[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 162 (2016), Part 10]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages 13795-13796]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                          PERSONAL EXPLANATION

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. JAMES P. McGOVERN

                            of massachusetts

                    in the house of representatives

                      Tuesday, September 27, 2016

  Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, on September 26, 2016, I joined U.S. 
Secretary of State John Kerry and other U.S. leaders in Cartagena, 
Colombia, for the formal signing of the peace agreement between the 
Colombian government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia 
(FARC).
  As a result, I was absent for roll call votes 557 and 558. Had I been 
present, I would

[[Page 13796]]

have voted no on roll call 557, final passage of the Dangerous 
Synthetic Drug Control Act, H.R. 3537, because it adds new synthetic 
drugs to Schedule I, expanding mandatory minimum sentences and 
hindering research on these substances.
  I would have voted yes on roll call 558, final passage of H.R. 5392, 
the No Veterans Crisis Line Call Should Go Unanswered Act. I strongly 
support H.R. 5392, which will help support veterans experiencing 
emotional or mental health crises by requiring the Department of 
Veterans Affairs to develop a plan to ensure that every call paced to 
the Veteran Crisis Line is answered by a live person.

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