[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 98 (Wednesday, June 13, 2018)]
[House]
[Pages H5121-H5123]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
REAUTHORIZING AND EXTENDING GRANTS FOR RECOVERY FROM OPIOID USE
PROGRAMS ACT OF 2018
Mr. GOODLATTE. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the
bill (H.R. 6029) to amend the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets
Act of 1968 to reauthorize the comprehensive opioid abuse grant
program, and for other purposes.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The text of the bill is as follows:
H.R. 6029
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Reauthorizing and Extending
Grants for Recovery from Opioid Use Programs Act of 2018'' or
the ``REGROUP Act of 2018''.
SEC. 2. REAUTHORIZATION OF THE COMPREHENSIVE OPIOID ABUSE
GRANT PROGRAM.
Section 1001(a)(27) of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe
Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10261(a)(27)) is amended by
striking ``through 2021'' and inserting ``and 2018, and
$330,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2019 through 2023''.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from
Virginia (Mr. Goodlatte) and the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson
Lee) each will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Virginia.
General Leave
Mr. GOODLATTE. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members
may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their
remarks and include extraneous materials on H.R. 6029, currently under
consideration.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from Virginia?
There was no objection.
Mr. GOODLATTE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may
consume.
Mr. Speaker, in July 2016, Congress enacted the Comprehensive
Addiction and Recovery Act, otherwise known as CARA. The statistics
then were shocking, and, unfortunately, they have not yet subsided. In
2016, more than 64,000 Americans died from drug overdoses, including
illicit drugs and prescription opioids. This figure has nearly doubled
in the past decade.
Part of CARA created a comprehensive opioid abuse reduction program
at the Department of Justice which directs Federal resources for drug
abuse programs targeted at the opioid problem within our criminal
justice system.
By establishing this competitive grant program, CARA gives States and
localities maximum flexibility to attack opioid abuse issues unique to
their communities. States are now able to use the grant funds for a
variety of important criminal justice programs, including alternatives
to incarceration, treatment programs for incarcerated individuals,
juvenile opioid abuse, investigation and enforcement of drug
trafficking and distribution laws, and significant training for first
responders in carrying and administering opioid overdose reversal
drugs, like naloxone. States can enlist nonprofit organizations,
including faith-based organizations, in the fight against opioid abuse.
In 2016, CARA authorized this new program at $103 million annually
over 5 years. However, 3 months ago, Congress tripled that
authorization to $330 million, including funds for drug courts, mental
health courts, residential drug abuse treatment for State prisoners,
and veterans' treatment courts. Therefore, the bill before us results
in no net increase in spending authorizations and no additional burden
on the American taxpayer, which is a responsible, good government
approach to this epidemic.
This bill reauthorizes the CARA program through 2023, so we can make
sure there is no lapse in our efforts against drug addiction.
While Members of this body should be proud of our accomplishments,
there is still much more work to do. I urge my colleagues to support
this bill and thereby reassure all Americans that we are committed to
fighting the opioid epidemic.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may
consume.
Mr. Speaker, this is, again, a topic that is impacting so many
Americans. I recall the CARA Act that the Judiciary Committee passed
out some 2 years ago, a miraculous piece of legislation because we did
not criminalize, we sought to help those who have been badly addicted
to drugs.
I rise in support of H.R. 6029, the REGROUP Act. This bill increases
the funding authorized for the Department of Justice's Comprehensive
Opioid Abuse Grant Program from $103 million per year to $330 million
per year through the fiscal year 2023.
The opioid crisis is a national emergency, and we should certainly
expend the resources to prevent opioid abuse and treat those who have
become addicted. We have found that the overcriminalization of these
persons who are addicted has not served us well. They have generated a
whole population of persons who have been labeled under the topic, but
realistically it is impacting their lives: mass incarceration.
In the United States, drug overdoses are the leading cause of
accidental death, with opioids being involved in nearly two-thirds of
overdose deaths. Overall, the number of drug overdose deaths has nearly
quadrupled over the past 20 years. Although effective for the treatment
of pain, prescription opioids are highly addictive, and nearly half of
all U.S. opioid overdose deaths involve a prescription opioid.
