[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 162 (2016), Part 4]
[House]
[Pages 5626-5632]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                COMBATING THE HEROIN AND OPIOID EPIDEMIC

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of 
January 6, 2015, the gentleman from New Hampshire (Mr. Guinta) is 
recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the majority leader.


                             General Leave

  Mr. GUINTA. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that Members have 5 
legislative days to revise and extend their remarks in the Record.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from New Hampshire?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. GUINTA. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my colleague, the 
gentlewoman from Massachusetts (Ms. Clark), who is doing great work in 
this area. New England is particularly stressed with an opioid 
epidemic, as are many other States around the country, but her work is 
important because we share a cross-State border. We need to continue to 
work together on this particular issue.
  I yield to the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Dold), a leader on the 
heroin and opioid epidemic and bringing legislation to the floor.
  Mr. DOLD. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my good friend for yielding. I 
want to thank Representative Guinta for his leadership with the 
Bipartisan Task Force to Combat the Heroin Epidemic. I also want to 
thank Representative Kuster and Representative Clark for their 
leadership on this issue.
  Mr. Speaker, between 2001 and 2014, there was a threefold increase in 
prescription drug overdoses. What was amazing is that during that same 
period of time there was a sixfold increase in heroin overdoses in the 
United States. This is truly an epidemic. Today every 19 minutes, 
someone dies from a heroin overdose.
  In Chicago's collar counties, we lose one individual every 3 days. In 
Cook County, it is more than one a day. As the co-chair of the Illinois 
Suburban Anti-Heroin Task Force, I have seen the unimaginable suffering 
that heroin has brought into families in our community. Naloxone, 
however, has proven to be hugely successful as a lifesaving antidote. 
When used, naloxone helps restore breathing that has been stopped by an 
overdose of heroin.
  In Lake County, Illinois, alone, over the course of a little bit over 
a year, over 74 lives have been saved with naloxone. This program 
equips police with the overdose antidote and trains them how to 
administer this medication. What was fascinating was that the police 
force didn't have to be asked to do this. They actually requested to 
have the opportunity because they were coming to these scenes over and 
over and over again, usually about 5 to 7 minutes before first 
responders and the fire department would come, before the paramedics 
would be there. They didn't want to actually watch these young people, 
these individuals, these people who were addicted just wither away and 
die. So they were given naloxone, they were given the training, and 
thus we have seen the success in one county across our country.
  My work with the Lake County Opioid Initiative inspired me to 
introduce Lali's Law with Representative Clark. Our bill is named in 
honor of Alex Laliberte, a young man from Stevenson High School, who 
passed away just before his finals in his sophomore year.
  Now, what is amazing about Alex is that Alex was a normal guy. He 
played sports, had lots of friends, had good grades, your typical all-
American, red-blooded young man. Yet when he was in college in that 
first part of his sophomore year, he started to get sick, and he went 
into the hospital. His parents and his teachers, nobody really knew 
what was wrong, but he was actually going through withdrawal from 
prescription drugs. He would get better and then, all of a sudden, 
would repeat this process, until eventually he passed away.
  Lali's Law will help increase access to naloxone by providing grant 
money to States as they implement standing order programs that will 
allow pharmacists to dispense naloxone over the counter without a 
person-specific prescription. With increased access, the World Health 
Organization says that we will be able to save at least 20,000 
additional lives each and every year.

                              {time}  2015

  Naloxone is one piece of the puzzle to combat the opioid epidemic. 
Another piece is getting addicts saved by naloxone--those that have had 
that second chance at recovery--into treatment.
  This summer the Lake County Opioid Initiative is rolling out another 
program with the help of police officers who are trying to become that 
link between the addicts. They are trying to get those suffering from 
addiction into treatment centers that can actually help them. They want 
to bring them in.
  They say: We don't want to put you in handcuffs. We don't want to put 
you behind bars. We actually want to get you into treatment. So bring 
your paraphernalia in, bring the drugs in here, and let's try to get 
you into an area where you can get that treatment that you need.
  We are also encouraging people to properly dispose of their excess 
medications, especially prescription opioids. The Lake County Underage 
Drinking and Drug Prevention Task Force has set up drug take-back boxes 
throughout Lake County at police departments.
  What is amazing is that, over the course of the last year, they have 
collected 12,000 pounds of prescription drugs. This is just in the 
police station.
  So we went to Walgreens and said: Please help us. Please help us get 
this word out. Please help us make it easier for us to allow people to 
get their prescriptions that they don't need--the excess--back. They 
are able to and said they would happily to do that.
  I am so pleased to announce that Walgreens said they are going to put 
500 prescription take-back boxes throughout the country. This is a huge 
step forward. CVS is working on education programs. So we appreciate 
those outside of the Congress that are helping us in this regard.
  I am thrilled that we are taking up these incredible bills, these 
great bills, these steps forward that will help our communities combat 
the opioid epidemic by leveraging resources in our judicial and public 
health systems.
  I encourage my colleagues to take a look at these very seriously. I 
encourage my colleagues not only to vote for these, but I encourage my 
colleagues to go back to their community and educate their citizens, 
their families, their organizations in their district, about this 
incredible epidemic.
  There are parents I encounter today that say, ``It is not in my 
neighborhood,'' and it is, ``It is not in my school,'' and it is. The 
evidence is far too overwhelming.
  Frankly, this is why this week, in a bipartisan effort, Republicans 
and Democrats alike are coming together to shed light on what we see 
each and every day.
  Because there is no way in the world we can have another parent walk 
into

