Political Quotes

“Mr. Chairman, I thank the chairman for yielding. Mr. Chairman, I support Mr. Rush's amendment, but I remain in strong opposition to the underlying bill. I support my colleague's, Mr. Rush's, work to add cocaine use disorder. As Mr. Rush noted in our committee, cocaine use claims more African American lives than opioid use and has been a larger problem than opioid use disorder for more than 20 years, yet incarceration, not treatment, is far too often the response. Unfortunately, adding a single additional drug does not make this legislation whole. Nearly half of all States already reimburse for IMDs for all individuals with substance use disorder. We can and should build on that policy and strengthen the full continuum of care with any IMD policy this body passes. There is no good reason, policy or otherwise, for us to leave the overwhelming majority of Medicaid beneficiaries out in the cold because they have the misfortunate to be addicted to, for instance, alcohol or meth instead of cocaine or opioids. So, again, I support the amendment, but I remain in strong opposition to the underlying bill.”