[[Page H5122]]
Many Members understand that this became part of the wave of new
treatment that medical school students and doctors were told and
instructed, that a patient should not have to suffer pain. It had good
intentions. But through that process of medical treatment became a
population of extended addicted persons who began to use a prescription
drug as a drug of use and recreation, and then those who were given it
in the medical sense who were able to get it over and over again on the
basis of pain became addicted.
Overall, the number of drug overdose deaths has nearly quadrupled, as
I said, and this has been thought of as an effective treatment for
pain. Prescription opioids are highly addictive, and nearly half of all
U.S. opioid overdose deaths involve a prescription opioid, as I have
said.
Deaths related to heroin have similarly increased as individuals
often transition from more expensive prescription opioids to cheaper
heroin which has had a rise in its use.
In 2016, Congress adopted this program, as I indicated, the
Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act, or CARA, as we refer to it.
The Judiciary Committee had a portion of that legislation. CARA was a
well-intentioned initiative to enhance the efforts against opioids
across the range of relevant executive branch agencies, involving the
jurisdiction of several of our committees in the House.
I was pleased that the Judiciary Committee's contribution to this
effort resulted in the Comprehensive Opioid Abuse Grant Program which
reflects an approach not strictly based on arresting and prosecuting.
At the time, I noted with approval that we were not raising sentences
or expanding mandatory minimums, but instead funding a range of
approaches, including anti-addiction mechanisms such as treatment
alternatives to incarceration, which fell under the Department of
Justice.
Such alternatives incentivized by this program include training for
criminal justice agency personnel on substance abuse disorders, the
implementation of mental health courts, drug courts, and veterans'
treatment courts, assisting parents whose incarceration could result in
children entering the child welfare system, and community-based
substance abuse diversion programs.
It is well-known by Members that if you have one of these courts in
your jurisdiction, they have been powerful. Mental health courts, drug
courts, and veterans' courts have steered a lot of people away from
incarceration. They work well. The judges believe they are
constructive, and we are doing more for people.
In 2015, we learned through a Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security,
and Investigations Subcommittee hearing about the success of a newly
developed Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion, or LEAD, approach that
was spearheaded in cities such as Seattle and Santa Fe.
Through the program we are extending today, hopefully we will make it
easier for other cities to afford to implement diversion programs such
as LEAD.
Other purposes for which these grants may be used include providing
training and resources for first responders in administering opioid
overdose reversal drugs, expanding medication-assisted treatment
programs operated by criminal justice agencies, implementing
prescription drug monitoring programs, preventing opioid abuse by
juveniles, and implementing prescription drug take-back programs, in
addition to investigating the illicit distribution of opioids.
This funding will be an added contribution to these very vital
programs, and I hope that we will be in the business every day of
saving lives and turning around those addicted persons who not only are
hurting themselves, but they are hurting their families.
Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 6029, the REGROUP Act. This
bill increases the funding authorized for the Department of Justice's
Comprehensive Opioid Abuse Grant Program from $103 million per year to
$330 million per year through fiscal year 2023.
The opioid crisis is a national emergency, and we should certainly
expend the resources necessary to prevent opioid abuse and treat those
who have become addicted.
In the United States, drug overdoses are the leading cause of
accidental death, with opioids being involved in nearly two thirds of
overdose deaths.
Overall, the number of drug overdose deaths has nearly quadrupled
over the past twenty years. Although effective for the treatment of
pain, prescription opioids are highly addictive and nearly half of all
U.S. opioid overdose deaths involve a prescription opioid.
Deaths related to heroin have similarly increased, as individuals
often transition from more expensive prescription opioids to cheaper
heroin.
In 2016, Congress adopted this program as part of the Comprehensive
Addiction and Recovery Act, or ``CARA'' as we often refer to it. CARA
was a well-intentioned initiative to enhance the efforts against
opioids across the range of relevant executive branch agencies,
involving the jurisdiction of several of our Committees in the House.
I was pleased that the Judiciary Committee's contribution to this
effort, resulted in the Comprehensive Opioid Abuse Grant Program, which
reflects an approach not strictly based on arresting and prosecuting.
At the time, I noted with approval that we were not raising sentences
or expanding mandatory minimums, but instead funding a range of
approaches including anti-addiction mechanisms such as treatment
alternatives to incarceration.