[[Page 5627]]

a bedroom to find another child that has overdosed without doing all 
that we can to try to prevent that tragedy from happening ever again.
  So, again, I want to thank Frank Guinta, I want to thank Ann Kuster, 
and I want to thank all of those that have come tonight to help combat 
this incredible epidemic.
  Mr. GUINTA. I want to thank the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Dold), 
for his leadership in Lali's Law and making sure that that bill comes 
to the floor for passage, as it is incredibly important to his district 
and honors Alex and his challenge.
  I yield to the gentlewoman from New Hampshire (Ms. Kuster), my friend 
and the co-chairman of the Bipartisan Task Force to Combat the Heroin 
Epidemic, who is working diligently with me on this task force to do 
everything we can to help citizens of our State and the Nation.
  Ms. KUSTER. I thank Mr. Guinta for his leadership and all of the 
participants in this bipartisan Special Order who are putting a face on 
the heroin epidemic all across the country.
  This evening I rise, as co-chair of the Bipartisan Task Force to 
Combat the Heroin Epidemic, to join my colleagues on both sides of the 
aisle who have spoken to highlight the impact that this devastating 
impact has had in our home State of New Hampshire and all across the 
country.
  Just a few months ago our task force held a similar Special Order to 
focus on the human impacts of this crisis and how it is affecting 
families and friends and colleagues in communities all across our 
districts. While the crisis has continued, the good news is that we are 
now making important progress toward a solution here in Congress.
  I am appreciative of the important work that the Senate undertook in 
passing the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act, and I want to 
thank Democratic and Republican leadership as well of the relevant 
committees for their hard work in recent weeks in bringing legislation 
to the floor of the House this week.
  At the same time, I call upon my colleagues to ensure that this 
important work fulfills its intended purpose by providing the necessary 
assistance to treatment and recovery efforts that are so critical to 
responding to this crisis.
  Recently, in January, I spoke about my dear friend Kriss' 
stepdaughter, Amber, who tragically died from an overdose after a 
treatment bed was unavailable for her after leaving incarceration. This 
story, of course, illustrates the tragic consequences that limited 
treatment capacities can have for vulnerable members of our 
communities.
  Another heartbreaking story in my district involves Carl, the son of 
my constituent and good friend, Sue Messinger.
  At 24 years old, Carl had been using heroin on and off for about a 
year before he finally approached his parents to talk about his 
addiction. To put it simply, his parents were stunned.
  Carl was a recent college graduate who earned good grades and had his 
eyes set on applying to dental school. It was almost inconceivable to 
them that such a high-achieving young man could fall victim to opioid 
addiction. But as they learned that day and as we all now know too 
well, there is no one face of addiction.
  After discussing his addiction at length with his parents and asking 
for their help and support as he began his journey to recovery, Carl's 
parents were able to secure him a place at a detox program over 50 
miles away from home, the only one that would take him as a cash-paying 
client because their insurance would not cover an opioid detox program.
  Six days later Carl successfully completed the detox and was 
discharged to return home to his parents. Over the next several weeks, 
Carl continued on his road to recovery. He passed every drug test and 
remained resolutely committed to avoiding all drugs and alcohol. His 
family was so pleased to see him getting better with each and every 
day.
  But when Carl came down with an upper respiratory infection shortly 
thereafter, a fatal error occurred in treating the infection. Unaware 
of Carl's history of addiction and his recent completion of detox, the 
doctor who saw Carl for his respiratory infection prescribed 
Cheratussin AC syrup, a narcotic cough suppressant.
  Triggered by the codeine in the cough syrup, Carl's addiction was 
instantly reawakened. When Carl could resist the craving no longer, he 
decided to inject. The substance he injected, however, was pure 
fentanyl, 50 times more powerful than heroin. He died of an overdose in 
his family's home.
  There were no labels on the bottle that indicated that cough medicine 
could trigger such drug-seeking behavior and no way for Carl or his 
parents to know that his cough medicine could pose such a fatal danger.
  Since his death, his mother Sue has spoken out about the need to 
reform labeling requirements to make sure that no other family has to 
endure what she has had to live through. Carl was an educated, kind, 
driven young man who came from a supportive family, and this tragedy 
could occur to anyone.
  The tragedy of Carl's story is why I was proud to help introduce 
Jessie's Law. Sponsored by Representative Walberg, this bill would seek 
to ensure that medical professionals have full knowledge of a patient's 
previous opioid addiction.
  It seeks to do this by requiring the Secretary of Health and Human 
Services to develop standards for the prominent display of a patient's 
history of opioid addiction in their medical records when those 
patients consent to include that information and by ensuring that the 
information can more easily be shared among providers with consent.
  While this legislation was only recently introduced and is not 
included in the current package of bills, I am hopeful we can work on 
bipartisan basis to bring this important bill to the floor before the 
end of this session.
  I am very pleased with the legislation we are considering this week 
that will have a measurable impact to move the needle in finding this 
epidemic.
  Among the 15 bills on the floor this week, half are part of the 
legislative agenda developed by the Bipartisan Task Force to Combat the 
Heroin Epidemic that I started with my colleague, Congressman Guinta. 
Additionally, provisions of several other bills are included in 
legislation being considered.
  So this week represents truly important progress in the House. It is 
critical that those who have engaged in the fight against the epidemic 
continue to press on in our efforts to include critical financial 
assistance for prevention, treatment, and recovery in our final bill.
  As we reflect tonight on those we have lost to this epidemic and 
those who are still fighting it, let us continue to focus to ensure our 
communities have the help that they need to put this crisis behind is.
  Again, I thank all of our colleagues who are working to stop this 
epidemic.
  Mr. GUINTA. I want to thank the gentlewoman from New Hampshire for 
talking about Carl and our good friend Kriss and her stepdaughter 
Amber.
  I yield to the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Fitzpatrick), my 
colleague.
  Mr. FITZPATRICK. I thank Representative Guinta for yielding and for 
his incredible and sustained leadership, along with Representative 
Kuster and others, on this important bipartisan work.
  I know that we all wonder if the work that we do here in the Nation's 
capital--the bills that we consider, the votes that we cast--is having 
an impact on individuals.
  I truly believe--and I know that each of us do--that, if we can pass 
the bills that are being discussed here tonight, we can get them 
through the Senate and on the President's desk. If they could become 
law, we literally could save lives. We could see families being saved.
  For some that we represent, the opioid drug use may seem a world 
away. But, sadly, the numbers remove any doubt about heroin's impact so 
close to home when we have heard those stories told over and over again 
this evening.
  By every metric, the effects of heroin has reached epidemic levels. I 
heard

