Rob Portman: “on March 10, this body, the U.S. Senate, passed legislation to address what is a growing problem in all of our…”

“on March 10, this body, the U.S. Senate, passed legislation to address what is a growing problem in all of our communities, and that is the heroin and prescription drug epidemic. On March 10, this body voted for a comprehensive bill called CARA, the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act. It deals with prevention, treatment, and recovery, helping our law enforcement, getting prescription drugs off the shelves of our bathrooms so they are not being used to get people into this addiction, and helping to stop the overprescribing with a drug monitoring program. This was a comprehensive approach intended to help our communities deal with this growing problem. The No. 1 cause of death now in my home State of Ohio is not car accidents anymore, it is overdoses. It is overdoses from prescription drugs and heroin. Since March 10, I have come to the floor four times--this is now the fifth time--every week we have been in session since then, to urge the House to act quickly on CARA, because with a 94-to-1 vote, with that kind of consensus built around this place, which is highly unusual, it shows that this is a problem in all of our communities and all of our States. We spent 3 years putting together the legislation. We worked with experts from all around the country. We sought out best practices.…”