Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act of 2016--Conference Report
Floor Speech
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Ms. AYOTTE. Mr. President, I rise today to offer my thoughts and prayers to the five Dallas police officers and their families who were killed in the line of duty on July 7, 2016. I want to recognize them on the Senate floor for the sacrifices they have made, for their heroic service to protect the people of Dallas, and also to recognize our law enforcement officers for what they do every single day on our behalf.
On July 7, 2016, unfortunately, killed in the line of duty--adding to the rollcall, and whose names will be added to the Law Enforcement Memorial in Washington--are Sergeant Michael Smith, a former Army Ranger who also served our Nation and who had been with the department since 1989; Senior Corporal Lorne Ahrens, 48, who had been with the department since 2002; Officer Michael Krol, 40, who had been with the department since 2007; Officer Patrick Zamarripa, 32, a former Navy Seal and Iraq war veteran, who had been with the department since 2011; DART Officer Bart Thompson, 43, a former marine who had been with the department since 2009. Thompson was the first DART officer who was killed in the line of duty since the department's inception in 1989.
Having served as attorney general for the State of New Hampshire, we have, unfortunately, been through this with our law enforcement officers in New Hampshire when we lose an officer in the line of duty. This is such a tragedy for the Dallas community, but it is a tragedy for our country. So, today, we stand with those mourning in Dallas. We stand with the law enforcement community. We stand with all of those who serve our Nation because they go out every single day when we are home with our families and on holidays.
When we are home late at night, when we are sleeping, they are out in the streets patrolling, keeping us safe, the ``Thin Blue Line'' between us and those who want to do us harm.
So, as we look at what is happening around our Nation, law enforcement is the solution to bringing us together. They work in our communities every single day. I have seen the phenomenal work that our law enforcement community does in New Hampshire. I have been to the Police Athletic League and seen what they are doing with the youth in our community. I have seen the outreach they do every day on this horrible drug epidemic that we are facing in the State of New Hampshire. I have seen the difficult situations they face with those struggling with mental illness--every single challenge they are taking on in our communities.
So, today, let's remember those five brave officers who gave their lives in the line of duty, and let's remember all those who have given their lives in the line of duty to keep us safe every single day. Without our brave law enforcement officers, we would not be able to enjoy the freedoms we have and not be able to enjoy our own families and our way of life. So we are grateful to all of those who serve. We stand with you. We thank you for what you do every single day on our behalf.
To your family members, we say to you as well, thank you, because families do serve as well. And when your loved ones go out on our streets to keep us safe, we know you worry about their safe return. So we stand with you as well, and we say thank you for your service and sacrifice to keep the rest of us safe.
Mr. President, I would also like to speak today about a very important piece of legislation that I hope we will be considering on the Senate floor this week. I rise in support of the conference report for a critical piece of legislation called the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act, otherwise known as CARA. I have now been working on this piece of legislation with Senators Portman, Whitehouse, and Klobuchar for about 2 years, and I thank them for their leadership on this legislation and their partnership in the work we have done, along with hundreds of coalition groups that have helped us put this legislation together.
CARA passed this body in March by a vote of 94 to 1. Not much passes the Senate with a vote of 94 to 1. Numbers like that speak volumes to the fact that every community is facing a heroin and opioid epidemic right now, and we need to take national action. And after conferencing the Senate version with a package of House bills related to opioid abuse, just this past Friday the House of Representatives passed the conference report by an overwhelming vote of 407 to 5--407 to 5 in the House of Representatives.
Those are very powerful numbers in support of this legislation, but I want to touch on the numbers that matter the most and why we need to act on this legislation--numbers like 129, the number of people who die each day in our country from a drug overdose; or 248, the number of stakeholder groups who have endorsed the final version of CARA because they know it takes the right legislative approach to fighting back against this public health crisis. That number includes some groups from my home State of New Hampshire whom I have had the honor of working with. I appreciate so much their phenomenal work on the frontlines in helping those struggling with addiction, including HOPE for New Hampshire Recovery; Hope on Haven Hill; the Kingston Lions Club in Kingston, NH; and Project Recovery in Newton, NH. And I know there are many other individuals and groups on the frontlines in New Hampshire who are making a difference.
CARA is also supported by nearly 40 chiefs of police from across our State, the New Hampshire Association of Chiefs of Police, and the National Fraternal Order of Police because our law enforcement knows we need a comprehensive response. I have heard so many times from our police officers that we cannot arrest our way out of this public health crisis.
Another number never far from my mind is 439--the number of individuals in my home State of New Hampshire who died from a drug overdose last year. And just this year alone, 2016, 161 have died. So unfortunately we are looking at even greater numbers with what we see happening on the streets of New Hampshire.
I will never forget those numbers because they are so much more than numbers; they are the lives of loved ones we have lost, and they represent the overwhelming heartbreak felt by too many families.
Every time I am out in New Hampshire, I have another family, unfortunately, whom I meet and who tells me about their story of losing someone they loved or a loved one they are trying to get help for who is struggling with addiction. That is why in this debate we must give a voice to those who no longer have a voice of their own. We must put faces, names, and stories to this epidemic because it is affecting families and communities all across our country.