[[Page 5628]]

Representative Courtney earlier today here on the floor speak about the 
epidemic as a national emergency. With that I agree.
  In Pennsylvania, heroin overdoses and opioid abuse will kill more 
people than homicides or influenza. In some States, it is more deadly 
than automobile accidents.
  There are several reasons for the rising statistics, Mr. Speaker, 
including the increased supply and decreased cost of heroin and the 
increasing number of Americans addicted to opioid painkillers.
  At a townhall meeting last fall in Quakertown, Bucks County, 
Pennsylvania, in my district, graduates of the Bucks County Drug Court 
shared their inspirational journeys toward recovery.
  These stories, while marked with tragedy, are also punctuated with 
the hope that their message can save others from the pain and the loss 
of heroin addiction. Their message is having an impact.
  My community of Bucks County, Pennsylvania, and others around this 
country are joining in the fight against drug abuse. Just 2 weeks ago, 
Bucks County residents helped dispose of more than 10,394 pounds of old 
pills and prescription drugs.
  I just heard this evening both Representative Dold and Representative 
Chabot speak about what they referred to as drug take-back days. We in 
Bucks County have removed literally tons of prescription drugs from the 
street, medicine cabinets, and from the water stream. Remove the supply 
as we work to remove the demand.
  As a member of the task force, I am continuing to work with leaders 
like those speaking here tonight in both political parties toward a 
common goal of developing and enacting these national policies to stem 
the rising tide of drug use and drug abuse.
  Through the hard work of this task force and the tireless efforts of 
local recovery advocates across our country, this week the House will 
take an important step toward passing comprehensive policies designed 
to help combat the opioid epidemic facing our Nation.
  I am proud to be part of this effort that will undoubtedly help save 
others from the pain and the loss of addiction.
  I thank Representative Guinta for his leadership. We look forward to 
the success of these bills here this week.
  Mr. GUINTA. I thank Congressman Fitzpatrick for his leadership on the 
bipartisan task force and for working with us to combat this 
significant challenge.
  I yield to the gentleman from Staten Island, New York (Mr. Donovan).
  Mr. DONOVAN. I thank Congressman Guinta and Congresswoman Kuster for 
their leadership in this area.
  Mr. Speaker, this week the House of Representatives will act to pass 
a package of bills addressing the opioid crisis.
  One of them, the Comprehensive Opioid Abuse Reduction Act, will 
authorize new grant programs for cities and nonprofits for education, 
treatment, and enforcement, and not a minute too soon.
  Opioid abuse is an epidemic. It is everywhere you look. It is in our 
neighborhood, in our social circles, and in our schools. Too many 
parents have buried their sons and daughters or watched them struggle 
for years with addiction, treatment, and relapse. It has to stop.
  An effective response needs to address three areas: education, 
treatment, and enforcement. Today's youth have to be educated about the 
dangers of addiction, and loved ones need to learn to recognize the 
early signs.

