On the recordJuly 8, 2016
After much thought, I have decided to support the conference report on S. 524. It is not perfect and does not nearly do enough from a funding perspective, but it makes some important steps that would allow us to begin to address the opioid addiction crisis that is impacting our Nation. The American people are desperate for relief from the opioid epidemic currently devastating our country, and they are depending on this Congress to act. By now, we have all heard the stories: young people taken from their families in their prime; babies born suffering from the cruel effects of opioid withdrawal; and parents who have lost the ability to care for their families as they battle their addiction. To treat this epidemic as anything less than a national crisis would be a terrible mistake. And even though we have already lost far too many lives to overdoses, we still have an opportunity to save many more. This conference report includes many important policies that have bipartisan agreement. For example, we will now allow patients and doctors to choose to partially fill their opioids so that excess medicines are not dispensed unnecessarily. This will reduce the number of unused pills in circulation, which will reduce the risk of misuse, diversion, and overdose. The conference report also allows nurse practitioners and physician assistants to treat individuals with opioid use disorders with buprenorphine.…
