agencies must have clear authority to consider the 
potential harm of medical therapies and protect Americans if the harm 
outweighs the benefits.
  Federal programs like Medicaid, Medicare, and coverage through the 
Affordable Care Act are critical in ensuring Americans struggling with 
opioid abuse have access to treatment and recovery. The Kaiser Family 
Foundation reported in February that nearly 4 in 10 adults under the 
age of 65 with an opioid addiction received their coverage through 
Medicaid. Any honest effort by Congress to address the opioid epidemic 
must include measures to stabilize and strengthen health exchanges and 
make coverage accessible for Americans who currently do not have health 
insurance, including the 3 million Americans who lost their insurance 
last year.
  I ask for the Energy and Commerce Committee to come together and 
agree on a package of bills that will affirmatively help Americans 
struggling with opioid abuse and prevent abuse from happening. The 
American people deserve nothing less.
  Mr. BURGESS. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for his participation 
this evening.
  Again, the problem is not likely to be solved by one political party 
or the other. It is going to require a collaborative approach. Opioid 
abuse can happen by access to dangerous drugs in a family member's 
medicine cabinet or by obtaining them illegally. The fight against this 
crisis is indeed a team effort, and we must evaluate it from all 
angles.
  We must consider how opiate medications are produced and distributed, 
and we must look at how agencies track and respond to distribution 
discrepancies. We are required to take a hard look at how the 
medications are prescribed and dispensed, while addressing the disposal 
of unused medication. We need to look at the treatment for those who 
suffer from addictions and the future of pain medications.
  It is also imperative that we address the access and enforcement of 
illicit drugs. We must work to stop the unfettered distribution of 
harmful drugs that flow into this country from outside our borders.
  Earlier this year, I joined the Commissioner of the Food and Drug 
Administration, Dr. Scott Gottlieb, in visiting the international mail 
facility at John F. Kennedy Airport in New York. This facility is one 
of nine in our country and acts as a barrier for these illicit and 
dangerous drugs being sent to America through the international mail. 
The Food and Drug Administration and the United States Customs and 
Border Patrol, together, work to identify and destroy dangerous 
substances hidden in pieces of mail, but more authority is needed to 
provide these agencies with tools to swiftly act and act more 
efficiently.
  There are millions of suspicious packages full of illicit drugs and 
other contraband crossing our borders. Sometimes the FDA is powerless 
in its ability to destroy these harmful and illicit substances, 
sometimes they are required to send them back to the sender, and 
sometimes they will see a package recycled and brought back into this 
country for yet another try. That, Mr. Speaker, must end.
  Now, as chairman of the Subcommittee on Health, I have already held 
three hearings and considered a total of 67 related opiate bills. Last 
October, we opened the doors of the subcommittee to any Member, not 
just of the subcommittee, not just of the full committee, but any 
Member of Congress who wanted to come and talk to us about problems 
they have seen in their district related to opiates, solutions that 
they may be considering or people in their communities might have asked 
them to consider.
  We heard from well over 50 Members of Congress that day, and as a 
consequence of that Member involvement, we have distilled these 67 
pieces of legislation. We have had three legislative hearings. We have 
heard from key members of the administration. We have heard from 
stakeholders who are at the forefront of our efforts to stem this 
epidemic.
  We have evaluated this crisis from all fronts, from public health and 
prevention and intervention, law enforcement, education and recovery, 
and then finally, lastly, looking at the Medicaid and Medicare programs 
and the role that they may play. It is evident that this is a 
multifaceted problem and will require an all-hands-on-deck approach.
  As a physician, I also understand and respect the importance of 
successfully treating and managing patients with chronic pain. One of 
the reasons that most of us went into the practice of medicine was to 
be of service. One of the highest callings is to ask to be worthy to 
serve the suffering. Opiates are an essential tool. We must respect the 
fatal and addictive properties that opiates possess, while also 
understanding the vital role that these medications play in the lives 
of individuals who are suffering from serious or chronic illness, such 
as cancer.
  As we evaluate this complex issue, we must strike the right balance 
between necessary enforcement and patient safety. Unfortunately, there 
is no easy answer and there is no single party to blame.
  We also know that Congress cannot fight this battle alone. We must 
all work to strengthen our commitment to overcome this scourge. With an 
average of more than 100 Americans dying

