Sheila Jackson Lee: “I thank Congresswoman Bonnie Watson Coleman for leading this Special Order and for bringing us together around two very…”

“I thank Congresswoman Bonnie Watson Coleman for leading this Special Order and for bringing us together around two very important issues, not only this question of opioids, but, as well, the question of the rights of women. Let me say that this has been a week for news, news coming from the most powerful lawmaking body in the Nation. As I heard a Member say in the course of the debate on the list of opioids legislation, it is not that we needed it, for the record is established through the Congressional Record, but that we would want to have those areas that are usually filled with media really take hold of what is being done on the floor of the United States House of Representatives and, of course, the complementary legislation of the other body. Over the past 2 days, we passed legislation dealing with pregnant women, we passed legislation dealing with teenagers who lost their lives because of overdose of prescription drugs, and we passed legislation that gave a whole litany under the Judiciary Committee not of mandatory minimums and mass incarceration, but how do we bring law enforcement and substance abuse counselors together? How do we provide training for police officers to use naloxone? How do we ensure that there is training or resources for those who are addicted? How do we get parental training as it relates to individuals who are addicted and their children are addicted?…”