Support for Patients and Communities Reauthorization Act of 2025

Floor Speech

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Mr. CASSIDY. Mr. President, I want to start by thanking Senator Hassan so much and Representative Brett Guthrie and other colleagues for their work to pass the SUPPORT Act. It is part of, as a doctor, I would say, a pro-patient--we would say pro-family--agenda that we wish to deliver for the American people.

About a month and a half ago, President Trump had a signing ceremony for the HALT Fentanyl Act at the White House. That was my bill, so I was privileged to be there. Behind him were families holding the pictures of their children who had died from fentanyl overdose. Incredibly moving.

I had a similar ceremony in Baton Rouge where, across Louisiana, people came and held a picture of their child who had died. In one case, the young man had a hard time sleeping, and somebody at his church gave him a pill to take. He took the pill. It was laced with fentanyl, and he died of an overdose.

This is an incredibly powerful addictant, an incredibly powerful, ability-to-kill drug.

The HALT Fentanyl Act is one part of it. It gives support to law enforcement as they attempt to combat this scourge.

The SUPPORT Act is supporting those who are delivering that primary care, that first responder care, that care of a family for a loved one who might be addicted, that care to the patient herself or himself.

Just this morning, I was on a radio program with Ted Dumas out of Louisiana. We were talking--as we talked about the HALT Fentanyl Act-- that there is somebody listening to this program who is addicted to fentanyl and is looking for a way out; there is some family member listening who knows they have a family member with a fentanyl addiction or some other addiction who needs a way out. The SUPPORT Act is giving them the tools they need to either come out of addiction or to help someone come out of addiction.

Let me just give a shout-out to President Trump. Since he has taken office, we have seen a control of the southern border, we have seen the Mexican Army going after cartels who have been manufacturing and bringing in the fentanyl, and we have seen the chemical companies in China--which Senator Hassan and I, when we went to China last year, specifically asked the leadership of China to control. President Trump is going after those chemical companies and after the Government of China in order to control those chemical companies.

This is a full-court press our government is making. Giving credit to President Trump where credit is due but also to the Congress for passing the HALT Fentanyl Act and now the SUPPORT Act. We are working to control this scourge.

I look forward to this being signed into law. I look forward to continuing to work with congressional colleagues and the President to enact a pro-family, pro-patient agenda that addresses this. I look forward to people coming out of addiction. One death from overdose is one death too many.

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