WCVB Boston: Mass. Reps Call for More Money to Fight Opioid Addiction
May 20th, 2016
By Gerry Tuoti, Wicked Local
WASHINGTON —While members of the Massachusetts congressional delegation are pleased that the House passed a package of 18 opioid bills last week, they say more funding is needed to make substantial progress in the fight against drug addiction.
“This is an epidemic that is extremely complex,” U.S. Rep. Joe Kennedy III said. “There is no silver bullet, but each one of these initiatives in and of themselves helps move us a little bit closer. However, we’re going to need some additional funding to make the headway we need to make.”
Kennedy is one of the lead sponsors of a separate bill that would allocate $1.16 billion to expand access to opioid addiction treatment, increase funding for the federal Drug Enforcement Agency’s heroin enforcement efforts and fund and enhance prescription drug monitoring programs. The bill echoes President Barack Obama’s call for funding, Wicked Local reports.
Fellow Massachusetts Democrats Michael Capuano, Katherine Clark, William Keating, Stephen Lynch, James McGovern, Seth Moulton, Richard Neal and Niki Tsongas signed on as co-sponsors.
Two bills from Clark were included in the package of legislation that passed last week. Her bills are intended to reduce the number of unused and unwanted prescription painkillers and establish care plans for families of infants exposed to opioids.
In a May 10 speech on the House floor, Clark described the impact of opioid addiction on people in her district and touched on the need for funding.
“This crisis is an urgent calling for Congress to act and save lives, and this week we will have the opportunity to pass legislation that will give critical tools to address this crisis,” she said. “Ultimately, however, we must also provide the financial resources to our state and local partners to change the course of this epidemic. “
Speaking on the House floor, McGovern said speeches about supporting anti-opioid initiatives “will amount to empty rhetoric” without additional funding.
“We need to not only pass these bills, but we need to commit in a bipartisan way that we’re going to provide the necessary funding, and I hope we can do that,” McGovern said.
House Republicans blocked an amendment that would have provided $600 million in emergency funding for efforts to combat opioid addiction, saying that the funding would come when they pass 2017 spending bills for federal agencies.
Kennedy’s funding bill was referred to committee.
“The fact is we can put together a task force to make recommendations and ask the federal government to do more reports, but the idea you can do all of this without an additional investment, I think, is unrealistic,” he said.
Article here.
