[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 20 (Thursday, January 30, 2020)]
[House]
[Page H740]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               THE OPIOID EPIDEMIC DOES NOT DISCRIMINATE

  (Mr. CLINE asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. CLINE. Madam Speaker, the opioid epidemic does not discriminate 
based on age, race, sex or socioeconomic status. It is a plague that 
affects Americans in all regions of the country, including Virginia's 
Sixth Congressional District.
  In 2016, the United States experienced an astonishing 60,000 deaths 
related to drug overdose; nearly two-thirds of which involved opioids. 
That means that more than 91 Americans die from an opioid overdose 
every day, making it the leading cause of death for people under the 
age of 50.
  This crisis is being fueled in part by a synthetic opioid known as 
fentanyl, a drug 80 to 100 times more powerful than morphine. In 2018 
alone, more than 800 people died from fentanyl overdoses in Virginia.
  I applaud my colleagues for voting to save lives this week by 
renewing the classification of fentanyl as a Schedule I narcotic.
  Through commonsense solutions like this and support for first 
responders and treatment programs, I am confident we can help our 
fellow Americans struggling with opioid abuse and end this insidious 
epidemic.

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