Bill Pascrell: “First, Madam Chair, I commend Chairwoman DeLauro, the gentlewoman from Connecticut, and Ranking Member Cole for their…”

“First, Madam Chair, I commend Chairwoman DeLauro, the gentlewoman from Connecticut, and Ranking Member Cole for their work on this bill and accommodating a bipartisan amendment. I thank my colleagues, Congressman David McKinley, Congresswoman Diana DeGette, and Congressman Scott Tipton, for working together with me on this quest for the past 2 years. The Alternatives to Opioids in the Emergency Department program, or ALTO, was first piloted by Dr. Mark Rosenberg, a doctor at St. Joseph's emergency department in my hometown of Paterson--one T--New Jersey, and hospitals in Colorado as well. ALTO tests alternative pain management protocols to limit the use of opioids in emergency departments. ALTO programs can serve as a new preventive blueprint for hospitals and healthcare providers across America. As our health providers grapple with ways to combat the opioid epidemic wracking every community in our Nation, they have been working and achieving results to prevent unnecessary use of opioids. To build on these successful programs, we introduced H.R. 5197, the Alternatives to Opioids in the Emergency Department Act, last Congress. To help tackle the opioid crisis and limit the use of opioids in emergency departments, this bill authorized a $10 million grant program to fund demonstration programs to test alternative pain management protocols. Thanks to the Energy and Commerce Committee, our bill was signed into law as part of H.R. 6, the SUPPORT for Patients and Communities Act.…”