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

I thank the gentleman. I look forward to working with all of my colleagues. As I finish. let me just say that today. again. I will be introducing the recidivismto End Infant Mortality and Reduce Recidivism bill dealing with incarcerated women. Many of those women are incarcerated because of drug addiction issues that involve the possession or sale of narcotics. What we are attempting to do. if a baby is born in prison. we are attempting to recognize that they should not be separated from that mother. and to have some postnatal nursery situation in a pilot program to examine how that works. because we know that addiction. in many instances. has caused women to be incarcerated. There are many issues that we can look at. and I hope. as we work our way through this. we will find some solutions for those who are still addicted to crack cocaine and need some of the same or similar services that this underlying legislation has. Mr. Speaker. I rise in support of H.R. 5046. the Comprehensive Opioid Abuse Reduction Act of 2016. of which I am an original cosponso r. I commend the Chairman of the Subcommittee on Crime. JIM SENSENBRENNER. for his work on this bill and I also commend Chairman GOODLATE and Ranking Member CONYERS for their ability to find common ground on this very important issue. I also note that I was a cosponsor of a similar bill that was the predecessor to this one. the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act. I would have been 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 abuse. 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 half a 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 attributed to opioidslike prescription painkillers. methadone. morphine. and heroin. 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. Prescription painkiller abuse is the strongest risk factor for future heroin use. Approximately three out of four new heroin users report that their use began with their abuse of prescription painkillers. 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. Heroin addiction is often deadly. leading to overdose or other chronic diseases. The rate at which the occurrence of heroin overdose deaths increased is cause for alarm. In the four years between 2010 and 2014. heroin overdoses more than tripled. More than 10.500 people died from heroin overdoses in 2014. In 2013. more than 8.200 people died from heroin overdoses. In that same year. 11 million people admitted to improper use of prescription of painkillers. Not only were 11 million people at risk of overdosing due to their abuse of prescription painkillers. 11 million people were also at high risk of becoming addicted to heroinwith its attendant risks and dangers. This current crisis requires an immediate and comprehensive response and the bill before us today is one element of a broader strategy. This bill will establish a grant program. to be administered by the Department of Justice. to assist states and local governments. particularly by helping criminal justice agencies to tackle the opioid problem from a variety of angles. This bill encourages the development of alternatives to incarceration that provide treatment as a solution to the underlying motivation for criminal behavior or conduct associated with mental disorders. We must make our best efforts to prevent individuals from moving from painkillers to heroin by making treatment for addicts more accessible by encouraging the use of evidencebased programs. such as medicationassisted treatment. Lifesaving overdose reversal drugs. like naloxone. are most valuable in the hands of trained individuals who regularly come in contact with individuals who are prone to drug overdoses. This bill will increase the use and availability of naloxone and other overdose reversal drugs to first responders. Addiction is a disease that affects the brain and eventually changes the behavior of addicts. causing them to experience mental health issues and encounter legal problems. Treatment is the most reasonable and effective approach to diverting these individuals away from homelessness and prison. There are also specific provisions in this bill that allow for a wide range of services to be offered to our veterans who tend to suffer from mental health issues and addiction. I support this bill because I believe that it will help save lives and prevent and treat opioid addiction. The approach Congress is taking with the crisis of heroin and other opioids is thoughtful and comprehensive. I hope it signals a departure from some of the failed approaches concerning other drug crises in the past. For instance. our response to the surge in crack cocaine in the 1980s was to enact draconian mandatory minimum penalties with vastly disparate treatment for crack and powder cocaine. Unfortunately. that exacerbated the disproportionate minority impact of our drug laws and their enforcement. Today. no matter who is suffering from the effects of illegal drugs. we must learn from the past and embrace new ways of addressing the problem. The bill before us today. and the approaches contained in other legislation passed by the Senate and introduced in the House. reflect our experience in dealing with drug prevention. addiction. treatment. and recovery. While there is still work to do in Congress to address the mistakes of the past with respect to mandatory minimum sentences that are unjust. unwise and financially unsustainable. I commend my colleagues for embracing drug treatment. alternatives to incarceration. and improved training to first responders and the criminal justice system on how to put substance abusers on a better path. With those considerations in mind. and a hopeful note about the progress we are making in our approach to these issues. I ask that my colleagues join me in voting in favor of this important bill. I want to follow up on my earlier statement concerning the contrast in the way we are dealing with the opioid crisis and the way we addressed crack cocaine in the 1980s. At that time. we Congress took action that we are still trying to rectify. At one point. more than 80% of the defendants sentenced for crack offenses were African American. despite the fact that more than 66% of crack users are white or Hispanic. As we work on other legislation to address the enforcement and sentencing disparities related to the crack issue. we must reexamine our approach to that and other drug issues. This week. the House has been engaged in a comprehensive approach to addressing a serious public health crisis involving heroin and other opioids. Overdoses and deaths involving heroin are on the rise. While law enforcement has an appropriate role and the bills recognize that. the billsincluding H.R. 5046 before us nowreflect a broader strategy that reflects the fact that this is an addiction issue. Accordingly. we are not raising sentences or impacting mandatory minimums but we are funding antiaddiction mechanisms such as treatment alternatives to incarceration. We are not adding to mass incarcerationwith all of the related and devastating collateral consequencesbut instead we are incentivizing state and local governments to prevent. treat. and heal. That is what we should be doing. and that is what we should have done for crack and cocaine addicts. But it is not too latewe should find a way. before Congress has completed its work on this legislation and sends a bill to the President. to apply this more comprehensive approach. including treatment alternatives. to those suffering from crack and cocaine addiction. I urge my colleagues to work with me to do this.