John Rice Carter: “I would like to thank Chairmen Walden and Burgess for working so hard with our partners across the aisle as well as…”

“I would like to thank Chairmen Walden and Burgess for working so hard with our partners across the aisle as well as across the Capitol to come to a consensus on this critical legislation necessary to combat the opioid epidemic. As the only pharmacist currently serving in Congress, I have seen families saved by pain medications and have seen families torn apart by the same drugs. Since this body began tackling the opioid epidemic, I have said there are three major components to this crisis: prevention, law enforcement, and treatment. This legislation touches all three prongs of the opioid crisis with a number creative solutions in addition to providing offsets to ensure that solving a public health crisis does not lead to a fiscal one. This package is not a silver bullet, but as legislators we need to do everything in our capacity to prevent the addiction and overdoses that occur every day in the United States. Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank Chairman Walden and Burgess for working so hard with our partners across the aisle as well as across the Capitol to come to a consensus on this critical legislation necessary to combat the opioid epidemic. As the only pharmacist in Congress, I have seen families saved by pain medications and have seen families torn apart by the same drugs. Since this body began tackling the opioid epidemic, I have said there are three major parts to the crisis: prevention, law enforcement, and treatment.…”