Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, many patients have limited access to mental health and substance use disorder services, particularly Americans who live outside of metropolitan areas. To increase access to specialized care, this legislation requires the Attorney General to issue waivers to healthcare providers to prescribe medication-assisted treatment, or MAT, for emergency situations, like the lack of access to an in-person specialist. Under a previous version of the bill, the DEA would have had up to 90 days to complete this task. At their request, this committee favorably reported an amendment extending this window to 1 year. Finalizing the rules for the special waiver process is on the unified agenda of the Justice Department at DEA. That is a signal that they understand the need to implement this provision of law. We have the opportunity to consider this bill today because of the faithful dedication and thoughtful legislating of Representatives Buddy Carter of Georgia and Cheri Bustos of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Carter) to speak on this legislation, our resident pharmacist, the only one, I believe, in the entire U.S. House of Representatives, who has been a terrific asset as we have dealt with these issues of drugs and drug abuse and addiction, or addiction treatment, and trying to find the best paths forward.”