                              {time}  2030

  The legislation the House will pass this week authorizes new grants 
to prevent the next generation from abusing pills and heroin.
  Proven diversion programs, like the drug treatment courts I 
participated in as district attorney of Staten Island for 12 years, 
should have the resources and the staffing needed to accomplish their 
mission: To get users off of drugs.
  The Comprehensive Opioid Abuse Reduction Act authorizes grants to 
establish new drug courts and expand those already in operation. 
However, we must follow up on our efforts this week and ensure that the 
grant application process is not overly complicated and onerous.
  In the past, the Federal grant processes has discouraged effective 
treatment organizations from seeking the resources made available by 
Congress. This is a national health emergency, and the bureaucracy must 
not get in the way of treatment.
  Mr. Speaker, this week marks a major step forward. Congress is 
directing resources towards programs and policies that have been 
effective, and will continue to evaluate what is working and what is 
not. By working together and getting the right tools to local experts, 
we can beat this demon of addiction.
  Mr. GUINTA. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from New York for his 
work on the Opioid Abuse Reduction Act, I thank him for his work on the 
task force and continuing the fight in this epidemic.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Rodney 
Davis).
  Mr. RODNEY DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleagues, Mr. 
Guinta, Ms. Kuster, and the previous Special Order leader, Ms. Clark. 
This is tremendously a great turnout for such an important subject, and 
for you three to lead it. Especially my good friend, Mr. Guinta, I want 
to say thank you on behalf of the many families who have been affected 
by this epidemic in Central Illinois where I am blessed to serve. I 
think this shows how serious Congress is about addressing the issue of 
opioids and addiction in our country, and I am happy the House is going 
to consider important pieces of legislation this week.
  I want to read a quote from today's Bloomington, Illinois, 
Pantagraph. It says: ``The profile of a typical heroin user shooting up 
in an alley or backstage at a rock concert no longer holds true.''
  According to the CDC, there were more than 1,700 drug overdose deaths 
in my home State of Illinois in 2014, and the eighth highest in the 
Nation.
  As of March of this year, the Illinois Department of Public Health 
reported that 761 deaths in 2015 were attributed to heroin alone. And 
while the majority of these occur in the Chicagoland area, our State's 
rural communities, the communities that I serve, have seen a noticeable 
rise of heroin-related deaths in recent years.
  As a matter of fact, just yesterday in Bloomington, Illinois, the 
towns of Bloomington, Normal, McLean County, I was there. There have 
been seven deaths last year attributed in that one county to heroin 
use.
  I had the opportunity to join McLean County Sheriff Jon Sandage and 
County Coroner Kathy Davis and talk about what they see firsthand.
  Mr. Speaker, I saw for the first time in my life what heroin looked 
like in the evidence locker at the McLean County Sheriff's Office just 
yesterday. I also had the opportunity to ride along with McLean County 
Sheriff's Deputy Jonathan Albee, a handler in the department's K-9 
Unit, and his dog, Keej, who liked to bark at me a lot while I was in 
that car.
  We discussed the recent rise in heroin overdoses, as well as the 70 
percent increase in arrests for controlled substance possession that 
the McLean County Sheriff's Office says they have seen in the last 
year. And during that ride-along, I got to experience a stop where 
drugs were found, but not heroin.
  This is the community where my daughter just finished her freshman 
year in college. I have seen how this epidemic cannot just touch larger 
communities, many urban communities like Bloomington, Normal, and 
McLean County, it touches my home county of Christian County, too.
  Mr. Speaker, just a few years ago our county health department 
director was arrested for heroin use and heroin possession. If it can 
happen to our own county health department director, it can happen to 
anyone, regardless of your socioeconomic status.
  Mr. Speaker, there are many factors that have made this epidemic 
widespread, from prescription practices, to the actions of cartels 
south of the border; and that is why we are addressing

[[Page 5629]]

