Annie Kuster: “I thank the gentlewoman for those comments, and I echo the need to address mandatory minimum sentencing and…”

“I thank the gentlewoman for those comments, and I echo the need to address mandatory minimum sentencing and comprehensive criminal justice reform. The opioid epidemic is not a problem that we can jail our way out of, and it is imperative that we work together to fix our broken criminal justice system that unjustly incarcerates Black and brown Americans at alarming rates. I agree that we cannot repeat the mistakes of the past in responding to drug epidemics, but the dramatic increases in fentanyl-related deaths require us to act. Ensuring that the DEA has the authority to ban new synthetic analogues, most of which are being manufactured by criminal chemists in China, is important to curb the influx of fentanyl. I believe that a critical component of criminal justice reform is improving health access and coverage for incarcerated individuals, many of whom suffer from substance misuse disorder and mental health issues with a co-occurring mental health disorder. I have introduced bipartisan legislation, the Humane Correctional Health Care Act, which aims to break the cycle of reincarceration and recidivism by repealing the Medicaid Inmate Exclusion, which blocks access to care. Healthcare is a fundamental human right that should never be stripped from any person for any reason.…”