[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 97 (Tuesday, June 12, 2018)]
[House]
[Pages H5053-H5055]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   ENSURING EVIDENCE-BASED MENTAL HEALTH AND SUBSTANCE USE DISORDER 
   PROGRAMS AND ACTIVITIES FUNDED BY DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN 
                                SERVICES

  Mr. WALDEN. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the 
bill (H.R. 5272) to ensure that programs and activities that are funded 
by a grant, cooperative agreement, loan, or loan guarantee from the 
Department of Health and Human Services, and whose purpose is to 
prevent or treat a mental health or substance use disorder, are 
evidence-based, as amended.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                               H.R. 5272

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. GUIDANCE FROM NATIONAL MENTAL HEALTH AND SUBSTANCE 
                   USE POLICY LABORATORY.

       Section 501A(b) of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 
     290aa-0(b)) is amended--
       (1) in paragraph (5), by striking ``and'' at the end;
       (2) in paragraph (6), by striking the period at the end and 
     inserting ``; and''; and
       (3) by adding at the end the following:
       ``(7) issue and periodically update guidance for entities 
     applying for grants from the Substance Abuse and Mental 
     Health Services Administration in order to--
       ``(A) encourage the funding of evidence-based practices;
       ``(B) encourage the replication of promising or effective 
     practices; and
       ``(C) inform applicants on how to best articulate the 
     rationale for the funding of a program or activity.''.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Oregon (Mr. Walden) and the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Pallone) 
each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Oregon.


                             General Leave

  Mr. WALDEN. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members 
have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and insert 
extraneous materials into the Record on this bill.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Oregon?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. WALDEN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, today I rise in strong support of H.R. 5272. This is a 
bill that helps ensure that federally funded programs and activities 
that prevent or

[[Page H5054]]

treat health or substance use disorder are evidence-based. What a 
concept.
  H.R. 5272 will enhance the work of the National Mental Health and 
Substance Use Policy Laboratory by directing the Substance Abuse and 
Mental Health Services Administration, SAMHSA, to provide guidance for 
entities applying for grants, including guidance on how best to explain 
the rationale for a given program or activity.
  By encouraging the funding of evidence-based interventions and the 
replication of promising or effective practices, we believe we can help 
ensure that local organizations, health departments, nonprofits, and 
substance use disorder treatment providers have the tools and evidence 
necessary to implement solutions that work.
  I would like to thank Representatives  Steve Stivers and Eliot Engel 
for leading this important and, again, bipartisan initiative.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman 
from Ohio (Mr. Stivers), who has been a real advocate on these and 
other issues dealing with this opioid epidemic.
  Mr. STIVERS. Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the chairman for all 
of his work to help with this bill.
  I speak today on behalf of myself and my colleague Mr. Engel in 
support of our evidence-based treatment for opioid addiction bill, H.R. 
5272.
  The opioid epidemic is hurting communities all across this country. 
In 2016, 174 Americans overdosed per day. Ohio had the second highest 
death rate in the Nation. Overdoses killed 4,329 people in Ohio, 
according to the National Center for Health Statistics.
  For the past 5 years, I have held a roundtable on drugs and opioids 
in my district with stakeholders, including law enforcement, treatment 
professionals, government officials, and community leaders from all 
around. A common concern I have heard in these roundtables and that I 
hear consistently in my district is that treatment programs exist, but 
many are not delivering on their promise.
  Healthcare professionals and those on the front lines have 
continuously told me about the lack of evidence-based treatment for 
those suffering from addiction and substance use disorders, and that 
can lead to unsuccessful results.
  According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, between 40 and 60 
percent of individuals who suffer from drug addiction are known to 
relapse. It is often estimated that the rehabilitation programs are 
only about 30 percent effective, although nobody knows the true number. 
That is why Representative Eliot Engel and I have introduced bipartisan 
legislation to require grants from the Department of Health and Human 
Services to treat mental health and substance abuse be awarded to 
entities that are able to demonstrate that they use evidence-based 
practices.
  Throughout the process of pushing for this, I had conversations with 
SAMHSA, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, 
about what they have been doing under the 21st Century Cures Act to 
promote and enhance evidence-based practices.
  The 21st Century Cures Act created a National Mental Health and 
Substance Use Policy Laboratory under SAMHSA and tasked it with 
promoting evidence-based practices through leadership and coordination, 
data collection, and reviews of current programs and activities. The 
policy lab has set out to begin this monumental task, and our 
legislation will make it even better.
  Working with the majority and the minority committees' staffs on the 
Energy and Commerce Committee and working with SAMHSA, Representative 
Engel and I brought forward a bipartisan amendment to our original bill 
which, instead of placing a requirement on funds, requires SAMHSA to 
issue guidance to grantees that will help promote funding of evidence-
based practices through the policy lab. I think this language will be 
positive.
  It further requires SAMHSA to issue guidance on how to best replicate 
promising and effective treatments and programs so that future programs 
and grant applications can take advantage of the lessons learned and 
best practices.

