Date: 2016-05-12
Speaker: JACKSON LEE (democrat)
Chamber: H

Madam Chair. I thank the distinguished ranking member and the dean of this institution for yielding and for his leadership. but it is even more powerful that the leadership joins with our distinguished chairman of the full committee. Mr. GOODLATTE. because this is the beginning of our effort of criminal justice reform that certainly has been one of the guiding focuses of the chairman of the Subcommittee on Crime. Terrorism. Homeland Security. and Investigations. Mr. SENSENBRENNER. who has. likewise. been a former chair of the full committee but has steadily worked on thoughtful legislation dealing with the overall issue of criminal justice reform. I am delighted to be a partner in this legislation and to be a cosponsor and to work on this whole concept of dealing with opioids but. as well. to deal with the question of criminal justice reform with a whole new attitude. I might say that I heard words from Leader PELOSI yesterday evening as she received the Hubert H. Humphrey Civil and Human Rights Award. She indicated that there are three major issues that we should be governed by in this Congress: number one. children. number two. children. and number three. children. One might ask: Why are we discussing children? I thought we were discussing the Comprehensive Opioid Abuse Reduction Act of 2016. and that we are. I am very pleased that it is a very forthright and thoughtful approach to this issue. I support it. But it is a compilation. if you will. of many thoughts about how we should deal with the question of mass incarceration. What does mass incarceration deal with? It deals with human beings. It deals with men and women. It deals with families. It deals with mothers who have children. Previously. if you were on any manner of drugs or you possessed drugs. you were nonviolent. you were incarcerated. If you were on crack or cocaine. you were incarcerated. I commend the chairman of the Subcommittee on Crime. Terrorism. Homeland Security. and Investigations. Mr. SENSENBRENNER. for his work. as I said. and Chairman GOODLATTE and Ranking Member CONYERS because we now have. from the Committee on the Judiciary. a legislative initiative that does not have mandatory minimums. In fact. it deals with a passionate and compassionate approach. and it deals with the issue of addiction and recovery. the bill that I was a sponsor of earlier. a predecessor to this one. the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act. I would be happy to see the committee pass that bill. but I am pleased that we have been able to work together to produce an alternative bill that will help address issues related to opioid abuseagain. I emphasize. no mandatory minimums. but a way of addressing this question. Madam Chair. that I think will be long term. I look forward to continued collaboration with my colleagues to find additional solutions to the drug crisis America now faces. We must take action because today a leading killer of Americans is drug overdose. Between 2000 and 2014. almost a half million people died from drug overdoses. Many of these deaths were preventable. In 2014 alone. more than 47.000 people died of drug overdoses. The largest percentage of overdose deaths in 2014 was attributable to opioids like prescription painkillers. methadone. morphine. and heroin. Therein lies the origin of this massive impact. including our juveniles. who find them in many different ways. Specifically. 28.647 people overdosed and died because of an opioid in 2014. We are experiencing an emergency that impacts citizens in every State. city. and town in this countrythat is. prescription painkiller and opioid abuse. This emergency is compounded due to the perilous connection between prescription painkillers and heroin. I get it. We understand that physicians who did take their oath very seriously wanted to provide the medical care. the legitimate medical care when there was a massive response to pain from all of their patients and others. Prescription painkiller abuse is the strongest risk factor for future heroin use. but it came about maybe not through the prescription and the initial prescription. but from lack of information that patients should have about the impact of opioids: what it does to the brain. what it does when you do not have it. how you become addicted. So out of this. approximately three out of four new heroin users report that their use began with their abuse of prescription painkillers initially given to them legitimately for medical reasons. Heroin use becomes appealing to those addicted to prescription painkillers because it is cheaper and easier to obtain. Due to its potency. heroin use tends to lead to addiction. The same kind of lack of information maybe led to a young woman. in my district. on hydrocodone with two little babies in the car driving and sideswiping two cars and killing an innocent person on a motorcycle.