[[Page H3434]]

every day from opiate overdoses, we must be willing to ask hard 
questions and consider solutions.
  At this time, I am pleased to yield to the gentleman from Mississippi 
(Mr. Harper), who is a member of the Health Subcommittee and also the 
chairman of the Energy Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations and 
has led a number of our efforts in trying to control the opiate crisis.
  Mr. Harper, thank you for joining us tonight.
  Mr. HARPER. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for organizing this 
time on the floor today to focus on the opioid crisis in our country.
  For many years, telehealth has been a priority for me as a critical 
way to deliver healthcare services to patients across the country. 
Through my work as chairman of the Subcommittee on Oversight and 
Investigations, I now view telehealth as an important part of the 
solution to the opioid crisis, as it increases patient access to needed 
treatments and improves outcomes through the availability of better 
healthcare services to more patients.

  Congresswoman Matsui of California and I have been working on 
drafting a bill to increase access to substance use treatment through 
the use of telehealth in community mental health centers. Each year, 
64,000 Americans die from overdose. In rural, underserved States like 
my home State of Mississippi, this threat is especially concerning, as 
patients often lack access to addiction and psychiatric healthcare 
providers equipped to provide needed treatments.
  The concerns are great; therefore, Congresswoman Matsui and I have 
been working to draft legislation that would enable local facilities to 
register with the Drug Enforcement Administration and be able to use 
telemedicine to prescribe appropriate treatments for patients in need.
  Mississippi has been recognized as a leader in using telehealth to 
reach patients who otherwise would not have access to care. The 
University of Mississippi Medical Center's Center for Telehealth was 
selected as a national Telehealth Center of Excellence by the U.S. 
Department of Health and Human Services to innovate and test new 
delivery models for telehealth.
  With leaders like the University of Mississippi Medical Center 
working to maximize available resources and provide care via 
telehealth, I believe that this technology offers a promising solution 
to combating the opioid crisis in our country. I look forward to 
continuing to work with my colleagues on the Energy and Commerce 
Committee to advance these efforts.
  Mr. Speaker, I thank Chairman Walden and Chairman Burgess--and many 
others, of course--for their dedication to this issue. I appreciate the 
opportunity to speak.
  Mr. BURGESS. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Mississippi for 
participating in our Special Order tonight. I thank him for his 
leadership in the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations and the 
work that he has done to help control this crisis.
  I now yield to the gentleman from Kentucky (Mr. Guthrie), vice 
chairman of the Health Subcommittee, for his observations.