this important issue this week in the House of Representatives.
  I am proud to join with my colleague, Mr. Guinta. I want to thank him 
and the rest of the colleagues who have come here tonight to support 
this important issue.
  I can't wait to vote in a bipartisan way for every single bill we are 
going to take up this week to address this very important issue.
  Mr. GUINTA. I thank the gentleman from Illinois for his being here 
this evening, his leadership. He has talked very eloquently over the 
last several months about constituents of his that he is working so 
closely to help in creating an opportunity for recovery. So I thank the 
gentleman and thank him for being here.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from West Chester, Pennsylvania 
(Mr. Costello).
  Mr. COSTELLO of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, Kevin Steele, who is the 
district attorney in Montgomery County, one of the four counties that I 
represent a portion of in southeastern Pennsylvania, noted earlier this 
week that there were 2,500 drug overdose deaths in Pennsylvania over 
the past year, 60 alone in Montgomery County.
  This is what he said: ``We're seeing numbers we haven't seen before. 
We're on pace to have the deadliest year for overdoses.''
  Now, not all of them are heroin, but quite a good number of them are.
  I did not plan on coming down here to the House floor and speaking 
about any particular individual who I know, and I won't name names; but 
I will say this, and this is a bit of a surreal moment for me.
  Between the time that I left my office and I came to the House floor, 
my brother texted me to let me know that someone that he went to high 
school with, who he was goods friends with, who played in my backyard 
growing up, had passed away.
  I then reached out to my other friend, who let me know that it was 
indeed, by all accounts, heroin. And in speaking with this friend, he 
shared with me the names of a few other individuals from my high school 
that I was completely unaware of who have passed away in the past 6 
months, kids I haven't seen or heard from in 15 or 20 years, but 
nevertheless, it strikes very close to home for me and I am sure a lot 
of Members here tonight who have had firsthand experience with the 
epidemic.
  As a member of the Bipartisan Task Force to Combat the Heroin 
Epidemic, I do want to thank Mr. Guinta and his leadership. We have an 
opportunity this week to take constructive steps to combat the heroin 
and opioid epidemic that damages our communities and destroys families, 
and we have that opportunity by bringing a series of commonsense, 
bipartisan bills to the House floor for consideration.
  Now, it is a package of bills. I won't get into the specifics of each 
one. I would rather paint with a little bit more of a broad brush here 
this evening and simply say that these legislative efforts to take 
constructive steps to get direct and immediate resources to those on 
the front line in this battle, our first responders, our physicians, 
and healthcare providers, our local and municipal officials, is a 
tremendous step forward in the right direction.
  I served as a county commissioner, and I can tell you, I know the 
challenges that our local emergency responders and law enforcement 
professionals face each and every day.
  Indeed, last week I was in Berks County, one of the four counties I 
represent, and had a roundtable with the county commissioners there, 
the district attorney, the director of the emergency department at the 
local hospital, and also drug treatment professionals.
  It is very clear that we need a multilateral approach between drug 
treatment professionals, medical professionals, local officials. They 
each play a different role, but the theme is somewhat the same.
  We have outdated regulations, we have insufficient resources, and we 
need to better align the resources that we are providing. And that is 
what we are going to do this week in the House, positive productive 
steps on a bipartisan basis to get those on the front lines in our 
communities, the resources they need. In doing so, we will better 
empower our local first responders, our local law enforcement, and our 
community healthcare providers.
  I would be remiss if I didn't also speak about the issue of 
prevention, prevention in the first instance. Abuse-deterrent 
medications are critical. Our life sciences industry in my district and 
across this country are making tremendous strides. It is a key 
component in preventing addiction for many in the first instance.
  Let me conclude, though, with this, Mr. Speaker. As legislators, as 
lawmakers, we can't end this epidemic. A law, any number of laws that 
simply pass the House that may get signed into law are not going to end 
an epidemic. We understand that--and I want the American people to 
understand tonight--we are not saying that by passing laws, we end the 
epidemic.
  But what we can do is improve collaboration and better align 
resources from and for the various stakeholders so that together we can 
turn the trajectory of this epidemic, which is on a very dangerous 
course, we can turn it into a declining direction, which is what we 
need to do. We need to turn this around.
  We have a tremendous opportunity here in the House this week to take 
very positive steps in that direction, and I want to thank Mr. Guinta 
for his leadership on this issue.
  Mr. GUINTA. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. 
Costello) for being here this evening and for his leadership in 
authoring the Prevent Drug Addiction Act of 2016, another mechanism by 
which we can provide opportunity to those who suffer from the ailment 
of addiction. His work is very well-regarded on the bipartisan task 
force and, again, I thank him for his leadership.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield to another honorable gentleman from the great 
State of Pennsylvania (Mr. Meehan), my good friend.
  Mr. MEEHAN. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from New Hampshire and 
all of my colleagues who have taken this approach to comprehensive 
discussion on what we can do with legislation to deal with the issue of 
not just heroin abuse, but the opioids that are now a precursor.
  I would suggest that just about everybody who has come to this floor 
comes with a personal story. Mine is very personal as well.
  The name of the act that I am sponsoring that is part of this 
comprehensive package is the John Thomas Decker Act.
  John was an athlete of great talent. He was one of the record holders 
for more than a decade as a receiver who went on to Cornell as part of 
a program in which he was a lacrosse player, a program that won a 
national championship during his time there.
  But John, like so many student athletes, suffered from a knee injury 
that impacted his ability to play, and like so many, he played through 
the pain. And one of the things that he used in order to deal with that 
pain was opioids, opioids that in the beginning were prescribed, and 
then subsequently were used by him without a prescription.
  But that should not surprise you, because one of the things that we 
look at with respect to college athletes is that 23 percent of college 
athletes, according to one NCAA study, have been prescribed pain 
medications during the course of the year. Another 6 percent, on top of 
that, self-prescribe with opioids.
  So as a result, we have almost 1 in 4--more than 1 in 4 dealing with 
opioids. The problem being that that leads, oftentimes, to an 
addiction. There is a misunderstanding, a belief among many that it is 
a much safer drug because it has been prescribed, but not a recognition 
that it can lead, in weeks and even days with daily use, to a 
psychological dependency, which can lead toward the addiction.
  Many people think that because they have been able to get it under 
control, they will return to it at some time later at a dosage that 
they used before, and because of the concentration being higher, they 
will return, and oftentimes it can lead, as it did in John