Such alternatives incentivized by this Program include training for
criminal justice agency personnel on substance abuse disorders, the
implementation of mental health courts, drug courts, and veterans'
treatment courts, assisting parents whose incarceration could result in
children entering the child welfare system, and community-based
substance abuse diversion programs.
In 2015, we learned through a Crime Subcommittee hearing about the
success of the newly-developed Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion, or
LEAD, approach that was spearheaded in cities such as Seattle and Santa
Fe.
Through the program we are extending today, hopefully we will make it
easier for other cities to afford to implement diversion program such
as LEAD.
Other purposes for which these grants may be used include providing
training and resources for first responders to administer opioid
overdose reversal drugs, expanding medication-assisted treatment
programs operated by criminal justice agencies, implementing
prescription drug monitoring programs, preventing opioid abuse by
juveniles, and implementing prescription drug take-back programs, in
addition to investigating the illicit distribution of opioids.
More than 80 percent of the defendants sentenced for crack cocaine
offenses were African Americans, despite the fact that more than 66
percent of crack users were either White or Hispanic.
In 2010, we reduced the sentencing disparity between crack and powder
cocaine from 100 to 1 to 18 to 1, but we did not even make those
changes apply retroactively, and the remaining disparity--and the
remaining mandatory nature of the penalty--remains.
There is more to do, and there is no excuse to allow such injustices
to persist even as Congress attempts to take credit for efforts to
address the opioid crisis.
As former Attorney General Eric Holder said when he instituted his
initiative to address some of the inequities with respect to
prosecuting drug crimes, we need to be ``Smart on Crime.''
We do not need do not need more ``get tough'' rhetoric from President
Trump or Attorney General Sessions about imposing the death penalty for
drug crimes. And we should not be telling prosecutors to ratchet up
criminal charges and penalties for drug offenders. None of that solves
the problem.
Instead of doubling down on failed policies that do nothing more than
proliferate misery, we need real leadership, involving a commitment to
increase resources for alternatives that we know are actually
effective.
And so, while we should support this bill, we should do more to
promote a broader and more just approach for all drugs, and re-
instituting policies that reflect the need to be ``Smart on Crime.''
Mr. Speaker, I hope the funding we appropriate in the years to come
will match the increased authorization for funding the Comprehensive
Opioid Abuse Grant Program administered by the Department of Justice.
But we must do more than write checks, we must challenge ourselves to
change our mindset and methodology in the way we address drug abuse
across the range of substances that we have criminalized.
After years of failed policies, we should have learned that we cannot
arrest or incarcerate our way out of any drug crisis, and mass
incarceration--fueled primary by drug-related arrests--has harmed our
communities in many ways.
Therefore, as I ask my colleagues to join me in supporting this bill
today, I also ask that we commit ourselves to extending this
conversation past today so that we can work together to reform our drug
laws, our sentencing
[[Page H5123]]
laws, and broaden our approaches to preventing and addressing drug
abuse.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. GOODLATTE. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to
the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Rothfus), whom I failed to note in
my opening remarks is the chief sponsor of this legislation and someone
very dedicated to addressing problems with opioid abuse.
Mr. ROTHFUS. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of this legislation, H.R.
6029, the Reauthorizing and Extending Grants for Recovery from Opioid
Use Programs Act of 2018, or the REGROUP Act.
In simple terms, this bill will help our Nation continue the fight
against the opioid crisis. The REGROUP Act does two things. First, it
reauthorizes and extends the Comprehensive Opioid Abuse Program
administered through the Department of Justice for an additional 2
years through 2023. Second, it also raises authorized funding levels
for these programs from $103 million to $330 million for each fiscal
year.
{time} 1445
Mr. Speaker, back in my district in western Pennsylvania, the opioid
crisis is still a huge problem that continues to destroy lives, hurt
families, and plague entire communities.
While we have made some progress, there is much more work to be done.
Therefore, we must not only continue to support the Comprehensive
Opioid Abuse Program, but enhance it with additional funding.
Originally authorized in the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act
of 2016, or CARA, the Comprehensive Opioid Abuse Program authorized
valuable grant resources to States and localities suffering from the
epidemic. These competitive grant programs offer a wide variety of
support at all phases of this fight, from first responders to those
suffering from substance abuse.
