Bob Latta: “I thank the gentleman very much for yielding. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 4499, the NIMHD Research…”

“I thank the gentleman very much for yielding. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 4499, the NIMHD Research Endowment Revitalization Act of 2020. This is an extremely important piece of legislation, and I intend to support it. I also intend to ask the House today to support my legislation, which is H.R. 4806, the Debarment Enforcement of Bad Actor Registrants Act of 2019, or the DEBAR Act. Substance abuse continues to wreak havoc in our communities and is responsible for claiming nearly 700,000 lives since 1999. In the first quarter of this year alone, overdose death rates increased 11.4 percent compared to the same time last year. As we work to put an end to the coronavirus pandemic, addressing the ongoing opioid epidemic is increasingly critical. {time} 1215 I introduced the DEBAR Act because it takes significant steps to reduce the circulation of illegal substances in our country. This bill provides the Drug Enforcement Agency debarment authority to permanently prohibit a person or entity who has violated the Controlled Substances Act from being able to receive a registration to manufacture, distribute, or dispense a controlled substance. We cannot stop our efforts to end the opioid and substance abuse crisis, and I encourage my colleagues to support H.R. 4806 and H.R. 4499. I also want to thank the chairman for his work on both of these pieces of legislation, and the ranking member, and I encourage my colleagues to support both pieces of legislation.”