Political Quotes

“Mr. Chair, I rise in support of my amendment to H.R. 6. I am grateful for the opportunity to speak about it. My amendment strikes language that would expand the classes of healthcare workers who would be authorized to dispense narcotics for narcotic treatment. Let me be clear at the outset. H.R. 6 is, in large part, a great bill; however, as currently written, it allows nurse specialists, nurse midwives, and nurse anesthetists to prescribe buprenorphine. I believe this is a significant and impulsive expansion of prescribing authority. Allowing more providers with less clinical experience to provide buprenorphine, a highly addictive opioid, opens up dangerous new potential for increased opioid abuse. The point of H.R. 6 is to decrease opioid abuse, but this provision increases the potential for abuse and vastly increases the supply of a dangerous opioid that is one of the major causes of opioid overdose and death in Europe. Mr. Chair, I appreciate the opportunity to bring these concerns to light in this amendment. Mr. Chair, I include in the Record a letter in support of my amendment from The OTP Consortium. The OTP Consortium, June 19, 2018. Hon. Greg Walden, Chairman, Committee on Energy and Commerce, House of Representatives, Washington, DC. Hon. Kevin Brady, Chairman, Committee on Ways and Means, House of Representatives, Washington, DC. Hon. Frank Pallone, Jr., Ranking Member, Committee on Energy and Commerce, House of Representatives, Washington, DC. Hon.…”