[[Page 5630]]

Thomas Decker's situation, to an overdose.
  The John Tomas Decker Act is designed to enable, at the high school 
level, the Centers for Disease Control to reach out, study the impact 
of opioid use among high school athletes and better arm those who 
engage with them to monitor the use of those who have been prescribed 
it, to screen for history of current drug use, depression, other kinds 
of things that can lead to addiction, and begin to educate not just 
those student athletes, but those who are in charge of those student 
athletes about the great concern of opioid abuse, which can lead to 
heroin addiction and, ultimately, death.

                              {time}  2045

  I'm grateful for the leadership of my colleague from New Hampshire 
and her counterpart across the aisle for their work in this important 
area. I urge my colleagues from both sides of the aisle to support the 
John Thomas Decker Act, and I know that all of us will be committed to 
doing everything we can to stay ahead of this very, very challenging 
issue for our Nation.
  Mr. GUINTA. I thank the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Meehan) for 
his leadership on the John Thomas Decker Act and his work in fighting 
this addiction as well.
  Again, I thank the gentleman very much.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from West Virginia (Mr. 
Jenkins).
  Mr. JENKINS of West Virginia. Mr. Speaker, the United States is in 
the middle of a drug crisis that is ravaging urban and rural 
communities alike. We have seen the overdose rates skyrocket in the 
United States in recent years. My home State of West Virginia sits atop 
the list, and I have seen firsthand the destruction that the disease of 
addiction has brought to our cities and towns.
  But imagine for a moment actually starting your life in the throes of 
withdrawal. This is the tragic reality for thousands of newborns 
nationwide. During pregnancy, a baby is exposed to any drugs the mother 
takes. As soon as they are born, their bodies begin going through 
withdrawal from heroin, opioids, and other drugs. Not even babies are 
immune from the effects of this drug epidemic.
  Until you see these babies going through withdrawal yourself, you 
cannot imagine their suffering. Their bodies shake with tremors. Their 
cries are heartbreaking. They are sensitive to noise, to light, and 
even to touch. No baby should have to go through withdrawal in their 
first hours, in their first days or weeks of his or her life.
  We in the House are working together on this critical issue. We are 
passing much-needed legislation to create a path to recovery and a path 
to a healthy start in life for every child.
  I am honored to have legislation included in this package of bills 
this week. The Nurturing and Supporting Healthy Babies Act will expand 
our knowledge of coverage and care for newborns with neonatal 
abstinence syndrome, or NAS, babies suffering from withdrawal after 
birth from the exposure during pregnancy.
  The dramatic increase of NAS, the challenges to developing new models 
of care, and breaking down regulatory barriers are things I know all 
too well. I helped start Lily's Place in my hometown of Huntington, 
West Virginia, which treats NAS newborns in a stand-alone facility. The 
care given is complementary to the traditional hospital setting. Lily's 
Place offers clinical care by doctors and nurses, as well as social 
workers for families.
  Hearing the cries of these newborns will forever change you. We owe 
it to each and every child to make sure they have a chance to start 
their lives healthy and happy.
  I wish to thank Congressman Guinta and Congresswoman Kuster for their 
leadership on the Bipartisan Task Force to Combat the Heroin Epidemic. 
By working together, we can find solutions and build a brighter future.
  Mr. GUINTA. I want to thank the gentleman from West Virginia for his 
leadership on the Nurturing and Supporting Healthy Babies Act. I look 
forward to voting this week in favor of the gentleman's legislation, 
and I appreciate the gentleman's compassion and passion for the issue.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Georgia, Congressman 
Carter.
  Mr. CARTER of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for holding 
this Special Order to discuss such an important issue.
  Mr. Speaker, as a lifelong pharmacist, I have experienced firsthand 
the struggles that medical professionals and Americans face with 
prescription drug abuse. Many don't realize, but medical professionals 
are not immune to prescription drug abuse. I have had several 
colleagues in the pharmacy profession who have struggled with 
prescription drug abuse.
  In addition, I was the cosponsor in the Georgia General Assembly when 
the Georgia Prescription Drug Monitoring Program was created. I believe 
that PDMPs are one of the most important tools in the fight against 
prescription drug abuse. As a pharmacist, I experienced several 
customers who would walk into my store with an out-of-State driver's 
license. As you can imagine, I was a little hesitant to fill a 
prescription of someone who has a Kentucky driver's license when my 
store is in south Georgia.
  I believe the best way to address this issue is to work as a team. 
Physicians, nurses, pharmacists, and anyone else who is part of an 
individual's medical team has a role to play. We must work together if 
we want to win against this powerful epidemic.
  In addition, community leaders, community service centers, and any 
other entity that is involved in community health has a role to play. 
We must all work together as a community to help people who are 
struggling with addiction.
  I encourage all of my colleagues to get involved in this issue. It is 
one that will destroy your communities and its families from the inside 
out, and you won't know you have a problem until it is almost too big 
to fight.
  Again, I want to thank the gentleman from New Hampshire for holding 
this Special Order. I hope we can continue to work together on this 
issue because this work will never be done.
  Mr. GUINTA. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the gentleman from Georgia 
for his leadership, and particularly for his expertise in the area of 
pharmacology. It is a critical component of understanding that we need 
to achieve based on the opioid crisis. I appreciate the gentleman's 
leadership and his ability to work with the Congress to make sure that 
we are finding and striving for solutions beyond opioids for 
prescriptions for pain in the country.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from California, Congressman 
Knight.
  Mr. KNIGHT. I want to thank Congresswoman Kuster and Congressman 
Guinta for taking a leadership role in this epidemic. This is something 
that has gone across the country. We have seen huge rises in the 
Northeast and across the Midwest, but this is something that is not 
immune from any one of our districts.
  I, along with Representatives Esty and Costello, are sponsoring 
legislation to establish education programs for both consumer awareness 
and practitioner training to get at the root of most of these 
addictions.
  As a police officer for 18 years with the LAPD, I have seen an awful 
lot of drug addiction and drug addiction problems in our streets. We 
saw rock hit our streets many, many years ago, and that is still 
infiltrating many of our urban areas in America. Then we moved on to 
other drugs like meth and heroin.
  Heroin was always one of those kind of taboo drugs, but today it is 
not. We have seen a lot of the kids that get addicted because they got 
a sports injury or they got some other issue and have gotten a 
prescription drug, and they have moved on from the oxys when they have 
run out of these opioids and they have moved on to heroin.
  So it has not become a taboo drug. It has actually been a new drug 
that they can continue on their addiction; and they don't understand 
what it is doing to their body, and they don't understand the 
addictions that are hurting them and, in some instances, killing them.

