•HCON 71 RH 
(4) Since 1999, the number of deaths from pre-
scription opioids has more than quadrupled. 
(5) The CDC asserts that improving opioid pre-
scribing practices will reduce exposure to opioids, 
prevent abuse, and stop addiction. 
(6) The CDC has found that individuals in 
rural counties are almost twice as likely to overdose 
on prescription painkillers as those in urban areas. 
(7) According to the CDC, nearly 7,000 people 
are treated in emergency rooms every day for using 
opioids in a non-approved manner. 
(8) The 21st Century Cures Act and the Com-
prehensive Addiction and Recovery Act were signed 
into law in the 114th Congress in an overwhelming 
display of congressional and executive branch sup-
port in the fight against the opioid epidemic. 
(9) Bipartisan efforts to eliminate opioid abuse 
and provide relief from addiction for all Americans 
should continue. 
(b) POLICY ON OPIOID ABUSE.—It is the policy of 
this concurrent resolution that— 
(1) combating opioid abuse using available 
budgetary resources remains a high priority; 
(2) the House, in a bipartisan manner, should 
continue to examine the Federal response to the 
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opioid abuse epidemic and support essential activi-
ties to reduce and prevent substance abuse; 
(3) the House should continue to support initia-
tives included in the 21st Century Cures Act and the 
Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act; 
(4) the House should continue its oversight ef-
forts, particularly ongoing investigations conducted 
by the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, 
to ensure that taxpayer dollars intended to combat 
opioid abuse are spent appropriately and efficiently; 
and 
(5) the House should collaborate with State, 
local, and tribal entities to develop a comprehensive 
strategy for addressing the opioid addiction crisis. 
SEC. 513. POLICY STATEMENT ON THE STATE CHILDREN’S 
HEALTH INSURANCE PROGRAM. 
(a) FINDINGS.—The House finds the following: 
(1) The State Children’s Health Insurance Pro-
gram (SCHIP) is a means-tested program that pro-
vides health insurance coverage to low-income chil-
dren and pregnant women who do not qualify for 
Medicaid based on income. 
(2) SCHIP eligibility varies by State, as States 
decide the income upper limit for beneficiaries; the 
current upper limit varies from 175 percent of the 
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Federal poverty level to 405 percent of the Federal 
poverty level. 
(3) SCHIP covered on average 6.3 million peo-
ple monthly in fiscal year 2017. 
(4) The average cost of a child enrolled in 
SCHIP to the Federal Government was approxi-
mately $2,300 in fiscal year 2017, compared to ap-
proximately $1,910 for a child enrolled in Medicaid. 
(5) The Federal spending allotment for SCHIP 
will expire at the end of fiscal year 2017. 
(6) The Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Ac-
cess Commission recommends an extension of Fed-
eral SCHIP funding, and warns that all States are 
projected to exhaust their Federal SCHIP funds 
during fiscal year 2018. 
(7) SCHIP should be preserved to assist the 
Nation’s vulnerable children. 
(b) POLICY ON THE STATE CHILDREN’S HEALTH IN-
SURANCE PROGRAM.—It is the policy of this concurrent 
resolution that— 
(1) the House should work in a bipartisan man-
ner to reauthorize SCHIP funding; 
(2) the authorizing committees should consider 
establishing a Federal upper limit for SCHIP eligi-
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bility, rather than providing open-ended access to 
the program for those at higher income levels; 
(3) the House should target resources des-
ignated for SCHIP toward those most in need of 
Federal assistance; and 
(4) the House should require greater reporting 
by States of SCHIP data in order to better struc-
ture the program to meet beneficiaries’ needs. 
SEC. 514. POLICY STATEMENT ON MEDICAL DISCOVERY, 
DEVELOPMENT, 
DELIVERY, 
AND 
INNOVA-
TION. 
(a) FINDINGS.—The House finds the following: 
(1) The Nation’s commitment to the discovery, 
development, and delivery of new treatments and 
cures has made the United States the biomedical in-
novation capital of the world for decades. 
(2) The history of scientific discovery and med-
ical breakthroughs in the United States is extensive, 
including the creation of the polio vaccine, the first 
genetic 
mapping, 
and 
the 
invention 
of 
the 
implantable cardiac pacemaker. 
(3) Reuters ranks the United States Health and 
Human Services Laboratories as first in the world 
for innovation on its 2017 list of the Top 25 Global 
Innovators. 
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(4) The United States leads the world in the 
production of medical devices, and the United States 
medical device market accounts for approximately 45 
percent of the global market. 
(5) The United States remains a global leader 
in pharmaceutical research and development invest-
ment, has produced more than half of the world’s 
new molecules in the past decade, and represents the 
world’s largest pharmaceutical market, which is tri-
ple the size of the nearest rival, China. 
(b) POLICY ON MEDICAL INNOVATION.—It is the pol-
icy of this concurrent resolution that— 
(1) the Federal Government should foster in-
vestment in health care innovation and maintain the 
Nation’s world leadership status in medical science 
by encouraging competition; 
(2) the House should continue to support the 
critical work of medical innovators throughout the 
country through continued funding for agencies, in-
cluding the National Institutes of Health and the 
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, to con-
duct life-saving research and development; and 
(3) the Federal Government should unleash the 
power of private-sector medical innovation by remov-
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