Chairman Goodlatte Floor Statement on Opioid Conference Report

Chairman Goodlatte: Thank you, Chairman Upton.  I appreciate your strong partnership throughout this important effort. Today, the House will complete its work on a comprehensive legislative package to combat the terrible epidemic of opioid abuse, which is ravaging our country. We have all heard the grim statistics.  129 people die every day from a drug overdose. That is more than 47,000 a year.  These people are our neighbors, friends, and loved ones.  They come from all walks of life and all communities. They need our help. Today, the House is answering the call. The conference report we are considering today represents a truly comprehensive response to the opioid epidemic. It includes provisions from eighteen bills passed by the House in May, and addresses all facets of the epidemic. It permits the government to make grants for purposes of prevention, treatment, and recovery, overdose reversal through the use of FDA-approved and appropriately labelled drugs and devices, and law enforcement and investigative purposes. Significantly, the conference report preserves the provisions of the Judiciary Committee’s flagship bill, H.R. 5046, which passed this House in May by an overwhelming 413-5 vote.  This historic legislation, which was sponsored by Crime Subcommittee Chairman Jim Sensenbrenner, creates a comprehensive Justice Department grant program to help states fight opioid addiction.  It authorizes $103 million annually over five years for the grant program.  It directs precious taxpayer dollars responsibly by leveraging and streamlining existing programs and fully offsetting the legislation in compliance with the House’s cut-go protocol. The conference report authorizes this funding for a wide variety of anti-opioid activities, including drug courts, which have proven to be highly successful and which I support.  In fact, it is my expectation, Mr. Speaker, that drug courts will continue to receive funding levels in future years similar to current funding levels. In addition to H.R. 5046, this conference report contains the provisions from three other Judiciary Committee bills, including H.R. 5052, the OPEN Act, which increases the transparency and accountability of the comprehensive opioid abuse grant program in H.R. 5046; H.R. 4985, the Kingpin Designation Improvement Act, which protects classified information from disclosure when a drug kingpin challenges his designation as such in a federal court; and H.R. 5048, the Good Samaritan Assessment Act, which requires the GAO to study state and local Good Samaritan laws that protect caregivers, law enforcement personnel, and first responders who administer opioid overdose reversal drugs or devices from criminal or civil liability, as well as those who contact emergency service providers in response to an overdose. In addition, the Judiciary Committee moved as part of this package S. 32, the Transnational Drug Trafficking Act.  That legislation, which has already been signed into law, improves law enforcement’s ability to pursue international drug manufacturers, brokers, and distributors in “source nations.”  Federal prosecutors can now use the important tools in that bill to pursue foreign drug traffickers who are poisoning American citizens. Along with the excellent legislation prepared by our sister committees spearheaded by Chairmen Upton, Miller, and Kline, these bills make substantial policy changes within the federal agencies responsible for fighting addiction.  They take real steps to address the opioid epidemic and provide real relief to a real problem affecting real Americans.  Members of this body should be proud of these accomplishments. I would like to stress, Mr. Speaker, that opposition to this conference report on the basis of funding is wrong and misguided.  As I stated, this legislation authorizes $103 million just for Justice Department programs. Under the leadership of Chairmen Rogers, Culberson, Cole, Crenshaw and Dent, the House Appropriations Committee has responded admirably to this epidemic by allocating hundreds of millions of dollars in funding for these programs.  The CJS appropriations bill contains $103 million in funding for the DOJ program.  The Labor/HHS bill, released Wednesday, contains $581 million to address opioid and heroin abuse, which is above even the President’s budget request.  The Financial Services and General Government bill has funded High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas and Drug-Free Communities programs at record-highs.  Nobody can come to this floor and credibly claim that the House is not putting its money where its mouth is. I thank my colleagues for their support and hard work.  Yesterday, we received a letter signed by 233 addiction stakeholder groups, endorsing the conference report to S. 524.  I urge everyone to support this conference report, and I yield back the balance of my time. ###