[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 195 (Tuesday, November 17, 2020)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1040-E1041]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 SUPPORT FOR H.R. 2466, THE STATE OPIOID RESPONSE GRANT AUTHORIZATION 
ACT OF 2020 AND H.R. 2281, THE EASY MEDICATION ACCESS AND TREATMENT FOR 
                          OPIOID ADDICTION ACT

                                  _____
                                 

                           HON. ANNA G. ESHOO

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, November 17, 2020

  Ms. ESHOO. Madam Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 2466, the State 
Opioid Response Grant Authorization Act of 2020 and H.R. 2281, the Easy 
MAT for Opioid Addiction Act. I'm proud to have advanced these 
bipartisan bills through my Health Subcommittee and I'm pleased to 
support them on the Floor today.
  According to the most recent CDC data, in 2018, 67,000 Americans died 
of a drug overdose. Overdoses in 2018 alone killed more Americans than 
the Vietnam War. This is a national crisis.
  In 2016 Congress passed the 21st Century Cures Act and CARA, and in 
2018 the SUPPORT Act was signed into law to stem the tide of addiction 
and devastation that the opioid crisis has created.
  Yet, despite our legislative efforts to increase access to 
medication-assisted treatment or MAT, according to a 2019 National 
Academies of Science report, more than 80 percent of the 2 million 
people with opioid use disorder are not receiving MAT and families

[[Page E1041]]

and children affected by the opioids crisis also are not receiving the 
care they need.
  That's why it is so important to pass the Easy MAT for Opioid 
Addiction Act. The Easy MAT for Opioid Addiction Act requires the Drug 
Enforcement Agency to revise regulations to allow a practitioner to 
administer up to a three-day supply of narcotic drugs to an individual 
at one time for purposes of relieving acute withdrawal symptoms while 
the individual awaits arrangements for narcotic treatment. This will 
reduce unnecessary medical visits and increase access to a safe and 
important treatment.
  H.R. 2466, the State Opioid Response Grant Authorization Act 
authorizes $1.5 billion per year through grants to help states and 
tribal organizations build out their responses to the opioid crisis 
through provision of additional treatment beds, hiring the workforce 
necessary to expand treatment and recovery options, bridging gaps 
identified in systems of care, and supporting robust prevention 
campaigns.
  These are common sense bills that will save lives and I urge all my 
colleagues to support these bills.

                          ____________________