[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 152 (Tuesday, August 31, 2021)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E945]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




            RECOGNIZING INTERNATIONAL OVERDOSE AWARENESS DAY

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. J. FRENCH HILL

                              of arkansas

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, August 31, 2021

  Mr. HILL. Madam Speaker, today I recognize International Overdose 
Awareness Day.
  I speak not only as a Congressman, but as a father and husband who is 
working towards an end to overdose deaths and the heartache for the 
families and loved ones left behind.
  To those who have a loved one struggling with a substance abuse 
disorder or who have lost a loved one to an overdose, I am sorry, and I 
share in the collective grief.
  Like many in my home state of Arkansas and across the nation, my 
family and I have lost friends to overdoses.
  I am listening and I understand the pain that you and your loved ones 
have experienced in losing someone to an overdose.
  Throughout my time in Congress, I have worked to combat the opioid 
crisis, end overdose deaths, and end the stigma of overdose deaths and 
addiction.
  I was the co-author of the bipartisan Fentanyl Sanctions Act, and I 
am proud that it was signed into law in December 2019 as part of the 
National Defense Authorization Act.
  This law placed sanctions on drug manufacturers in China who 
knowingly provide synthetic opioids to traffickers, and it placed 
sanctions on transnational criminal organizations like those in Mexico 
who mix fentanyl with other drugs and traffic them into the United 
States.
  And, importantly, it placed sanctions on financial institutions 
assisting those entities and individuals knowingly trafficking 
synthetic opioids.
  Stopping the flow of fentanyl and synthetic opioids is critical to 
preventing addiction and overdoses, and through it we will save lives.
  I appreciate the opportunity to mark International Overdose Awareness 
Day and thank the organizers of the event, the Parker Gill Foundation, 
in Little Rock that is bringing together loved ones and that continues 
this important fight in the memory of those lost.
  I look forward to working with my colleagues on both sides of the 
aisle to continue this fight.

                          ____________________