Rural Opioid Abuse Prevention Act

Floor Speech

Mr. Speaker, this bipartisan legislation codifies into law an existing Department of Justice pilot program known as the Rural Responses to the Opioid Epidemic initiative, established during the Trump administration.

In 2020, the Trump administration created the new initiative to improve the opioid response and to reduce opioid overdose deaths in America's high-risk rural communities. The initiative enables 21 rural communities to receive existing Department of Justice funding to develop responses in opioid prevention treatment and recovery services.

While this work is important, it is also critical that we not lose sight of the dangerous drugs like fentanyl that are so easily trafficked across our southern border.

The Biden border crisis is making America's drug crisis worse. We have seen record numbers of drug seizures like fentanyl, encounters of illegal aliens, and apprehensions of suspected terrorists at the southern border.

For example, in fiscal year 2022, Customs and Border Protection seized over 14,000 pounds of fentanyl at the border and up to 10,000 pounds in fiscal year 2021 and 4,500 pounds in fiscal year 2020.

Oh, by the way, these drugs are only what CBP officers catch. We do not know the amount of dangerous drugs that have slipped through the gaps due to President Biden's open border policies, but there is no mistake that drug cartels and illegal aliens are taking advantage of the crisis at our border.

Meanwhile, our drug crisis continues to spiral out of control. We have seen the sad reality that overdose deaths in America reached an all-time high last year. An estimated 107,000 Americans died from drug overdoses in 2021, an increase of approximately 15 percent from the previous year.

Overdose deaths involving both opioids and synthetic opioids like fentanyl sharply increased in 2021 compared to the year before. These dangerous drugs are killing Americans at record levels and destroying families and communities across America. Communities in rural America have been particularly hard-hit by the opioid crisis.

While passage of this legislation will continue the important work started by President Trump's administration to help rural communities combat this crisis, we must do more. We must also take actions to address the Biden border crisis and stem the flow of illicit drugs flowing into our country.

Ms. JACKSON LEE.

Let me, first of all, again acknowledge Senator Ossoff and Congressman Lamb. This is an important piece of legislation, but my good friend knows that I am going to have to add to this discussion by saying that, again, the question of fentanyl, no one wants to see that proliferated and causing the disastrous conditions that we have.

But listen to the story of Ms. Alfaro, who was 19 years old. She lived in Appleton, Wisconsin, and ``was a recent high school graduate raising a toddler and considering joining the Army when she and a friend bought what they thought was the antianxiety drug Xanax in December 2020.''

The pills were fake and contained fentanyl, an opioid that can be 50 times more powerful.

One of the things that we should understand is fentanyl is everywhere, and it has been determined that most of the fentanyl that comes across the border is brought over by U.S. citizens.

The other aspect that is very important that doesn't specifically cover this bill, but at least this bill provides what the mother indicated, she didn't know anything about these drugs. She wished she could have helped her daughter. Yes, her daughter did lose her life.

The point this legislation is making is let's provide information to these rural communities, but also let's understand some of the techniques that some States and local communities were not providing law enforcement or anyone else. Certainly, that is the fentanyl test strips and Narcan. That certainly was a problem and continues to be a problem in the State of Texas.

We have to look at this holistically, and I think this legislation focuses, certainly, on getting families information, particularly in the rural areas. This was Appleton, Wisconsin. At least, minimally, there would have been information about this, maybe in a broader way, because the mother of the 19-year-old said, ``Two years ago, I knew nothing about this.''

We have to do a better job of telling the facts about fentanyl that we all want to see be extinguished from causing the loss of life.

I think this legislation for rural communities is a very good start, but we need to make sure that our facts are accurate as we talk about this deadly drug, which we want to get off the streets of this Nation. We need to find ways that can be very effective, and we need to keep working.
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Mr. JORDAN. Mr. Speaker, I thank Mr. Feenstra for his work on the legislation. We support the litigation, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Ms. JACKSON LEE.

I thank the gentleman from Ohio for his work on this bill and indicate that we are pleased to, likewise, support and thank Congressman Lamb and the gentleman from Georgia, Senator Ossoff, for introducing this legislation.

I urge all of my colleagues to support this bill, as well, and to ensure that we provide really deep collaboration in our rural communities to help people who don't have access either to this kind of treatment, knowledge or prevention, and then, as I indicated, to medical care because hospitals are closing.

This is an important legislative initiative. I am hoping that we will support the Rural Opioid Abuse Prevention Act because it is bipartisan legislation. It is time for our Nation to face the increased overall overdoses and deaths in everyday communities large and small.

With more than 200 Americans dying of drug overdoses each day, Congress must act to support small and rural communities in addressing this crisis.

Mr. Speaker, S. 2796, the ``Rural Opioid Abuse Prevention Act of 2022,'' is bipartisan legislation that would establish a pilot program for rural communities within the Comprehensive Opioid Abuse Grant Program.

The pilot program would make grants to rural areas to implement community response programs in order to reduce opioid overdose deaths. These community response programs would involve collaborations between public safety, public health, and behavioral health systems. The pilot programs would seek to identify gaps in current treatment availability and establish treatment programs to reduce opioid overdoses in rural areas.

Data from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention's National Center for Health Statistics indicates that in 2021 there were an estimated 107,622 drug overdose deaths. The data also shows overdose deaths involving opioids increased from an estimated 70,029 in 2020 to 80,816 in 2021.

With more than 200 Americans still dying of drug overdoses each day, it is even more important that we pass this critical legislation. In my hometown of Houston, overdose deaths have been exacerbated by strained access to treatment caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Opioid overdose deaths have increased throughout the state of Texas, rising from 4,154 deaths in 2020 to 4,831 deaths in 2021.

S. 2796 would enable local governments and community organizations to develop and expand initiatives targeting rural and low resourced communities. Eligible applicants of the grant program would be required to have a documented history of providing services to rural communities or regions highly impacted by substance use disorder. The programs supported by this legislation would be able to identify gaps in treatment access for rural communities, leverage federal resources to expand treatment options, and ensure rural and remote communities are not forgotten in our efforts to address the ongoing impact of opioid abuse disorder across the country.

Building on the successful Comprehensive Opioid Abuse Grant Program, this bipartisan bill would expand it to include a pilot program targeting rural communities.

I want to thank Congressman Lamb and Senator Ossoff for introducing this important legislation. I urge all of my colleagues to support the bill.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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