Steve Lynch: “Before I get started, I just want to join the chorus here and congratulate Chairman Wolf on his remarkable career as a…”

“Before I get started, I just want to join the chorus here and congratulate Chairman Wolf on his remarkable career as a leader here in this Congress and as someone who has worked diligently on behalf of his constituents but also in a way that I think has reflected greatly on this body. I think that the work product in this bill produced by Chairman Wolf and Ranking Member Fattah is a wonderful example of the possibilities when people work together. Madam Chairman, my amendment would increase by $3 million the amount appropriated for fiscal year 2015 for the Drug Courts program. The $3 million added to the Drug Courts program will be offset by decreasing by $3 million the amount appropriated for funding the International Trade Administration. Madam Chair, drug addiction in the United States is at an epidemic level. To call it otherwise grossly understates the problem. This epidemic affects every city and town across America, and it cuts across every demographic. It simply does not discriminate. Drug and alcohol addiction shatters lives, destroys families, and costs taxpayers billions of dollars annually. In fact, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, estimates of the total overall costs of substance abuse in the United States--including lost productivity, in-hospital care, incarceration, rehab, and crime-related costs--tally to over $600 billion annually in the United States.…”