[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 162 (2016), Part 4]
[House]
[Page 5664]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1215
                OPIOID ADDICTION IS A NATIONAL EMERGENCY

  (Mr. HIMES asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. HIMES. Mr. Speaker, I rise this morning to tell the story of Alex 
Recupido, a troubled high school graduate of 2010, an accomplished 
pianist, a kid who was known for his creativity. He had gotten his 
nursing license and had moved to Florida when prescription drugs led to 
a heroin addiction and Alex died in 2014.
  Sadly, Alex is not alone as 723 people died last year in my small 
State of Connecticut, and roughly 30,000 Americans will die this year 
of opioid addiction. By any standard, this is a national emergency.
  At great long last, this House is acting this week on a series of 
bills to improve the training, the awareness, and the treatment that we 
offer to people who are caught in this cycle. I am concerned, though, 
Mr. Speaker, that the total funds called for by all of these bills--
about $100 million--is completely inadequate for a national emergency.
  At the end of the day, it is the resources, not the words, that we 
must offer. I believe we can do better. Our citizens are worth it. For 
people out there like Alex Recupido, it is a matter of life and death.

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