[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 98 (Wednesday, June 13, 2018)]
[House]
[Pages H5103-H5104]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                             OPIOID CRISIS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from 
Florida (Ms. Castor) for 5 minutes.
  Ms. CASTOR of Florida. Mr. Speaker, this week, the House is 
considering a number of bills relating to the opioid public health 
epidemic.
  I serve on the Energy and Commerce Committee, and over the past year, 
our committee has heard from experts. We have had numerous hearings on 
all facets of the opioid crisis. We have gathered facts, listened to 
witnesses, including those struggling with addiction; doctors; 
providers; the Drug Enforcement Agency; and more. Plus, many families 
and experts back home have informed us and encouraged the Congress to 
act.
  Last year, one loving father in my home district in Tampa, Florida, 
came to meet with me to share his experience. He said:

       Our son has been an addict for the last 5 years. During 
     that time, our family has discovered how impotent the 
     healthcare system, government system, insurance companies, 
     criminal justice system, and our family have been to combat 
     this disease.
       Prior to our personal experience, we were like most 
     Americans who believed this was not our problem, but we were 
     saddened by those who experienced the crisis. In addition, we 
     cannot believe how futile and limited our resources and 
     efforts to help our son overcome this illness have been.
       We still believe, although to a lesser degree, that the 
     people afflicted with this illness still hold the key to 
     unlocking their own happiness to managing this illness. 
     However, what is abundantly clear now is that the resources 
     necessary to provide even a remote chance for addicts to 
     achieve temporary or permanent remission must be 
     substantially increased. We have invested, personally, over 
     $100,000 trying to help our son.

  His remarks echo what we heard from experts all across the board in 
our committee, like Dr. Andrew Kolodny, director of Opioid Policy 
Research at Brandeis University, who emphasized that treatment has to 
be expanded exponentially, and it must be easy to access. ``We have to 
build a new system in America that does not exist.''
  Democrats have urged our colleagues on the other side of the aisle to 
join us in truly tackling the crisis. What became apparent in committee 
and what is apparent through these small-ball bills on the floor this 
week and next week is that Republicans still are not there. They are 
not willing to adequately address this public health crisis. We need a 
robust, long-term solution that truly meets the challenge of the opioid 
crisis.
  A consensus has emerged, and it is based upon these devastating facts 
right now. Over 40,000 people are dying from an opioid overdose every 
year. In my home State of Florida, we are losing about 5,700 people per 
year to overdose. That was in 2016. That was a 35 percent increase from 
the previous year.
  The CDC says opioid overdoses have quadrupled since 1999. Only 10 to 
15 percent of Americans suffering from opioid addiction are currently 
receiving treatment.
  Those numbers cry out for a meaningful, comprehensive approach. But 
our Republican colleagues have failed to get there with us.
  We have been through this before. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, 
we were struggling with the HIV/AIDS public health epidemic. For many 
years, the Congress was criticized for not adequately addressing the 
crisis. There was a harmful stigma involved, just like there is for 
opioid addiction.
  But by the early 1990s, the Congress came together and adopted the 
Ryan White CARE Act that provided resources all across the country in a 
consistent fashion and provided funds to local communities and local 
nonprofits to help us. The death rate from HIV/AIDS is dramatically 
less.

  This is what we have to do when it comes to opioids: provide that 
comprehensive, long-term solution that simply isn't being demonstrated 
in these small-ball, little bills that are nibbling around the edges.
  Mr. Speaker, at the same time, it is very difficult to be proactive 
in a meaningful way on the opioid crisis when Republicans and the White 
House continue to drag us backward when it comes to affordable 
healthcare.
  Just last week, the Trump administration and the GOP launched a new 
attack on Americans with preexisting conditions like opioid addiction. 
They asked a Federal court to strike down the Affordable Care Act 
preexisting condition protection. That is the bedrock protection 
contained in the Affordable Care Act that says, if you have a cancer 
diagnosis, Alzheimer's, or heart disease, an insurance company cannot 
deny you coverage, and they cannot charge you exorbitant rates. The GOP 
has never really been for that protection.

[[Page H5104]]

  How are we going to adequately address the opioid addiction crisis 
when they want to tear away affordable healthcare, including the 
protection on preexisting conditions?
  We need a robust solution here, a comprehensive solution. Otherwise, 
this is simply nibbling around the edges.

                          ____________________