131 
•HCON 125 RH 
(1) Sixty-one percent of all drug overdose 
deaths in the United States were related to opioids 
in 2014, primarily prescription pain relievers and 
heroin. Prescription opioid overdose deaths have 
quadrupled since 1999, with 44 deaths every day. 
(2) The Centers for Disease Control and Pre-
vention (CDC) has found that people in rural coun-
ties are almost twice as likely to overdose on pre-
scription painkillers as those in large cities. 
(3) One of the leading factors in the rise of 
opioid abuse is considered to be the ready avail-
ability of prescription painkillers: 
(A) From 1999 to 2013, the sale of pre-
scription painkillers in the United States quad-
rupled. 
(B) In 2012, there were enough opioids 
prescribed for every adult in the United States 
to each have their own one month’s supply. 
(C) Nearly 2 million Americans reported 
opioid abuse or dependency in 2013. 
(4) According to the CDC, every day nearly 
7,000 people are treated in emergency departments 
for using opioids in a manner other than as directed. 
(5) Prescription opioid abuse is also associated 
with a rise in heroin use and overdoses: 
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•HCON 125 RH 
(A) From 2002 to 2013, heroin use in the 
United States nearly doubled, and heroin-re-
lated overdose deaths nearly quadrupled. 
(B) According to the CDC, ‘‘past misuse of 
prescription opioids is the strongest risk factor 
for heroin initiation and use.’’ 
(b) POLICY ON OPIOID ABUSE.—It is the policy of 
this concurrent resolution that combating opioid abuse, 
using available budgetary resources, is a high priority to 
assist those who are suffering from this tragic epidemic. 
Congress, in a bipartisan manner, should examine the 
Federal response to the opioid abuse crisis and support 
essential activities, including rehabilitation, to reduce and 
prevent substance abuse. 
SEC. 614. POLICY STATEMENT ON HIGHER EDUCATION AND 
WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT OPPORTUNITY. 
(a) FINDINGS ON HIGHER EDUCATION.—The House 
finds the following: 
(1) A well-educated workforce is critical to eco-
nomic, job, and wage growth. 
(2) Roughly 20 million students are enrolled in 
American colleges and universities. 
(3) Over the past decade, tuition and fees have 
been growing at an unsustainable rate. Between the 
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•HCON 125 RH 
2005-2006 Academic Year and the 2015-2016 Aca-
demic Year, published tuition and fees at— 
(A) public 4-year colleges and universities 
increased at an average rate of 3.4 percent per 
year above the rate of inflation; 
(B) public 2-year colleges and universities 
increased at an average rate of 2.6 percent per 
year above the rate of inflation; and 
(C) private nonprofit 4-year colleges and 
universities increased at an average rate of 2.4 
percent per year above the rate of inflation. 
(4) Federal financial aid for higher education 
has dramatically increased. The portion of the Fed-
eral student aid portfolio composed of Direct Loans, 
Federal Family Education Loans, and Perkins 
Loans with outstanding balances grew by 135 per-
cent between fiscal year 2007 and fiscal year 2015. 
This increased spending has failed to make college 
more affordable. 
(5) In his 2012 State of the Union Address, 
President Obama noted: ‘‘We can’t just keep sub-
sidizing skyrocketing tuition; we’ll run out of 
money.’’ 
(6) American students are chasing ever-increas-
ing tuition with ever-increasing debt. According to 
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•HCON 125 RH 
the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve Sys-
tem, total student debt now stands at $1.3 trillion. 
This makes student loans the second largest balance 
of consumer debt, after mortgage debt. 
(7) Students are carrying large debt loads. Too 
many students fail to complete college or end up de-
faulting on their loans due to high debt burdens and 
a weak economy and job market. 
(8) The Pell Grant program is on an 
unsustainable funding path. The Congressional 
Budget Office projects that the program will experi-
ence a future multi-billion funding gap that is pre-
dicted to increase in subsequent years in the current 
budget window. 
(9) Failure to address these problems will jeop-
ardize young people’s access to higher education be-
cause it will remain unaffordable. 
(b) POLICY
ON
HIGHER
EDUCATION
AFFORD-
ABILITY.—It is the policy of this concurrent resolution to 
address the root drivers of tuition inflation and promote 
college affordability by— 
(1) targeting Federal financial aid to those 
most in need; 
(2) streamlining aid programs to increase their 
effectiveness and make it easier for students and 
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•HCON 125 RH 
families to assess their options for financing postsec-
ondary education; 
(3) putting the Pell Grant program on a more 
stable path and maintaining the maximum Pell 
grant award level of $5,815 in each year of the 
budget window; and 
(4) removing regulatory barriers in higher edu-
cation that increase costs, limit access, and restrict 
innovative 
teaching, 
particularly 
non-traditional 
models such as online course work and competency- 
based learning. 
(c) FINDINGS ON WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT.—The 
House finds the following: 
(1) 7.8 million Americans are currently unem-
ployed. 
(2) Despite billions of dollars in spending, those 
looking for work are stymied by a broken workforce 
development system that fails to connect workers 
with assistance and employers with trained per-
sonnel. 
(3) The House Committee on Education and 
the Workforce successfully consolidated 15 job train-
ing programs in the recently enacted Workforce In-
novation and Opportunity Act. 
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