[[Page 5631]]

  We have seen heroin and fentanyl taking over our streets and not just 
moving from California to Maine, but absolutely taking over America and 
hurting our kids and killing our kids in record numbers.
  My wife is also an NICU nurse. She has been an NICU nurse for about 
20 years, and she has seen the effects of little babies that have come 
in and are now addicted to these drugs, and they are addicted to 
heroin. Seeing what this does to a baby that is born premature and now 
addicted to this drug makes your heart go out, but you also understand 
the problems that these babies are going to have probably for a very 
long time in their young lives.
  If we don't do something, this will continue to ravage our kids, and 
it will continue to kill our kids on our streets. If Congressman Guinta 
and Congresswoman Kuster had not brought this forward, then somebody 
would have had to. But who? So I say I thank you to them both for doing 
this. I know it ravages your State of New Hampshire, but it also 
affects our States and our cities across the country. Without 
leadership, this would have continued to go on.
  These bills that we are voting on will do something. They will have 
an effect. The local administrations have to have an effect. Our 
counties and our States have to have an effect or this will continue 
on.
  So I say I thank you to the gentlewoman and the gentleman, and I 
encourage everyone to vote on these.
  Mr. GUINTA. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the gentleman from 
California (Mr. Knight) for his service on the task force, his service 
for the last 18 years in uniform, and the gentleman's continued service 
here in the Congress. The gentleman's depth and understanding of the 
issue is critical to the passage of the legislation that we are 
bringing to the floor this week. I look forward to continuing our work 
with the gentleman, and I thank the gentleman.
  Mr. Speaker, I now yield to the gentlewoman from our great State of 
New Hampshire (Ms. Kuster), my esteemed colleague, who is the co-
chairman of the bipartisan task force.
  Ms. KUSTER. I thank the gentleman, Mr. Guinta, for his leadership and 
to everyone who participated tonight.
  The idea behind a Special Order to put a face on this terrible heroin 
epidemic and addiction, generally, is to create compassion and empathy 
both among our colleagues and for those of you who may be watching at 
home. We need a societal change in the way we approach substance use 
disorder. We need to understand that this is a disease. I say at home, 
frequently, every time you hear the word ``addict,'' think of the word 
``diabetic.'' We don't say to someone: We can't treat you because you 
have just eaten cake. Essentially, we say: That is a really hard 
disease for you to live with, and we want to help you.
  That is the message that we want to convey tonight to families in New 
Hampshire and all across this country. We want to be a part of the 
solution, and that is going to include prevention, education, 
treatment, access to treatment, expanding access to treatment, and then 
lifelong recovery.
  We know that the brain changes under the misuse of prescription drugs 
or opiates or heroin, and we need to have the patience to help people 
get through not just the treatment itself, but the recovery period. We 
need homes where people can live in a substance-free environment, and 
we need supports and mental health supports. We have learned that four 
out of five heroin users have a co-occurring mental health issue 
typically untreated and typically not getting any kind of help with 
that. So in a sense, what you have are people that are self-medicating.
  We also know that four out of five heroin users are coming to this 
through prescription medication, so we need to reach out and work with 
our healthcare providers. I am very proud that both the American 
Medical Association and the American Hospital Association are 
supporting many of the bills that we have coming forward on the floor 
this week.
  So this is the beginning. Our work is not done, but the message 
tonight is that Congress is coming together in a bipartisan way to 
tackle this head-on, to help these families, to help people get 
treatment, and to put an end to this terrible, terrible disease.
  I thank the gentleman from New Hampshire.
  Mr. GUINTA. I want to thank the gentlewoman, my colleague from our 
State of New Hampshire, where, unfortunately, last year, 430 people 
perished due to opioid abuse and addiction. That is 1 out of every 
3,000 of our residents. It is a significant challenge in our State, in 
the Northeast, and New England, but all across the country. Almost 
50,000 people, last year, died of this epidemic.
  It is not just an epidemic, but an emergency, one that I believe this 
Congress is firmly standing strong in a bipartisan way to find 
solutions, to do our part at the Federal level to make sure that we 
have every opportunity not just to help those who seek treatment and 
recovery, but also to strengthen law enforcement, to focus on those 
individuals who are selling these drugs across the country, from 
California to New Hampshire, but also being proactive in prevention and 
in education.
  We often speak of our friends and constituents in New Hampshire that 
continue to suffer, but we also talk about our children. I have a 12-
year-old and an 11-year-old that I hope will live lives without and 
free from drugs. I want to make sure that every seventh- and eighth-
grader in the State of New Hampshire understands the severity of the 
problem and understands that this is something that is deadly that we 
cannot even take once.
  As you mentioned, the challenge of fentanyl, lacing a pill of heroin 
with as many as three small pieces of fentanyl the size of grains of 
sand can kill a person. Most people don't realize that. This is a 
deadly, deadly epidemic.

