PROVIDING FOR CONSIDERATION OF H.R. 2851, STOP THE IMPORTATION AND TRAFFICKING OF SYNTHETIC ANALOGUES ACT OF 2017; PROVIDING FOR CONSIDERATION OF H.R. 5735, TRANSITIONAL HOUSING FOR RECOVERY IN...
Ken Buck (Republican, CO) \u2014 2018-6-13

I rise today in support of the rule and the underlying legislation. This rule provides for consideration of three bills intended to give our country more necessary tools to tackle the opioid crisis. prgtoken The three bills this rule makes in order today were all reported favorably by their committees. H.R. 5735, the Transitional Housing for Recovery in Viable Environments Demonstration Program Act, was the subject of a hearing by the Committee on Financial Services on April 17 and was reported favorably on May 22 with a bipartisan vote of 34 ``yes'' votes. prgtoken H.R. 2851, the Stop the Importation and Trafficking of Synthetic Analogues Act, was the subject of hearing by the Committee on the Judiciary in June of 2017, and was reported favorably in July of 2017 by a unanimous voice vote. prgtoken The final bill made in order by this bill is H.R. 5788, the Securing the International Mail Against Opioids Act, which was reported favorably in May with a unanimous voice vote. prgtoken Together, these three bills provide the foundation of the House's legislative response this week to the opioid crisis which is wrecking lives and communities across this country. prgtoken , the eastern plains of Colorado has been my home for many decades. I often refer to the area as God's country. It is full of goodhearted, hardworking people who care for their families and neighbors. Many of these people work the land and provide services to those who do. They farm, they ranch, they produce energy resources, they transport livestock. prgtoken And when hardship and disaster strikes, neighbors move heaven and Earth to help each other. They grieve over loss and bear each other's burdens. However, it is not an unfamiliar refrain to hear that in the heart of this God's country is a disease plaguing our people. prgtoken All across this land, in rural towns, suburban developments, and urban neighborhoods, abuse of opioids is wrecking people's lives. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, approximately 64,000 Americans died of a drug overdose in 2016. Of that number, 65 percent, or 42,000 of those deaths, were directly related to the opioid epidemic. That means that every day 115 people die due to opioids. prgtoken While those are astounding numbers, it helps to compare with past figures. In 2000, 8,400 people died due to opioid abuse. These recent numbers indicate a nearly 500 percent increase. That is shocking and sad. prgtoken Colorado has not been spared from the opioid crisis. In fact, the CDC reports that in 2015 alone, Colorado saw 159 heroin overdose deaths in addition to the 259 prescription drug overdoses. This is particularly harmful to my district, with 8 of the 17 counties in Colorado exhibiting the highest overdose death rates being in eastern Colorado. prgtoken As some of these figures indicate, our opioid crisis is not just prescription drug abuse. While many who are caught in the cycle of abuse beg