Congress sends Obama compromise bill to curb drug abuse
- by Virginia Carter
- in World Media
- — Jul 14, 2016
The legislation has become an important part of several tough election battles in states like OH and New Hampshire where opioid addiction has been a particular program and Republican leaders are eager to clear the bill before Congress heads home at the end of the week for an nearly two month break.
The amount of federal funding committed under the measure is $181 million.
The Senate approved the bill, 92-2, on Wednesday.
Democrats said that with disagreements in Congress over next year's funding for HHS, it was uncertain whether the money contained in the bipartisan bill actually would be delivered. "CARA, that is the opioid legislation, has no real funding to solve the real problem".
Senate Democrats picked up that fight in a letter to Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Wednesday. NSC advances this mission by partnering with businesses, government agencies, elected officials and the public in areas where we can make the most impact - distracted driving, teen driving, workplace safety, prescription drug overdoses and Safe Communities. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, and co- author of the legislation, said Wednesday.
Udall worked earlier this year to add a measure to the legislation, which would have put more funds into block grant programs to directly aid health and law enforcement professionals, primarily the Byrne Justice Assistance Grant Program and the Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment Block Grant Program.
Congress' bipartisan bill, which passed the House last week on a 407-5 vote, expands access to overdose-reversing medicine and bolsters therapeutic alternatives for addicts, in place of incarceration.
In a statement, the White House said Obama would sign the bill while expressing disappointment that it failed to provide significant money to deal with the epidemic.
"With the opioid epidemic crippling communities around the country, every day that counsellors and treatment centers do not have the resources to help those fighting opioid use disorders is a day lost", they wrote.
Whitehouse and Portman said Tuesday that the measure was only ever meant to be an authorizing measure, but while Portman touted the increased funding for opioids in the Senate's Health and Human Services funding bill for the upcoming fiscal year, Whitehouse said it wasn't enough.
Udall also strongly supports the president's request for $1.1 billion in new funding for the opioid crisis, on which Republicans have yet to act.