I want to share some stories from those in New Hampshire who are driving us to take action. In passing CARA, we are remembering them, and we are honoring them and making a change that can help save lives. We are making sure we have the right legislative framework in place as we push for more funding to get to the States to address this epidemic. I am spurred to action by these stories, and it is my hope that by sharing this here today, my colleagues will join me in passing this legislation.
I just spoke to a woman yesterday from Plaistow, NH--Kathy. Kathy's son Thomas was a hero in his local community. He was compassionate and caring to his peers and even helped a fellow student who was living alone in the woods rededicate himself to studying and eventually graduate. He literally went out in the woods to find a homeless student and brought him into his home.
Around 7 years ago, this bright young man became addicted to painkillers. This is a story we hear all too often. He had an injury, he became addicted to painkillers, and his family was shocked at how many pills he was legally prescribed for his back pain. It wasn't long before he turned to something else--heroin.
In fact, the national data shows that four out of five people who turn to heroin actually started with misusing or overusing prescription drugs.
Thomas's life, unfortunately, took a turn for the worse, and he spent time in jail before eventually passing away from an overdose.
When I spoke with Kathy, she told me that more needs to be done to help others struggling with a substance use disorder. She wants to see more resources for early education. She wants to fight back against the stigma associated with addiction.
In having this debate on the Senate floor, that is something we need to turn around--the stigma. This is a public health crisis. This is a disease, and we need to get help for those struggling with addiction.
But Kathy is not alone. A woman in Goffstown wrote to me after losing her brother to a heroin overdose:
From here forward, we will never have another holiday where our family is complete. At Thanksgiving, when our close, loving family gathers, there will be an empty seat where he once sat. An unfilled stocking at Christmas will remind us of the void we feel each day. Come his 25th birthday this year, we will visit his grave site where he is buried instead of hugging him in our arms and wishing him another wonderful year.
A father in Brentwood, NH, lost his son to an overdose and told me:
I cannot describe the pain, feeling of helplessness and grave despair [my wife] and I went through upon finding our son dead. This has been a tragedy we in the end were not able to fix, and a war we were not able to win. Our son is now part of the statistics.
A woman in Wakefield wrote that her niece's dreams were crushed when she became addicted to heroin. She wrote:
Her death has left the family heartbroken, and we have chosen to tell everyone the truth in hopes that her death will not have been in vain.
A mother in Manchester said:
I wake up every morning with the fear of finding my son dead. I am crying out for help.
A mother from Greenville, NH, who spends her days helping people living with substance abuse disorders only to come home and see her own son struggling with using heroin, told me:
As I tried to comfort those who have been affected by this tragedy, I think that my son will be next.
In Laconia, a man helps those struggling to get treatment, but he feels helpless when he is faced with a 5-month waiting period to get into a facility. He wrote:
In 5 months, these individuals will be dead.
A parent from Salem contacted me and told me her son is struggling with heroin addiction, and she needed help finding a treatment program for him since she couldn't afford to pay for treatment herself, like the mother of these three children who had to revive her son from an overdose before the paramedics could arrive, or like the Griffin family, Pam and Doug and Shannon Griffin from Newton, NH, whom I have gotten to know well. The Griffin family lost their beautiful 20-year- old daughter Courtney to a fentanyl and heroin overdose. Courtney's father, Doug Griffin, and his wife, Pam, have made it their life's mission to raise awareness about this terrible epidemic to help save lives and help others going through the same difficulty and tragedy.
Doug and so many other dedicated people in New Hampshire are working tirelessly to turn the tide against this epidemic. Earlier this year, I met with families from New Hampshire who actually traveled to Washington to urge Congress to take up and pass CARA. If we don't act, what kind of message are we sending to these families who need our help and need us to act? That is why we need CARA and we need to ensure this framework is passed.
CARA authorizes resources for treatment, prevention, recovery, and first responders--critical facets of a comprehensive approach. And CARA is an authorizing vehicle. Some have made this argument around here: Why should we pass an authorization vehicle if the funding is not attached? Under that reasoning, we wouldn't have passed the Violence Against Women Act, we wouldn't have passed the Head Start Program, we wouldn't have passed a program for vaccines for children, we wouldn't have passed the Second Chance Act, and there are so many more. The reality is that in the appropriations bill there have been increases in funding for CARA, and we are going to fight for even more increases in funding. In fact, at the end of the day, the Senate appropriations bills include a 46-percent increase in spending on opioid addiction programs since last year. So we can do more, but if we don't pass CARA, then we will do a great disservice to the American people.
President Obama's Director of the Office of National Drug Policy, Michael Botticelli, told me at a hearing in New Hampshire last year: ``Certainly the CARA Act, I think, highlights many of the issues and fills really critical gaps not only in terms of funding but in terms of policy around this issue.''
Mr. President, I hope this is not a partisan issue. Unfortunately, we know, whether you are a Republican, a Democrat, or an Independent--it doesn't matter what your political background is--we have so many families in New Hampshire and across this country who are struggling with addiction, and it is time for us to rise above the politics and pass this important legislation.
I again thank Senator Portman. I thank Senator Klobuchar and Senator Whitehouse for the passion and leadership they have shown on this legislation.
There is an urgent and pressing need for this legislation, and I call on my colleagues to come together and make sure we duplicate what happened in the House of Representatives, where there was an overwhelming vote to pass this legislation, so we can get it to the President's desk and make sure this legislation is funded.
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