Dick Durbin: “First, I thank him for his leadership on this issue. I know it is personal to him and the Presiding Officer. In my…”

“First, I thank him for his leadership on this issue. I know it is personal to him and the Presiding Officer. In my State, I think the death rate from opioids and heroin is somewhere around 12 per 100,000; in your State, I understand it is 25; in the State of New Hampshire, 35. So you have twice the problem we have, just in strict statistical terms, and New Hampshire, for some reason, has three times. And you have been outspoken on this issue. I am pleased you have been because it is not just local to you, it is a national problem. Yesterday we had the Acting Administrator for the Drug Enforcement Administration come before the Judiciary Committee. Most people are not aware, although I know you and the Presiding Officer are aware of the fact that each year the Drug Enforcement Administration approves the production of opioids by pharma. In other words, the pharmaceutical companies cannot produce these pills that are classified as narcotic, pain reliever pills, without the approval of the Drug Enforcement Administration. I am sure the Senator from West Virginia is aware of the fact that when they set the annual production quotas for opioids by U.S. pharmaceutical companies--there has been a dramatic increase. Between 1993 and 2015, a 22-year period of time, oxycodone production jumped dramatically 40 times, from 3\1/2\ tons to over 150 tons of oxycodone approved by the Drug Enforcement Administration.…”