Michael Burgess

I intend to oppose any bill that has nothing to do with opioids, that makes the problem worse, or that is simply not ready and vetted in the time that we have allotted.

We should think creatively about how to help strengthen Medicaid and Medicare's ability to combat the scourge of opioid abuse.

With more than 110 Americans dying daily from opioid overdoses, we must be willing to ask hard questions and find solutions.

While committee members on both sides of the aisle have put a lot of time and thought into developing these bills, a majority are still in discussion draft form.

But with more than 110 Americans dying daily from an opiate overdose, we must be willing to ask hard questions and seek solutions.

While committee members on both sides of this dais have put in a lot of time and thought in developing these bills, a majority are still in discussion draft form.

I always thought the Community Development Block Grant was a way to get money to the local level faster than going through State agencies.

I would encourage the structure, because if you watch cable news coverage of this event...

I am pleased to yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Griffith), a valuable member of the Energy and Commerce Committee, the vice chairman of the Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee.

At this time, I am pleased to yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Oregon (Mr. Walden), the chairman of the full committee.

I sat down with my local law enforcement folks a number of months ago, actually almost a year ago

The difficulty of identifying these packages that are coming in, whether it is FedEx, UPS, Postal Service

We cannot allow agency inertia to get in the way of delivering those dollars where they are, in fact, needed.

The efforts in the Comprehensive Addiction Recovery Act and 21st Century Cures have been impactful, but there is more that Congress must do to tackle the crisis.

I am concerned that we will only be able to give brief attention to many of the bills before us today.

While our efforts in the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act and 21st Century Cures have been impactful, there is much more that Congress can do to tackle this crisis.

Representative Hudson's bill addresses this problem from the packaging and disposal angle.

Representative Griffith's bill would realign prescription drug monitoring programs under the Centers for Disease Control to coordinate efforts to improve data collection into physician workflow.

One postal inspector is certainly an issue

These bills today range from amending laws relating to the confidentiality of substance use disorder and patient data, to establishing comprehensive opiate recovery centers.

This epidemic is in our hospitals, in our living rooms, and on our streets.

I've been a longtime proponent of increasing access to health care in our communities.

We cannot help American struggling with opioid abuse if they do not have health coverage.

I would like to commend our fellow Health Subcommittee member, Representative Mullin, for championing the House ADUFA/AGDUFA Reauthorization bill.

Thank you for your hard work on this important measure.