Marsha Blackburn: “Opioid addiction has proven to destroy hope, it destroys opportunity, and it is destroying families. Certainly we see…”

“Opioid addiction has proven to destroy hope, it destroys opportunity, and it is destroying families. Certainly we see this across the country, but we are also seeing the devastating effects of addiction in Tennessee. Tennessee has the second highest rating nationally for opioid addiction. As many States are exceedingly aware, drug overdose is the leading cause of accidental death in this country. As we started working on this issue in the Committee on Energy and Commerce, so many people did not realize that prescription drug abuse is the leading cause of accidental death in our country, with over 18,000 fatalities last year. Addiction does not care about race, gender, or politics. It is an issue that affects all of us, and it affects the people that we are here to serve. Together many of us--families and those that we love in our communities--are working to find solutions that will combat this epidemic and help remedy those who are suffering from addiction the most. Just this week--and you can look at the bills that have been on the agenda and have passed the House; many of these are being done with bipartisan support--there have been 15 amendments to these bills. They have all passed by voice vote. What the bills will do is to streamline the burdensome bureaucracy which currently debilitates finding a solution for this crisis.…”