[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 113 (Friday, July 6, 2018)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E971]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  IN SUPPORT OF H.R. 4684 ENSURING ACCESS TO QUALITY SOBER LIVING ACT

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. SHEILA JACKSON LEE

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                          Friday, July 6, 2018

  Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 4684, 
the Ensuring Access to Quality Sober Living Act of 2018.
  Opioid abuse has become a public health crisis with devastating 
consequences, including; overdoses, rising incidence of neonatal 
abstinence syndrome, homelessness, and unemployment.
  H.R. 4684 ensures that the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Service 
Administration has the resources to provide the best practices for 
operating recovery houses and to distribute the information to states, 
and to provide technical assistance to states seeking to adopt such 
practices.
  It is undeniable that, to ensure their path to recovery, victims of 
substance abuse are in need of proper recovery housing that is free 
from alcohol and drug use.
  People suffering from addiction are in dire need of healthy living 
environments to ensure a successful transition.
  Recovering addicts coming from an environment that does not provide 
the proper assistance, face many challenges and problems when they 
later reenter society.
  Every day, over 115 Americans die after overdosing on opioids, with 
more than 64,000 deaths reported in the year 2016.
  In 2015, 2588 opioid overdose related deaths were reported in my home 
state of Texas with Harris County accounting for 318 of those deaths.
  It has been reported that 91 percent of victims in recovery will 
experience a relapse, 59 percent of those will experience a relapse 
within the first two weeks of sobriety, and 80 percent within a month 
after discharging from a detox facility.
  H.R. 4684 will not only provide addicts with qualified recovery homes 
but healthy family oriented settings.
  Medical research suggests that recovery residencies should be 
structured like family home, a community living environment which is 
centered on peer support and connection to services.
  These provisions of the bill will provide victims of opioid addiction 
with much needed guidance.
  I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting H.R. 4684 to show their 
support in this extremely critical moment in time and ensure that those 
who have fallen victim to the opioid epidemic are provided with 
qualified recovery housing.

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