                              {time}  1845

  Mr. GUTHRIE. Mr. Speaker, I thank the chairman of the subcommittee 
for organizing this event.
  On behalf of the 1,419 Kentuckians who died of an opioid overdose in 
2016, and the countless more who are currently suffering from opioid 
addiction, I rise today in support of legislation to combat our 
Nation's opioid epidemic.
  Everywhere I go in Kentucky's Second District, I hear from people who 
have felt the impact of the opioid crisis. The range of people falling 
victim to opioid use disorder is vast--from babies born with opioid 
withdrawal, to adults of all ages and backgrounds, even students, 
brothers and sisters, moms and dads. It doesn't matter if someone 
becomes addicted to opioids after they have sprained an ankle or 
following major surgery--anyone who has been prescribed opioid 
painkillers could be at risk, and we need to find a way to help the 
thousands of people who have, in fact, become addicted.
  I recently introduced two pieces of legislation to combat our 
widespread opioid crisis. The first is the Comprehensive Opioid 
Recovery Centers Act of 2018. I was proud to introduce this bipartisan 
bill with the Health Subcommittee ranking member, the gentleman from 
Texas (Mr. Gene Green), the gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Bucshon), and 
the gentleman from New Mexico (Mr. Ben Ray Lujan).
  This bill addresses the current lack of comprehensive treatment 
options available to opioid use disorder patients. Currently, there is 
a wide range of treatment options from faith-based abstinence programs 
to FDA-approved medications, but not everyone has access to the 
specific treatments they need.
  Patients usually seek treatment from a facility convenient to them in 
their own community or from a facility that is covered by their 
insurance. However, most facilities only offer a single type of 
treatment, which may or may not work for each individual patient. The 
Comprehensive Opioid Recovery Centers Act would provide grant money to 
help create treatment centers where every FDA-approved option is 
available to each patient.
  These centers would also include intake services and help with 
reentering the community and provide data to the Department of Health 
and Human Services so that other treatment centers can learn and apply 
best practices to provide more patients with comprehensive care.
  I also introduced the bipartisan Maternal Opioid Treatment, Health, 
Education, and Recovery Act, known as the MOTHER Act, with Congressman 
Ben Ray Lujan. Opioid addiction is a serious risk to anyone's health, 
but it can even be more harmful and life-threatening for a pregnant 
woman and her child. This bill would help healthcare providers better 
treat pregnant women with opioid use disorder as well as babies who are 
born experiencing opioid withdrawal.
  The MOTHER Act increases education about neonatal abstinence 
syndrome, which sadly affects babies whose mothers suffer from opioid 
use disorder, and the bill also provides resources for pregnant mothers 
and caregivers. It highlights the need for responsible pain management 
for expectant mothers.
  Our Nation is in the middle of combating a serious opioid epidemic, 
and all of us on both sides of the aisle can agree on the need to act 
with urgency on all fronts. I was proud to join with my Democratic 
colleagues to introduce two bipartisan bills that would address 
important aspects of the opioid crisis. I urge my colleagues to support 
the Comprehensive Opioid Recovery Centers Act and the MOTHER Act. I 
thank the subcommittee chairman for organizing this.
  Mr. BURGESS. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Kentucky for his 
participation this evening.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from West Virginia (Mr. 
McKinley), the vice chairman of the Environment Subcommittee.
  Mr. McKINLEY. Mr. Speaker, I thank Chairman Burgess for organizing 
this Special Order event.
  Mr. Speaker, the United States represents only 5 percent of the 
global population, yet we consume over 80 percent of the opioids 
produced around the world. Shouldn't that have raised a red flag?
  Since 2011, our office has conducted over 50 roundtable meetings with 
doctors, pharmacists, nurses, and law enforcement, listening and 
learning from professionals how we could best address this problem.
  Congress has acted. As you heard a minute ago, the 21st Century Cures 
Act and CARA were good first steps, but it is evident that more work 
needs to be done.
  Last month, under President Trump and the Republican Congress 
leadership, we secured an additional $4 billion in funding, the largest 
investment ever in this crisis. We have made progress in other areas. 
In the book, ``American Pain'' by John Temple, he cites an ever-
increasing production quota as a contributing factor to this drug 
opioid abuse. Even as it became clear that the opioid abuse was a 
growing problem, our producers in pharmaceuticals were producing more 
and more pain medicine. Fortunately, yesterday, the DEA, under the 
leadership of President Trump, announced that they would finally begin 
limiting the number of pills being produced.
  I also had the honor of working with the White House on the Opioid 
Task

[[Page H3435]]

Force; and thanks to Chairman Walden, the Energy and Commerce Committee 
has made fighting the opioid crisis a top priority. You heard his 
comments when he said that.
  Our committee has been crafting another comprehensive opioid package 
aimed at treatment, prevention, education, and enforcement. Over the 
past few weeks, the committee has reviewed numerous bills, and I am 
proud to say--and I thank Chairman Burgess--that two of those bills are 
pieces that our office has crafted.
  Now, as for the role of pharmacies. Currently, each State maintains 
its own database on prescriptions, but that information isn't always 
typically shared with neighboring States. So the committee is taking 
under consideration a nationwide prescription drug monitoring program, 
which would prevent people from abusing the system by filling their 
prescription in multiple States.