                              {time}  2100

  This week the House of Representatives takes up a whole host of 
bills. After the Senate passed their CARA Act 94-1, we have had four 
committees of jurisdiction work and try to improve that piece of 
legislation.
  I look forward to sharing a very strong bipartisan vote this week on 
a whole host of bills, going to conference with the Senate, and getting 
this bill to the President's desk. It is a mark of bipartisanship and 
it is a mark of leadership, something that the country needs to see 
from this institution and from this city.
  I want to thank all of my colleagues who participated in this Special 
Order tonight to kick off Heroin and Opioid Awareness Week. We have 
heard stories of success and difficulty come in equal measure from 
every corner of the country.
  I commend the House for passing a comprehensive bipartisan bill for 
the relief of the vulnerable, the victimized, and distressed in my 
district, in your district, and throughout the Nation. Any measure we 
take to lighten even slightly the burden of suffering patients and 
families can make the difference between fatal despair and renewal.
  The House is scheduled to take up several similar measures this week. 
It is my hope that, when combined, our efforts will begin to form a 
solution to this harrowing and tragic national crisis. We will continue 
to work for safe communities and effective evidence-based treatments.
  But I want to end this evening on a favorable note. I want to share 
the story of my friend, Abi Lizotte, who the gentlewoman from New 
Hampshire, Congresswoman Kuster, knows all too well.
  Abi Lizotte last year had been addicted to heroin for an extended 
period of time and had nowhere left to turn. Her family wouldn't help 
her. Her friends wouldn't help her. Even the people she bought drugs 
from wouldn't help her.
  She was 8 months pregnant. She finally called a nurse, a nurse that 
had helped her earlier in the year, and asked for assistance. She went 
to the hospital and thankfully was able to see a physician. That 
physician told her

[[Page 5632]]

that she was days away from dying while she was carrying her child.
  Thankfully, through the grace of God and the help of people in New 
Hampshire, she was able to start the process of recovery. Today my 
friend Abi--and I am proud to call her my friend--has testified in 
front of our committee hearings in New Hampshire, has testified about 
the experience that she had and the loneliness and despair that she 
experienced. She is now 6 months clean with an 8-month-old son named 
Parker. It is a story of success.
  She continues each and every day to strive for that success for 
others. She actually goes to schools in New Hampshire and speaks to 
kids about her experience in the hope that other people will not fall 
to the same experience she had over the last several years.
  I count her as a friend, but I focus our work in her name, just as 
you focus your work in the name of Kriss Soterian's stepdaughter, 
Amber, because these are people we know. These are people that we don't 
just represent. They are people that we want to try to save.
  I am very, very happy to see our leadership, the bipartisanship this 
week in the legislation that will come to this floor, and I pray that 
next year we don't see the same number of deaths, that we start to see 
a decline.
  But, regardless, this is just the beginning of this process where we 
will continue to fight for every life, to fight for every person who is 
dealing with the disease of addiction, and will continue to work in a 
bipartisan way because people of our Nation deserve it.
  I want to thank my colleague again, Ann Kuster from New Hampshire, my 
co-chair of the bipartisan task force, for her leadership. I thank the 
speakers this evening. I look forward to a productive week and a 
productive year.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

                          ____________________