  More importantly, SAMHSA must issue guidance to grantees on how to 
articulate their rationale for why they should receive Federal funds. I 
think putting this responsibility on the shoulders of grantees will 
ensure that more local treatment programs are looking at medical 
journals and SAMHSA's own policy laboratory for evidence-based 
practices that will make our treatment more effective.
  As I have talked to people affected by the opioid epidemic at our 
roundtables and people who have come into my office, too many of them 
have been let down by treatment programs that didn't work. People want 
their lives back. They want their jobs back. They want their families 
back. They want their future back. This bill that Representative Engel 
and I have put together will help them in that journey.
  If we can take treatment programs and take them from 30 percent 
effective to even 50 percent effective, millions of Americans will get 
their lives back, get their families back, and get their jobs back.
  This bill, I think, is a moral imperative, and I want to thank 
Congressman Engel. I want to thank the majority and minority staffs 
from the Energy and Commerce Committee for their work. I want to 
especially thank the chairman for his work. I also want to thank 
SAMHSA. They were a pleasure to work with through this effort.
  Mr. Speaker, I believe this bill will make a big difference in the 
lives of Americans and help make sure that those impacted by the opioid 
epidemic and other drug addiction will get treatment that gives them 
their lives back.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this legislation.
  Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of this bill, H.R. 5272, and I want to 
thank Mr. Engel, the Democratic sponsor.
  The purpose of this legislation is to promote the increased uptake of 
evidence-based treatment by individuals with mental health and 
substance use disorders.

                              {time}  1630

  We know that increasing the utilization of evidence-based treatment 
for behavioral health disorders results in improved outcomes. This is 
particularly important for individuals with opioid use disorder, as we 
know that MAT is the gold standard for treatment and is associated with 
improved retention in treatment, decreased relapse rates, and decreased 
fatal and nonfatal overdoses.
  Expanding access to and uptake of MAT as well as other evidence-based 
behavioral health treatments, as promoted by this bill, is a critical 
piece to combating the tragic opioid epidemic, so I encourage my 
colleagues to support this legislation.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman 
from New York (Mr. Engel).
  Mr. ENGEL. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman, my friend from New 
Jersey, for yielding to me.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 5272, the RESULTS Act, 
and I urge my colleagues to support it.
  This bill that I have coauthored with Congressman  Steve Stivers will 
provide needed guidance to applicants seeking Federal funding to treat 
or prevent mental health or substance use disorders. I thank the 
gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Stivers) for working with me in a bipartisan 
way, and it shows when we work in a bipartisan way good things come out 
of it.
  This legislation builds on the important work we started with the 
21st Century Cures Act. Cures created the National Mental Health and 
Substance Use Policy Laboratory, often referred to as the Policy Lab, 
with the goal of promoting evidence-based activities to prevent and 
treat mental health and substance use disorders.
  The RESULTS Act will help advance that goal. It directs the Policy 
Lab to issue new guidance to applicants seeking Federal funding to 
treat or prevent mental health or substance abuse disorders.
  This guidance will ensure that those applying for Federal funds have 
the information they need to implement evidence-based solutions to the 
opioid crisis as well as the tools necessary to emulate successful 
approaches in their communities. I urge my colleagues to support this 
straightforward bill that will make it easier for those fighting the 
opioid epidemic in our communities to implement solutions that work.

[[Page H5055]]

  All of us know how necessary these solutions are. Take my district in 
Westchester County, part of which I represent, 124 people died due to 
opioids in the year 2016. In the Bronx, part of which I also represent, 
more New Yorkers died of overdoses than in any other borough in New 
York City.
  So I am pleased that the House is taking bipartisan action to address 
the opioid epidemic. But I am also concerned by the Trump 
administration's announcement last week that they will urge the courts 
to strike down the Affordable Care Act's provisions preventing 
insurance companies from denying coverage or charging more for 
preexisting conditions such as an opioid addiction.
  This has to stop. This needs to stop. We can't have those proposals 
if we are going to really attack and win in this opioid crisis.
  The bipartisan actions we take this week and that we will take this 
week are important, and I support all of them. But they will not occur 
in a vacuum.
  I urge my friends on the other side of the aisle to speak out and end 
these kinds of attacks on affordable healthcare. Instead, let's work to 
ensure our communities have the resources they need to turn the tide of 
this epidemic and bring needed treatment to the men and women who are 
fighting--literally--fighting for their lives.
  I want to, again, thank Congressman Stivers for his hard work on this 
bill, as well as Chairman Burgess, Ranking Member Green, Chairman 
Walden, and Ranking Member Pallone for their assistance in bringing it 
to the floor today.
  Mr. Chairman, I urge my colleagues to support the RESULTS Act.
  Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I have no additional speakers. I would ask 
support for the bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Without objection, the gentleman from 
Georgia will control the balance of the time of the majority.
  There was no objection.
  Mr. CARTER of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my 
time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from Oregon (Mr. Walden) that the House suspend the rules and 
pass the bill, H.R. 5272, as amended.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the 
rules were suspended and the bill, as amended, was passed.
  The title of the bill was amended so as to read: ``A bill to provide 
additional guidance to grantees seeking funding to treat or prevent 
mental health or substance use disorders.''.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

                          ____________________