Ayotte Urges House to Pass CARA Conference Report

Press Release

Ahead of a vote in the House of Representatives today on the conference report of the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act (CARA), U.S. Senator Kelly Ayotte expressed her strong support for the final product and urged her colleagues to vote for its passage.

"We are losing lives every single day to the heroin and prescription opioid abuse epidemic, and I'm heartbroken every time I hear from yet another family in New Hampshire affected by this crisis. There is an urgent and pressing need for us to act, and my colleagues in the House can take that first step today by passing the CARA conference report," said Senator Ayotte. "I urge them to vote for this legislation which authorizes desperately needed resources for treatment, prevention, and recovery, and ask that we all set aside politics today and start saving lives."

The conference report includes major provisions of the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act that Senator Ayotte helped co-author and introduce, and which passed the Senate by a vote of 94-1 in March. CARA is supported by the New Hampshire Association of Chiefs of Police. In addition, a group of over 40 Chiefs of Police from across the state sent a letter in May urging conferees to produce a final bill that includes all the major provisions of CARA. The conference report is supported by more than 230 advocacy groups, including HOPE for New Hampshire Recovery, Hope on Haven Hill, Kingston Lions Club from Kingston, NH, and Project Recovery from Newton, NH.

As an authorization vehicle, CARA prioritizes and obligates $181 million in funding for various agencies and programs focused on treatment, prevention, and recovery. The funding for CARA is separately provided through appropriations acts - such as the Senate Commerce, Justice, and Science Appropriations Act and the Senate Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education Appropriations Act, which both passed the Senate Appropriations Committee with overwhelming bipartisan support. Senator Ayotte has urged appropriators for, and voted in support of, significant increases in funding through the regular appropriations process for the evidence-based initiatives called for under CARA. For FY 2017, these bills would appropriate significant increases in funding for the evidence-based initiatives called for under CARA, and would provide $469 million in total discretionary funding to combat opioid abuse, an increase of $249 million or 113% since FY 2015.

Senator Ayotte has additionally supported other emergency and supplemental funding for opioid programs, including a measure from Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) that would add $600 million additional emergency funding on top of the normal appropriations process.

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