Andy Barr: “I thank Congressman Jenkins for his leadership on this important issue. Mr. Chairman, I join my colleague from West…”

“I thank Congressman Jenkins for his leadership on this important issue. Mr. Chairman, I join my colleague from West Virginia in introducing this amendment, which seeks to increase funding to the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area program by $6 million. Frankly, that is not enough, but it is an improvement over the status quo. This program is a proven program, established to help combat the sale and distribution of illegal narcotics. I am greatly concerned about the current and future well-being of this Nation and States like my home Commonwealth of Kentucky, which, according to the Centers for Disease Control, has the third highest rate of fatalities due to drug overdose in the Nation, falling close behind West Virginia and New Hampshire. Members of my Sixth Congressional District of Kentucky Drug Abuse Task Force, which is comprised of local, State, and Federal experts in the fields of law enforcement, drug treatment, recovery, education, and prevention efforts, recommended increased funding for HIDTA initiatives to help fight this crisis. We hear it from our constituents, the heartbreaking stories of loved ones who have succumbed to addiction and the heartbreaking stories of first responders who are called to the scene of overdose deaths. In 2016 alone, HIDTAs took $17.3 billion of illicit drugs off the streets and out of our communities, which equates to a return on investment of $75 for every $1 in HIDTA budgeted in 2016.…”