Providing for Consideration of H.R. Stop the Importation and Trafficking of Synthetic Analogues Act of Providing for Consideration of H.R. Transitional Housing for Recovery in Viable Environments Demonstration Program Act; and Providing for Consideration of H.R. Securing the International Mail Against Opioids Act of 2018

Floor Speech

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Mr. BARR. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of House Resolution 934, the combined rule for my legislation, H.R. 5735, the Transitional Housing for Recovery in Viable Environments, or THRIVE, Act.

I want to thank Chairman Hensarling, Chairman Duffy, and my colleagues on the House Financial Services Committee for their support and feedback on this legislation, as well as Chairman Sessions and Ranking Member McGovern on the House Committee on Rules for their consideration of my manager's amendment to make improvements to this bill.

This week the House is considering several important pieces of legislation to address the opioid epidemic that takes the lives of 116 Americans every day. My home State of Kentucky has the third highest overdose mortality rate in the country.

In order to achieve meaningful progress in the fight against opioid addiction in our Nation, Congress can no longer simply focus on prevention, enforcement, and treatment. We must also begin to implement policies that focus on long-term recovery. Our Federal housing programs are an underutilized resource in these efforts.

The THRIVE Act would make supportive housing more accessible to those in need by allocating a limited number of Section 8 housing choice vouchers to nonprofits that provide housing, workforce development, job placement, financial literacy, and continued addiction recovery support for individuals who are transitioning out of rehab and back into the workforce.

Rather than allocating the vouchers through public housing authorities, this demonstration would give vouchers directly to housing nonprofits that meet evidence-based metrics of success on a competitive basis. The vouchers would also be distributed with a focus on regions of the country with the highest rates of opioid-related deaths.

This legislation would only allocate either 10,000 or 0.5 percent of total housing vouchers, whichever is less, to people who are literally dying every day of opioid addiction and other substance abuse disorders. The demonstration is limited to 5 years.

No one would have a voucher taken away from them to create this demonstration program. This is an important point that I would like to emphasize to my friend from Colorado, who is concerned that there might be a cannibalizing effect of existing vouchers.

An estimated 198,000 Section 8 vouchers are turned over each year and returned to HUD. It is from this amount that the demonstration would set aside only 10,000 to address a deadly national public health crisis.

The goal of this demonstration is not to take away vouchers from those who need them but, rather, to open up other housing options to people coming out of rehab who would otherwise be forced to use Section 8 vouchers to live in a housing situation where they would be surrounded by individuals who are still in active addiction.

If our goal is to help people coming out of rehab or medication- assisted treatment to stay off of opioids and gain job skills and find employment, our government programs should give people the option to live in transitional housing with housing choice vouchers.

Additionally, and I would also invite my friend from Colorado to consider this: I have made a commitment to working with my Democratic colleagues in requesting additional funds from the Appropriations Committee for the purpose of supporting this demonstration. I would invite my friend from Colorado to sign this letter requesting those additional funds, perhaps to earn his support and the support of the ranking member.

I would like to thank my Democratic colleague, Ms. Sinema, as well as the Department of Housing and Urban Development for their suggested changes that have been incorporated in the manager's amendment I offer today. I also thank Mr. Rohrabacher for his amendment that further ensures eligible entities have been effectively vetted to support recovery in local communities.

This legislation has received endorsements from over 140 housing, addiction support, and recovery organizations across the country, including Addiction Policy Forum, American Academy of Addiction Psychiatry, National Association of Social Workers, Faces and Voices of Recovery, and over 100 others on the front lines of addiction recovery.

Secretary Carson from HUD also visited my district in Kentucky earlier this year and witnessed firsthand the success of nonprofits in helping individuals rise above addiction.

I urge support for this rule so we can continue to work together in a bipartisan manner to improve housing options for individuals recovering from opioid addiction and other substance abuse disorders.

It is time for us to allow for innovation, allow for us to focus on what happens after treatment, and allow people to access transitional housing addiction recovery services that focus on work, self-esteem, financial literacy, and stable housing in order to ultimately move into a life of permanent recovery, hope, and nonsubsidized housing scenarios.

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