Lisa Blunt Rochester: “I thank Ranking Member Pallone for yielding me time. Madam Chair, today, I rise to talk about a public health emergency…”

“I thank Ranking Member Pallone for yielding me time. Madam Chair, today, I rise to talk about a public health emergency impacting every corner of our Nation: fentanyl. As Congress debates the best approach to combating synthetic opioids, what we can all agree on is that every single one of us is impacted. I urge my colleagues to keep our focus on comprehensive and sustainable solutions. In 2021, in my small State of Delaware, we lost over 500 family members, friends, coworkers, and neighbors to overdoses. Of the more than 500 Delawareans lost to overdose, 80 percent involved fentanyl. Those numbers, unfortunately, are poised to get worse. As the former deputy secretary of health and social services in Delaware, my career has made me look at these challenges through a lens of public health. That is why I was proud to join my colleagues Representative Annie Kuster and Don Bacon in introducing the STOP Fentanyl Overdoses Act. Our bipartisan bill takes a comprehensive public health approach to reducing fentanyl overdoses by expanding testing, improving data collection and analysis, and expanding treatment for opioid use disorder. Our approach is supported by a broad and diverse coalition, including the Drug Policy Alliance, American Psychological Association Services, and Partnership to End Addiction.…”