[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 162 (2016), Part 4]
[House]
[Pages 5660-5661]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]





                          HEROIN OPIOID CRISIS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from New 
York (Mr. Zeldin) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. ZELDIN. Mr. Speaker, the growing heroin and opioid crisis has 
especially hit home in my district in Suffolk County, New York. There 
was a

[[Page 5661]]

2015 report issued in New York State that showed that, out of all 62 
counties in New York, it was my home county that was hit the hardest by 
the rise of heroin and opioid abuse. We had the highest number of 
heroin-related overdose deaths of any county in New York.
  As a member of the Bipartisan Task Force to Combat the Heroin 
Epidemic, I have spoken with affected families directly. Addiction is a 
truly devastating disease that shatters lives, families, and 
communities. It is a disease that only continues to spread at rapid 
rates, and more can and must be done to counteract the damage it has 
done and prevent its rapid advancement.
  Working closely with my local community, I have been pursuing a more 
localized solution to address this crisis. Hosting multiple drug task 
force roundtables in Suffolk County, I have been able to bring together 
local elected officials, law enforcement, health professionals, 
community groups, parents, concerned residents, and those in recovery 
to discuss various ways that we can work together to combat this 
epidemic. Over the past year, working with both local residents and my 
colleagues in Congress, I have been pushing to advance legislation in 
the House that would help provide us with the resources we need to end 
the growing epidemic crisis on Long Island.
  Just last week, joined by my local community, I was proud to announce 
that there has been progress made to pass several important bills this 
week aimed at improving and increasing access to treatment, 
enforcement, and education. The House is now passing many of these 
critically important measures over the course of the next few days.
  While I have been dedicating the most amount of my time advocating 
for the passage of the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act, CARA, 
H.R. 593, many other important proposals are also moving forward.
  One other bill that I cosponsor is H.R. 4641, which will be passing 
today, which would improve the guidelines for prescribing opioids and 
pain medication by creating a Federal interagency and stakeholder task 
force that would review, modify, and update best practices for pain 
management in prescribing pain medication. While there are many 
legitimate reasons and needs for some to be treated with pain 
medication, those highly addictive pills pose a serious risk. This 
critical bill would help ensure that all parties, from prescribers to 
patients, have access to the most up-to-date information so that lawful 
prescription use does not become addicting.
  Just a few of the other bills include the Examining Opioid Treatment 
Infrastructure Act of 2016, H.R. 4982, which would require Congress 
receive a report on substance abuse treatment availability and 
infrastructure needs in the U.S., and legislation that would task a 
Federal agency to create a plan on how to deal with the opioid and 
heroin epidemic, H.R. 4976.
  Legislation is passing to help stop the flow of illegal narcotics 
into our country, to keep drugs out of our communities and off our 
streets, such as legislation to help law enforcement officials identify 
and target drug traffickers, H.R. 3380, and to allow for easier 
prosecution of these criminals, H.R. 4985.
  There is not one piece of legislation that will completely solve this 
overwhelming crisis, but finally Congress is taking a big step forward 
in the fight against drug abuse. We must always do everything in our 
power to provide our local communities with the resources necessary to 
help stop and prevent drug abuse through treatment, enforcement, and 
education, which is why I will continue pushing these efforts in the 
House.
  I have spoken to parents of those recovering, parents of those who 
are unfortunately lost. It is impacting lives. It is devastating 
families.
  Have a conversation in each of our districts, all 435 congressional 
districts, and we all hear the story all too often. It is not any race, 
gender, or socioeconomic status. It is not one particular school 
district. It is impacting all of our children.
  As the father of two 9-year-old girls, I visited their class last 
week. I think of their generation, and it is important that this 
generation in Congress today does everything in our power this week and 
beyond to combat this epidemic.

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