• New Report on Opioid Addiction: Dying Waiting for Treament

    by Ron Wyden

    Every day I hear from Oregonians who have struggled with opioid addiction themselves or are watching their friends and family struggle. We're losing too many friends, family members, neighbors and children to opioid addiction and there's too few resources to help them.

    As ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee, I put together a report released last week detailing just how few resources are accessible to Americans struggling with opioid addiction and how, without additional funding, Americans will continue to die while waiting for treatment.


    Background:

    Earlier this year Congress passed the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act which authorizes increased and evidence-based treatment and prevention programs to help curb the opioid epidemic.

    Here's the problem: Republicans left town without passing our request to actually fund these important programs.

    So, while the programs could exist, in reality they don’t because Republicans only guaranteed $7 million of the $920 million needed to fund the programs Congress agreed to when they passed the bill. That’s like using a thimbleful of water to extinguish an inferno.

    What I found:

    The report, "Dying Waiting for Treatment," outlines the devastating consequences of underfunding addiction treatment in America. The report found that over 35,000 Oregonians need treatment, but are unable to receive it because our facilities are at capacity. And there are only enough health providers to help 1 in every 238 Americans seeking treatment.

    Without funding nothing changes. Those suffering from opioid addiction will continue to die every day waiting for treatment.

    My hope is that my colleagues will look at the facts my report lays out, which shows that thousands of Americans are dying waiting for treatment, and finally take action to fund these opioid treatment programs before the epidemic gets any worse.

  • Preventing problems is at the heart of Ron's Family First legislation

    by Communications Office

    Ron held roundtables recently with parents and providers at relief nurseries in Bend, Salem and Springfield about how their work in Oregon to keep children safe and families intact inspired his Family First Prevention Services Act.

    “In writing this legislation, we said this is exactly the kind of thing the federal government ought to be doing and it’s right in our backyard,” Ron said in Springfield.

    Ron’s bipartisan legislation with Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch and fellow Finance Committee members Chuck Grassley and Michael Bennett is the companion bill to legislation that’s already passed the House.

    The bill aims to keep more children safely in their homes and reduce over-reliance on group foster care homes, objectives also targeted by the relief nurseries Ron toured in Oregon.

    “The legislation shares a common goal with relief nurseries -- our job is not done until every single child in Oregon lives in a safe environment,” Ron said in Bend. “What we want to do is prevent problems in the first place. That is the heart of the Family First legislation.”

    At each of the three visits, Ron heard from parents and grandparents grateful for the family services provided by relief nurseries such as treatment for substance abuse, mental health and other needs.

    He praised those parents and grandparents for their commitment, and the relief nurseries for providing the standard of excellence used in the Family First legislation.

    “You are the model for the federal bill I have proposed,” he said in Salem. “Relief nurseries are the gold standard.”

  • Ron visits Roseburg Forest Products to talk softwood lumber

    by Communications Office

    Ron visited Roseburg Forest Products last week to talk with company officials there about his work to ensure Canadian subsidies to softwood lumber don’t hamstring industry job growth in Oregon and nationwide.

    His visit to the company’s Dillard operations follows a July 19 letter he and Idaho Sen. Mike Crapo spearheaded to the U.S. Trade Representative urging strong protections for U.S. jobs and manufacturing in U.S.-Canada softwood lumber negotiations.

    All told, 25 senators – from both parties -- signed the letter.

    “Democrats and Republicans have come together because what is on the line is the ability to have high-skilled, high-wage jobs in natural resources,” Ron said at Roseburg Forest Products, one of 30 softwood lumber mills throughout Oregon.

    “What this comes down to is trade done right,” he said, noting that about one in five Oregon jobs depends on trade and that those jobs often pay better.  

    The United States and Canada have periodically hammered out agreements to address the effects of Canadian subsidies on the U.S. softwood lumber market and avoid trade litigation.  But the most recent agreement lapsed last year, and Oregon communities are once again facing the effects of unfair Canadian subsidies.  

    About 32,000 Oregonians work in forestry and wood products, one of the state’s signature industries.

    “Oregon workers can compete with anybody on the planet as long as there’s a fair and level playing field – and that has not been the case with Canada,” he said. “Canada for years has tilted the scales by relying on massive subsidies to give its industry an unfair edge in the U.S. market.”

    Ron said he hopes an agreement can be reached, while adding, “This is something where we’re going to go to the mat to ensure that American workers and businesses finally get a fair shake. We’re not going to accept any old agreement that ratifies business as usual.  If a good agreement can’t be reached, we will insist on the toughest possible enforcement of America’s trade laws.”