Heidi Alexander: “I wish to say to the Senator from Washington that I fully subscribe to her remarks. She is the ranking Democrat on the…”

“I wish to say to the Senator from Washington that I fully subscribe to her remarks. She is the ranking Democrat on the HELP Committee, and we work together to produce results. I like it when we can, and I think the American people do as well. I had a chance to come to the floor earlier this afternoon to thank Senator Murray and her staff and the other Senators and their staffs and the large number of people who made this bill possible, so I will not repeat all that. I would like to say, I think it is worthwhile to stop and say that at the time of a contentious debate about the Supreme Court, the U.S. Senate has found something that is equally important and really more important to hundreds of families across this country, maybe thousands, in virtually every community because the opioid epidemic is our most severe public health epidemic, and we have worked together, and we literally have unanimously agreed on this bill in the Senate, all 100 of us--well, maybe not all 100 but almost all 100 of us. At least all 100 of us agreed to let it go forward, and almost all 100 of us will vote for it. The House of Representatives was nearly as unanimous. We have a bipartisan sense of urgency to deal with this. Senator McConnell has called it landmark legislation. It is not the first step the Senate and the House have taken. There was the CARA Act, Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act.…”