Prescription Drug Abuse

Floor Speech

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Mr. McCONNELL. Madam President, there is an epidemic sweeping across our Nation, ripping through communities, tearing families apart, striking at the vulnerable--even babies who have yet to take their first breath. The prescription opioid and heroin epidemic does not discriminate by demographic or socioeconomic status, by age or by gender. It touches parents and children, neighbors and coworkers in all 50 States. It is ending lives at recordbreaking rates, and it is getting worse. Deaths from opioids have surged by 200 percent over the last decade and a half alone. In my home State of Kentucky, drug overdoses continue to outpace the number of fatalities from traffic accidents.

This is an issue we have been combating for some time, and we have made some important strides along the way, but there is a lot more to do. This week we have an opportunity to take an important step forward. One of the most painful aspects of this epidemic, as I mentioned, is the increasing number of infants who are born dependent on opioids such as prescription pain killers and heroin. These children start their lives suffering from drug dependence, which is nearly as hard to imagine as it is heartbreaking.

Last year, I sponsored a bipartisan measure designed to help address this specific issue. I appreciate the senior Senator from Pennsylvania, Mr. Casey, for working across the aisle with me to advance the Protecting Our Infants Act through Congress, and I am proud to say it was signed into law just a few months ago. It is an example of one of the many steps we have already begun to take as we address this epidemic.

We took another step forward last week when the Senate voted to confirm a new FDA Commissioner. I have been very clear that the FDA must take a stronger approach in regard to this epidemic and its prevention efforts, which is why I appreciated Dr. Califf's expressed vision for positive change at the agency. I voted for his nomination last week, but as I told him, he should know that we will continue to ensure oversight over his agency's response going forward.

This week, we have another opportunity to take a step forward--an important step forward. Before us today is bipartisan legislation that would help combat the prescription opioid and heroin epidemic at every level. The Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act, or CARA, is the product of a lot of hard work and bipartisan work by a number of Senators.

I would like to recognize the chairman of the Judiciary Committee, the Senator from Iowa, and the ranking member, the Senator from Vermont, for acting swiftly to pass this bill through committee on a voice vote. I appreciate the assistance and cooperation of other leaders on this important issue, such as the chairman of the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions and the ranking member from the State of Washington.

I also want to thank the sponsors of this bill, the junior Senators from Ohio, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island, and the senior Senator from Minnesota. These leaders understand the toll this epidemic is taking on our communities. They have studied the issue closely in their home States, and they have worked with Senators from across the aisle to advance this legislation through the legislative process. It is thanks to their hard work that we are debating this bipartisan bill today.

The junior Senator from Ohio has called CARA the only bipartisan legislation that includes a comprehensive and evidence-based approach to help communities combat this epidemic. It would strengthen prescription drug monitoring programs, it would improve treatment initiatives, it would expand prevention and education, and it would give law enforcement more of the tools it needs to fight back against this epidemic.

It is no wonder this bipartisan legislation is supported by more than 130 national anti-drug groups. In a recent letter, they noted the only way to ``stop and reverse current trends'' was with a comprehensive approach, such as that included in the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act of 2015, that leverages evidence-based law enforcement and health care services, including treatment.

So this bill takes the kind of comprehensive approach that is needed and at the same time, as these groups also noted in their letter, ``the cost of the bill is kept low'' with ``no impact on mandatory spending.''

I ask colleagues to join with us in working to pass this bipartisan authorization bill. We will also have opportunities through the appropriations process this spring to continue important funding, just as we did last year. Indeed, just a few months ago we appropriated $400 million to opioid-specific programs--nearly one-third more than what the Senate appropriated the preceding year--and we understand that all $400 million of those funds still remains available to be spent today. That is right. All $400 million remains available to be spent.

I sincerely hope our friends across the aisle will join us in supporting this legislation to address our national crisis. This is an important bill for each of us in this Chamber, and I look forward to taking action today to get us closer to seeing it become law. I have talked about the urgency and the multifaceted complexity associated with this epidemic, and I want to underline the hard work being done in the Senate to address it.

The chairs of the Judiciary Committee and the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, whom I recognized earlier, have been looking at ways to both improve law enforcement tools and increase education and awareness respectively. The chair of the Committee on Finance has, as his committee explored in a hearing last week, been focused on how this issue affects our child welfare system. And of course, we again recognize the cooperation of Members of both parties-- chairs and ranking members and a bipartisan list of sponsors on both sides of the aisle.

Working together across the aisle--with State and local governments, agencies and law enforcement--we can help end this crisis once and for all. I look forward to taking the next step toward that objective later today.

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