Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2016

Floor Speech

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Mr. GOSAR. Mr. Chairman, I rise today to stand with the veterans throughout the country by offering a simple amendment to bolster funds in this act for Veterans Treatment Courts.

Veterans Treatment Courts promote sobriety and recovery through coordinated local partnerships among community corrections agencies, drug treatment providers, the judiciary, and other community support groups. Veterans Treatment Courts have been extremely successful since they were first created in 2008 by a Buffalo judge to combat the growing numbers of veterans appearing before the court that were addicted to drugs and alcohol, as well as suffering from mental illness.

Many of our Nation's heroes returning from combat are traumatized due to the associated violence and pressure of war and often cope with such feelings with substance abuse. They need focused treatment and a helping hand, and these courts provide such an avenue.

The alternative to Veterans Treatment Courts is often jail time. I think we can all agree that providing treatment for our veterans through community partnerships at the local level is a far better option than locking them up.

My amendment pays for this modest increase for this critical initiative by reducing funds for the salaries and expenses for the overreaching Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives by $5 million. I offered a very similar amendment last year, which was adopted by voice vote.

The ATF's salaries and expenses are slated to receive an increase of $49 million from fiscal year 2015 enacted levels, which would bring the total appropriation level to $1.25 billion. My amendment redirects funds from bureaucrats in the mismanaged and overzealous ATF to a worthy treatment program for our Nation's veterans.

I urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to, once again, show their support for the worthwhile program by passing my commonsense amendment.

I thank the chairman and the ranking member for their leadership on this bill.

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Mr. GOSAR. Mr. Chairman, I rise today to offer another amendment to this bill, along with my colleague from Arkansas (Mr. Hill), that seeks to bolster another important program.

First, I reiterate my thanks to the committee for the long hours they have dedicated to prioritizing limited resources in order to produce this bill, but I simply believe the House should not reward bad behavior for that type that the ATF has shown recently. My amendment is simple, and it is nearly identical to an amendment I offered last year, which was adopted by voice vote.

The amendment shifts $5 million from the overreaching ATF bureaucrats to a worthy and effective program known as the Harold Rogers Prescription Drug Monitoring Program.

You ask why $5 million. Because that amount would bring the Prescription Drug Monitoring Program appropriations back to the level originally approved by the House last year. The gentleman, Mr. Rogers of Kentucky, is the chairman of the House Committee on Appropriations, and he has been unrelenting on the issue of combating prescription drug abuse.

This problem is truly plaguing our streets, our youth, and our communities. Prescription drug abuse is contributing to addiction, health deterioration, and even untimely death for too many across our country. Prescription drug abuse also fuels the demand for other illicit drugs, such as cocaine, methamphetamine, ecstasy, and heroin, along with human trafficking, gunrunning, and murder. Much of the solicitation activity flows over our southwestern border and into my home State of Arizona.

The primary purpose of the Prescription Drug Monitoring Program is to enhance the capacity of regulatory and law enforcement agencies to collect and analyze controlled substance prescription data through a centralized database administered by an authorized State agency. States that have implemented the PDMP can collect and analyze this data much more effectively than States in which collection of this data requires manual review of pharmacy files.

It is this body's duty, through the annual appropriations process, to evaluate which programs are worthwhile and which ones are not. The Prescription Drug Monitoring Program has shown promising results, but we must not give up. We must continue to think of our families, our friends, and our future generations.

I urge my colleagues to vote in favor of this amendment. I thank Chairman Culberson and Ranking Member Fattah.

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