  Congress needs to shut down these illicit, illegal pharmaceutical 
drug sales on social media, just as the Commissioner of the FDA made a 
strong recommendation just 2 weeks ago.
  And, lastly, it is time to tighten our border security to stop the 
flow of drugs into our country. Hancock County, West Virginia Sheriff 
Ralph Fletcher has made it clear that the spike in heroin overdoses is 
directly attributable to this poison pouring across our southern border 
from Mexico.
  And as Mike Burgess just noted a minute ago, the postal service 
system needs to be enhancing their monitoring program to halt this 
importation of fentanyl from China.
  But through all this, shouldn't we be exploring the root cause of why 
people are turning to dangerous drugs? West Virginia, unfortunately, 
leads the Nation in virtually every statistic when it comes to opioids. 
Some have attributed it to our State's high unemployment, low household 
income, and low education levels.
  But who is second? Until last year, New Hampshire was second. They 
have the highest level of employment. They have one of the highest 
levels of household income and one of the highest levels of degree of 
household education. So, clearly, it is simply not a socioeconomic 
issue. Something else is driving this epidemic, and we need to get to 
the root cause of it. There is plenty of blame to go around, and we 
need to hold people accountable.
  Our committee has been accomplishing this through an investigation of 
the pill dumping that has occurred in West Virginia. On May 8, as you 
heard a minute ago, we are going to be holding another hearing with our 
CEOs from the Nation's largest drug distributors who have been shipping 
tens of millions of pills into small communities across West Virginia. 
What we hope to learn is why. Why would you dump millions of pills into 
small rural communities? Have you no shame?
  Look, this is a multifaceted problem. While there is still a lot more 
work to be done, Congress has been taking a number of steps to 
eradicate this scourge of the opioid epidemic.
  Mr. BURGESS. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from West Virginia 
for his comments.
  Mr. Speaker, now I am pleased to yield to the gentleman from Michigan 
(Mr. Walberg).
  Mr. WALBERG. Mr. Speaker, I thank the chairman for his good work in 
organizing this Special Order this evening.
  The tragic opioid epidemic has, unfortunately, become a major part of 
our national conversation, and that is what brings us here tonight, to 
raise awareness and continue our push for bipartisan solutions.
  I am grateful for Chairman Walden's and Chairman Burgess' leadership 
and the work of my colleagues on the Energy and Commerce Committee 
doing a lot of work to tackle this public health crisis head on.
  Too many Americans from all walks of life and from all parts of the 
country are facing the terrifying realities of the opioid crisis. It is 
a deeply personal and painful issue for many of our friends and loved 
ones.
  I recently held a number of community forums in my district to 
collaborate with local leaders and hear from families whose lives had 
been swept up by the opioid epidemic. At one of those events, I joined 
with my good friend, a very successful electrical contractor, Mike 
Hirst, to speak with students at Jackson High School about the dangers 
of drug addiction.
  In 2010, Mike's son, Andy, died of a heroin overdose at the age of 
24. This tragic loss has led Mike to dedicate himself to sharing the 
experience of his son's death and helping educate the community. Mike 
started a foundation in honor of his son and called it Andy's Angels, 
where he has counseled addicts, supported families, mentored at-risk 
youth, and more. People like Mike are making a real difference, and I 
am committed to ensuring that the Federal Government is a strong 
partner in this fight.
  Thanks to this committee's leadership, we took significant strides 
last Congress with the 21st Century Cures Act and the Comprehensive 
Addiction and Recovery Act, but we need to redouble our efforts.
  One example is Jessie's Law, which is a bipartisan bill I introduced 
along with my friend and colleague, Congresswoman Debbie Dingell. It is 
named after Jessie Grubb, who tragically died of an opioid overdose in 
Michigan in 2016.
  Jessie was a recovering addict doing very well, who was unknowingly 
discharged after a surgery from the hospital with a prescription for 
oxycodone that ultimately led to her death. It is a heartbreaking and 
entirely preventable story, and it is why we need to pass Jessie's Law 
so medical professionals are equipped to safely treat their patients, 
prevent overdose tragedies, and ultimately save lives.
  I am working with Congresswoman Dingell as well on another bipartisan 
bill, the Safe Disposal of Unused Medication Act. Our legislation will 
help prevent the misuse or diversion of unused medications by equipping 
hospice professionals with the legal authority to safely dispose of 
unused drugs after a hospice patient's death. Many patients receiving 
hospice care need painkillers to help with end-of-life pain, but any 
leftover medications can, unfortunately, end up in the wrong hands, and 
we need to stop that from happening.
  The committee has made addressing the opioid epidemic a top priority, 
and these are just two of many legislative solutions that we will hear 
tonight. This is an urgent crisis, and I stand ready to continue 
working together to advance a bipartisan and comprehensive response, 
and I thank the leadership for taking this on. There is not a moment to 
waste.
  Mr. BURGESS. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for his participation 
this evening. He brings some valuable insights, and I am always 
grateful to hear his perspective from the State of Michigan.
  I now go way out West to California. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the 
gentlewoman from California (Mrs. Mimi Walters) for her thoughts on the 
crisis.