More specifically, the DOJ has developed various grant programs for
first responders fighting on the front lines, programs that support
drug courts and veteran treatment courts. It also provides grants for
increasing collaboration between criminal justice agencies and
substance abuse agencies. Furthermore, it even has programs that help
develop the prescription drug monitoring programs.
For example, back in Beaver County and Allegheny County, we have
veteran treatment courts that provide alternative justice systems where
those who suffer from addiction and who run afoul of the law can
actually receive the care, treatment, and intervention they need.
The alternate systems that these courts offer are precisely the type
of programs that the REGROUP Act will support. Courts like these help
break the cycle of addiction for individuals and, hopefully, save lives
in the process. Our whole society benefits when someone breaks the
chain of addiction.
Mr. Speaker, if we are to end the opioid crisis, we must attack this
problem at all levels. We must be committed to this fight for the long
term, and we must increase support for these programs. The REGROUP Act
will help us continue this fight against the opioid crisis.
Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.
Let me thank the gentleman from Pennsylvania for his leadership and
for his concern for what has been a deadly journey for many Americans.
As I close, I would like to share just a moment of the devastating
impact that this epidemic of drugs has had in many communities.
More than 80 percent of the defendants sentenced for crack cocaine
offenses were African Americans, despite the fact that more than 66
percent of crack cocaine users were either White or Hispanic.
In 2010, we reduced the sentencing disparity between crack and powder
cocaine from 100-to-1 to 18-to-1. We did not even make those changes
apply retroactively. The remaining disparity and the remaining
mandatory nature of the penalty remains. Therefore, there is much to
do.
This bill will help us a lot, but there is no excuse to continue to
allow people, as is evidenced by the recent pardon by the
administration of an individual who had been incarcerated on a drug
offense, no excuse for us to allow these injustices to persist, even as
we proceed to work on this opioid epidemic.
So I think it is extremely important that, as former Attorney General
Eric Holder said when he instituted his initiative to address some of
the inequities with respect to prosecuting drug crimes, we need to be
smart on crime. Treatment is very important. This legislation raising
the amount of grant money to help with the courts and treatment
elements will be a major aspect to saving lives.
But we do not need to continue to get tough in another arena where we
are speaking about raising penalties, imposing the death penalty for
drug crimes, as the Attorney General has offered. We should not be
telling prosecutors to ratchet up criminal charges and penalties for
drug offenders. None of that solves the problem.
What we are doing today will solve the problem. Instead of doubling
down on failing policies that do not do anything more than proliferate
misery for the incarcerated person who really needs treatment, as well
as the family, we need real leadership involving a commitment to
increase resources for the alternatives we know are actually effective.
I really do believe the veterans courts, for example, are a Godsend
to many of our veterans who come back and truly need help. They are so
grateful for help. They may have gotten addicted while in the service
or because of circumstances after leaving the service, including issues
dealing with their own psychological needs. In any event, we know that
they have served their Nation.
Continuing to support those kinds of alternatives are extremely
important, and we should support this bill so that we can continue
those alternatives, but we need to make sure that we speak against
those approaches that ignore the Smart on Crime. I would ask that we
reinstitute the Smart on Crime, which diminishes the number of people
who get caught up in the system who are just truly addicted from the
terrible plight that they have with drug addiction.
As we work to do more, we must ensure that we look at the crisis as
it relates to mass incarceration. We must also treat all of the
addictions--crack cocaine--as the same, because it spreads throughout
our Nation.
So as we continue this conversation, again, I add my appreciation to
the Congressman from Pennsylvania, the chairman, and Ranking Member
Nadler. As we rise to support this legislation, let us continue to seek
to reform our drug laws, let us reform our sentencing laws, and let us
broaden our approaches to preventing and addressing drug abuse.
I think the experts will tell us that that has been one of the most
effective pathways to get people away from drugs and to get their lives
and the lives of their families restored.
Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to support this legislation, and I
yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. GOODLATTE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.
I, too, want to thank the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Rothfus).
I want to thank the gentlewoman, the ranking member of the Crime,
Terrorism, Homeland Security, and Investigations Subcommittee for her
dedication to addressing this very serious problem.
I want to urge all of my colleagues to join us in supporting this
fine legislation, and I yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the
gentlewoman from Virginia (Mr. Goodlatte) that the House suspend the
rules and pass the bill, H.R. 6029.
The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the
rules were suspended and the bill was passed.
A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.
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