[Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 85 (Tuesday, May 20, 2025)]
[House]
[Page H2186]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 GOP TAX SCAM HURTS WOMEN AND FAMILIES

  (Ms. DEAN of Pennsylvania asked and was given permission to address 
the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. DEAN of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, addiction is a public health 
crisis from which no community is immune. We saw the worst of it in 
2021, when, in a 12-month span, more than 110,000 people died of 
overdose. That is 300 or more people a day, 365 days a year.
  Here is a small light. In 2024, overdose deaths fell by 27 percent. 
We are finally seeing progress. That is a huge dent in this horrible 
tragedy.
  What is the response of the Trump administration? Shuttering SAMHSA 
and shifting and shafting it into an illogical AHA--somebody tell me 
what that department is--organization and proposing a budget that kicks 
nearly 14 million people off Medicaid.
  Nearly half of those struggling with opioid use disorder rely on 
Medicaid. In Pennsylvania alone, that is 100,000 people who may now 
lose their only chance at life, at recovery, at treatment.
  I know the desperate hope. I know the prayers for a loved one to find 
recovery. My son Harry is 12\1/2\ years in recovery from opioid 
addiction.
  My family knows the struggle of way too many families, and we are 
among the lucky ones, though I don't like to call it lucky. Every 
family should be as lucky as I.
  At this time, we must save more lives.
  Mr. Speaker, I ask that the President not cut Medicaid and SAMHSA.

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