  Mrs. MIMI WALTERS of California. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to join my 
colleagues in our effort to raise awareness for the growing opioid 
epidemic in America, particularly in the State of California.
  In 2016, nearly 5,000 Californians died of opioid overdoses. 
Astonishingly, the year before, 122 million prescription opioid pills 
were dispensed in Orange County.
  Mr. Speaker, we cannot allow this cycle of opioid abuse and death to 
continue, which is why Congress must work together to end the epidemic.
  I proudly supported recently enacted legislation that provides $4 
billion of prevention, treatment, and law enforcement programs that 
help address this growing crisis.
  Ending the opioid epidemic starts at home. On April 28, National 
Prescription Drug Take Back Day gives Americans the opportunity to 
safely dispose of their excess prescription drugs, including opioids. 
This effort can reduce the possibility that these pills will find their 
way onto our streets.
  There is still work to be done, but I am confident that together we 
can end the opioid crisis in this country.
  Mr. BURGESS. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for her 
participation in this evening's Special Order hour.
  Mr. Speaker, it is now my great privilege to yield to the gentleman 
from Virginia (Mr. Griffith), the vice chairman of the Subcommittee on 
Oversight and Investigations in the Energy and Commerce Committee, 
certainly one of the most thoughtful Members of this body.

[[Page H3436]]

  


