[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 98 (Wednesday, June 13, 2018)]
[House]
[Page H5140]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               OPIOID CRISIS AND PHARMACEUTICAL COMPANIES

  (Ms. MICHELLE LUJAN GRISHAM of New Mexico asked and was given 
permission to address the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend 
her remarks.)
  Ms. MICHELLE LUJAN GRISHAM of New Mexico. Mr. Speaker, this is 
opioids week, yet we are not considering any bill that would rein in 
the pharmaceutical companies, whose greed caused and perpetuated the 
epidemic.
  Many of these companies have used unethical and illegal practices to 
generate record-setting profits. They have bribed doctors, lied to 
patients about the effects of opioids, and ignored millions of 
illegally trafficked pills. Meanwhile, the costs of the epidemic fall 
on States, cities, counties, hospitals, courts, and local communities 
that do not have the resources to keep up.
  I have introduced legislation that would make pharmaceutical 
companies part of the solution by imposing a small 1-cent fee on opioid 
production. The estimated $2 billion in revenue raised could be used to 
fund a variety of prevention, treatment, and research programs that 
would save countless lives.
  Mr. Speaker, it is time to finally hold these companies accountable 
for their role in the opioid epidemic and make them give back to the 
communities and families that have been destroyed.

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