[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 162 (2016), Part 3]
[House]
[Page 4122]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                      HEROIN AND OPIOID OVERDOSES

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Connecticut (Mr. Courtney) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. COURTNEY. Mr. Speaker, the chart that is being set up next to me 
here depicts graphically one of the most sickening trends in terms of 
an increasing cause of death in the United States, which is heroin and 
opioid overdoses.
  On the top, the map shows data from 2004 from the Centers for Disease 
Control, when 7,500 Americans lost their lives to overdose deaths. In 
2014, that number has grown to 27,000.
  The red shaded area is high-intensity areas of death of up to 20 per 
100,000 in the population. The blue is 10 or less. And in 2014, as you 
can see, the red is slowly but inexorably taking over the entire 
country.
  This is a crisis which, again, affects every part of our country, 
whether it is rural, suburban, or urban. It affects Republican 
districts. It affects Democratic districts. And it is time for our 
Nation to recognize that this needs to be treated the same way we would 
any natural disaster or public health emergency in the country.
  In 2016, we know these numbers are, in fact, going to get worse.
  The Office of Chief Medical Examiner in the State of Connecticut 
released their 2015 numbers a few weeks ago, and the number grew in the 
State of Connecticut by 20 percent, to 723 deaths in 2015.
  Just this morning in the local press in southeastern Connecticut, a 
25-year-old was found dead in a motor vehicle on Route 12 outside the 
Groton Navy Base, and a young man, an 18-year-old, was found dead in 
Norwich just a couple of days ago.
  It is time for us to listen to the folks who are on the front lines--
the police officers, the addiction counselors, and the folks that are 
dealing with this program bringing people to life with Narcan--and 
understand that we need a new approach to solving this incredibly 
dangerous crisis for our Nation.
  The good news is that the Senate, a couple of weeks ago, passed the 
Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act 94-1. It is a good bill. It 
makes some smart changes in terms of the overprescribing of 
painkillers. It deals with the disposal of the proliferation of 
painkillers that is far too great in the Nation today. It also talks 
about changing protocols in the FDA, HHS, DOD, VA, all of the agencies 
of the Federal Government that deal with folks suffering from pain. 
Unfortunately, though, the bill does not contain a single penny of 
emergency assistance which the police departments across the country, 
the addiction counselors across the country are begging for.
  In the House, there is a bill, H.R. 4473, which does provide 
emergency supplemental appropriations this year to try and get 
resources so that folks who are dealing with this crisis and families 
that are dealing with this crisis are actually going to get real help. 
And this bill has been endorsed by 21 organizations, from the Fraternal 
Order of Police, the police and the cops and the firefighters who are 
out there saving people's lives right now with Narcan, and also the 
addiction counselors who, again, do not have adequate detox facilities 
and beds to deal with the carnage that is happening all across this 
country.
  The Republican majority leader announced last week that in May, the 
House will take up the Senate bill. I wish it was this month. I wish we 
could move with the urgency of a natural disaster like a fire or 
hurricane or tornado striking parts of our country that causes 
devastation much less than what these maps depict. However, the fact 
that there is going to be some movement is some sign of hope.

                              {time}  1015

  But it is important to remember it is not enough to just pass 
authorizing language that is about trying to change policy without 
funding, because the folks who are dealing with this problem, who are 
watching us like a hawk because they are dealing with this problem, 
like that young man who was found dead last night, understand that 
resources are needed, just like in any other natural disaster or public 
health emergency facing this country.
  Again, we need to turn this map around. We need to change this so 
that, again, the devastation that is being caused in families of middle 
class, upper class, lower income families across the country is going 
to stop.
  There are real-life solutions that the folks who are at the front 
lines are prepared to move forward. They are on standby. What they are 
waiting for is this Congress to move forward with the real resources 
that we would deal with as a great Nation in terms of any other 
epidemic or any other massive public health or health emergency in this 
Nation.
  We need to include H.R. 4473. We need to listen to the 21 
organizations that deal with this problem all across America so that we 
get real help out on the streets of America and not just give lip 
service to solving this critical problem.

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