                              {time}  1900

  Mr. GRIFFITH. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate all of the work that Chairman 
Burgess has done on this issue. It is important that he has highlighted 
it and made it one of the priorities of our committee--not only our 
subcommittee, but our full committee.
  Earlier this evening, we heard from Representatives from Kentucky and 
from West Virginia. When you look at the map, you will see that my 
congressional district, the Ninth District of Virginia, touches West 
Virginia, touches Kentucky, and touches North Carolina. What this means 
to all of us is this--and it touches Tennessee, of course. It means 
that, if you really worked at it, in my district, you could get to 
various doctors and various pharmacists in just a couple of days.
  In that small corner of Virginia, you can travel into other States. 
You can hit five States in a single day. This is why I have been 
working on some language for prescription drug monitoring, where the 
States will be encouraged to work together to try to make sure that we 
are sharing information. All of the States--or most of the States now--
have such a program, but they don't always have the language down the 
same way.
  What we have to do as one of a dozen, two dozen, or three dozen 
things that we are looking at in trying to help resolve this opioid 
crisis is that we need to make sure that we have people looking at it 
and making sure that those folks who are addicted and are trying to get 
prescriptions from different doctors and using different pharmacies are 
not able to do so, to make sure that our programs are working together. 
It is very important that we continue to work.
  While I say that it is important, Mr. Speaker, I appreciate so much 
that Chairman Burgess is holding a roundtable tomorrow as part of our 
Health Subcommittee that will be bipartisan, where we are bringing in 
families from around the country who have suffered a loss, who have a 
loved one who has died. And while we are not taking any votes on the 
floor tomorrow, the Health Subcommittee will be meeting because this is 
just too important to leave Washington without hearing from these 
important voices, from these people who can bring to us real-life 
stories.
  We have all heard them in our communities. We have all probably had 
family members who have been touched by it. But to hear from these 
families tomorrow, I think, is going to be very special and very 
poignant, and I appreciate it. I think that we all have something that 
we can learn.
  And then, Mr. Speaker, I would like to talk about pill dumping, 
because we do have to take a look. We have a hearing coming up with 
some of the pharmacies that manufacture these opioids.
  But we know that in West Virginia, they were dropping millions of 
pills into communities there--into Williamson, into Kermit, and into 
Mount Gay-Shamrock. As a result of that, those drugs not only went into 
West Virginia, but some of those pharmacies that were shut down 
eventually by the DEA were just a few miles--32 miles, 34 miles--from 
my district and from districts in Kentucky.
  We need to find out: Why were they allowing this to happen? Why were 
they perhaps encouraging it to happen? We don't know the answers yet, 
but we are going to have a hearing on that. The Oversight and 
Investigations Subcommittee is looking into that matter, as well, and 
has already got lots of information.
  We are looking at what was going on in the DEA and why they didn't 
use their power of an immediate suspension order. When they had the 
authority to do so, Mr. Speaker, it was shocking to discover that they 
chose, instead, to come up with a trial standard.
  As opposed to a standard to stop something bad from happening 
immediately, they chose to have a trial standard, to have all the proof 
already wrapped up with a nice bow on it. As a part of that, we ended 
up with a lot of drug stores that continue to use a cash business for 
operating. Even though the DEA knew there were problems, they wanted to 
have expert witnesses come in in advance.
  This is not acceptable. We are working with the DEA to stop that 
procedure and to make sure that, if there are any changes in the law 
that are necessary to give them more tools, they can shut down somebody 
quickly when they see a pattern of abuse.
  Mr. Speaker, the Energy and Commerce Committee is working hard on all 
of these issues, and, particularly, we are working to make sure that we 
give the various agencies and the States the authority to help shut 
down this horrible, treacherous, and dangerous opioid crisis in these 
United States.
  Mr. BURGESS. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for his 
participation.
  As the gentleman was talking about, the fact that in his State and 
the surrounding States it is possible that, if there is not 
collaboration between State prescription monitoring programs, a doctor 
or a pharmacist would never know what other prescriptions might have 
been written for a patient.
  Our committee actually has a history of working on this. Charlie 
Norwood, a Member of Congress from Georgia, 15 years ago came up with 
the National All Schedules Prescription Electronic Reporting Act, or 
NASPER. We have authorized NASPER several times. I am happy to say 
that, this year, in the omnibus bill, there actually was funding, for 
the first time, provided for the NASPER program. It is just a 
beginning.
  Clearly, the need for this national reporting program is so critical. 
In a State like Texas, we are huge, where we don't even think about 
other States in Texas. But the crossing of State lines with this 
information can be extremely powerful and, in fact, it can be 
lifesaving.
  Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for bringing that up, and I thank 
him for the work that he is doing on the Oversight and Investigations 
Subcommittee, and I thank him for the work he is doing on the 
prevention of pill dumping.
  Mr. Speaker, the fact that the opioid crisis is devastating our 
country and undermining our social structures and eroding our economic 
productivity is, every day, more and more tragic. But the good news, 
Mr. Speaker, is the current trends can be reversed. We are building on 
years of previous bipartisan efforts. We all know that our action is 
important to the families, to the communities, to our constituents, and 
to the patients impacted by the opioid epidemic.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

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