Block, Report, and Suspend Suspicious Shipments Act of 2020

Floor Speech

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Mrs. DINGELL. Madam Speaker, I rise in support of the Block, Report, And Suspend Suspicious Shipments Act, which would crack down on pill dumping and other abusive practices to address the ongoing opioid epidemic, which still remains one of the most significant public health challenges facing our country.

In 2018, over 67,000 Americans still lost their lives to drug overdoses, and preliminary data for 2019 suggests that deaths are rising again.

My home State of Michigan has been hit hard by the opioid epidemic, which has been exacerbated by COVID-19. We have seen a 15 percent year- over-year increase in fatal overdoses across the entire State since March of this year.

New tools to address pill dumping and other dodgy practices that have perpetuated the opioid crisis are needed more now than ever. The Block, Report, And Suspend Suspicious Shipments Act will crack down on these abuses. It will improve oversight of the opioid supply chain by mandating that the drug manufacturers and distributors exercise due diligence when they receive a suspicious order for controlled substances. This includes blocking or declining to fill the suspicious order, and providing the DEA with additional data and background on the indicators on the order in question.

Distributors and manufacturers should be active partners in addressing these abuses, and this legislation's commonsense protections will save lives in Michigan and the country.

Madam Speaker, I want to recognize my colleague, Congressman McKinley, for his years of leadership and work in highlighting this issue and driving action to address the role bad actors continue to play in perpetuating the opioid crisis. I also thank Chairman Pallone and Ranking Member Walden, who I am going to miss greatly, as well as the Democratic and Republican committee staff for working tirelessly to advance this important bipartisan priority.

Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this legislation.

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