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




                            OPIOID OVERDOSES

  (Mr. STEWART asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. STEWART. Mr. Speaker, like many of my colleagues, I am concerned 
by the great opioid epidemic that is sweeping our Nation.
  Every day more than 78 Americans die from opioid overdoses--78 
Americans. Think about that. That is more than three every hour. Nearly 
2 million Americans are addicted to or abuse opiate-based painkillers.
  Unfortunately and, frankly, very sadly, my home State of Utah is all 
too familiar with these statistics, as we are fifth in the Nation in 
the most opioid-related deaths.
  These drug addictions are destroying opportunities and are 
devastating families and communities all across the country. We simply 
must take steps to help alleviate this suffering.
  I am proud to be supporting a number of bills that the House will be 
debating and voting on this week to combat opioid abuse, legislation 
that will lead to updated best practices for prescribers of pain 
medication, legislation that will improve drug abuse programs, and 
legislation that will give States and local communities more 
flexibility to attack this problem and the problems that are unique to 
those communities.
  I urge support from my colleagues on both sides of the aisle, and am 
pleased to see that there is bipartisan support of these much-needed 
reforms.

                          ____________________