e-News 5/13/16

• Attacking the Dangerous Opioid Epidemic
• Remembering Those Who Protect and Serve: Our Police Officers
• Funding Our National Security, Our Troops and Military Families
• Court Re-affirms Congress’ Power of the Purse
• Recommended Reading: “U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry Meets With European Bankers in Iran-Business Push”
• Honoring the Women of WWII
• Salute: County College of Morris “Peace Prize” Winner

Attacking the Dangerous Opioid Epidemic

Drug overdose is the leading cause of accidental death in the United States, with 47,055 lethal drug overdoses in 2014. Opioid addiction is driving this epidemic, with 18,893 overdose deaths related to prescription pain relievers, and 10,574 overdose deaths related to heroin that year.

The House of Representatives this week acted to address this epidemic. The House voted on 18 bills that tackle various crises ranging from opioid addiction amongst our veterans, to our young people, to babies infected with this disease, to the current pain management best practices, and much more.  

For your information, you will find a full list here:

H.R. 4063– Jason Simcakoski PROMISE Act/Veterans’ Affairs Committee)

H.R. 4985– Kingpin Designation Improvement Act/Foreign Affairs Committee)

S. 32– Transnational Drug Trafficking Act/Judiciary Committee)

H.R. 5048– Good Samaritan Assessment Act/Judiciary Committee)

H.R. 5052– OPEN Act / Judiciary Committee)

H.R. 4843– Infant Plan of Safe Care Improvement Act/Education and the Workforce Committee)

H.R. 4978– NAS Healthy Babies Act/Energy and Commerce Committee)

H.R. 3680– Co-Prescribing to Reduce Overdoses Act/Energy and Commerce Committee)

H.R. 3691– Improving Treatment for Pregnant and Postpartum Women Act/Energy and Commerce Committee)

H.R. 1818– Veteran Emergency Medical Technician Support Act/Energy and Commerce Committee)

H.R. 4969– John Thomas Decker Act of 2016/Energy and Commerce Committee)

H.R. 4586– Lali’s Law/Energy and Commerce Committee)

H.R. 4599– Reducing Unused Medications Act/Energy and Commerce Committee)

H.R. 4976– Opioid Review Modernization Act/Energy and Commerce Committee)

H.R. 4982– Examining Opioid Treatment Infrastructure Act/Energy and Commerce Committee)

H.R. 4981– Opioid Use Disorder Treatment Expansion and Modernization Act/Energy and Commerce Committee)

H.R. 4641– To provide for the establishment of an inter-agency task force to review, modify, and update best practices for pain management and prescribing pain medication, and for other purposes/Energy and Commerce Committee)

H.R. 5046– Comprehensive Opioid Abuse Reduction Act/Judiciary Committee)

Opioids are medications that relieve pain.  And they are often abused, with the problem getting worse over time.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 78 Americans die every day from an opioid overdose.  In fact, deaths from drug overdoses significantly outpace deaths from motor vehicle accidents.

These numbers have a real human cost, and opioid addiction affects every race, gender, and socioeconomic level in America. Often, abusers become estranged from their families, unable to work, and living shadows of their former lives because of their addiction.

While families and communities should remain on the front lines to fight thise tide of addiction, Congress has a role as well. The federal government should support community efforts to battle addiction and improve regulations governing opioid prescriptions.

The bills we passed this week are designed to discourage abuse and improve treatment, prevention, and education efforts for those with opioid addiction.  We also approved legislation that would create better guidance to the medical community about the best practices for pain management and medication prescribing so that fewer people fall into the trap of addiction through perfectly legal prescriptions.  Other bills focused on babies suffering from withdrawal after being born of opioid-addicted mothers with a bill to improve newborn care and efforts to stop trafficking of opioids and other illegal drugs.

Our goal is simple: build on efforts to prevent addiction and treat those suffering, crafting legislation that will gather bipartisan support and get signed into law.

The President’s own proposals to combat opioid addiction demonstrate that there is ample opportunity to reach a bipartisan consensus.

Remembering Those Who Protect and Serve: Our Police Officers

This week, we marked the National Police Unity Tour and Police Week 2016. The Police Unity Tour started in my Congressional District back in 1997 by Officer Patrick Montuore of the Florham Park Police Department.  The aim was to bring greater public focus to the sacrifice police officers who have died in the line of duty.

Back then, Officer Montuore started with 18 riders on a four day fund-raising bicycle ride from Florham Park to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial in Washington, DC.  They raised $18,000.

This week, they had over 1900 members riders make the trip, and they raised $1.9 million to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund.

To the men and women officers riding to Washington this week and those serving across our nation every day, we all say “thank you.”  Thank you for protecting our neighborhoods, towns and cities. Thank you for putting your safety and, indeed, your lives on the line each day you are on the job. And, thank you to the families of officers who have lost their lives in the line of duty for their sacrifice.

For more information on the Police Unity Tour, click here.

With my support, the House passed two important bills this week, the Bulletproof Vest Partnership Grant Program Reauthorization Act of 2016 (S. 125) and the Federal Law Enforcement Self Defense Protection Act (H.R. 2137), that will help keep our police officers safe on our streets.

My Work in Committee: Funding National Security, Our Troops and Military Families

As I prepare to take the Fiscal Year 2017 Defense Appropriations bill to the full Appropriations Committee, we released the text of the package for all to read.

I will have more to say about our legislation next week, but here are some of the specifics:

• The legislation meets the overall defense spending limits set by law for fiscal year 2017, providing $517.1 billion in funding – an increase of $3 billion above the fiscal year 2016 enacted level and $587 million below the President’s budget request.
• The bill also provides $58.6 billion in Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO)/Global War on Terrorism (GWOT) funding – the level allowed under current law.
• Following the lead of the House Armed Services Committee-approved National Defense Authorization Act of 2017, the legislation targets approximately $16 billion of this OCO/GWOT funding to meet needs within the base Pentagon budget.

Stated differently, the bill we developed in my Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense funds critical national security needs, including military operations and readiness programs, as well as health and quality-of-life programs for our troops and military families.  We add troops and halt ongoing reductions in the size of the Army, Marines and Air Force, increase the pace of Navy shipbuilding, fund increased training for all services, upgrade military facilities, restock depleted ammunition stores and support a 2.1 percent military pay raise.

In an increasingly dangerous and rapidly changing world, we must guarantee that our military and intelligence community have the capability to defeat barbaric Islamic terror groups and deter aggressor-nations, like Russia, Iran, China, and North Korea. This bill recognizes the serious need for increased funding for more training, readiness and modernized equipment.  The bill also fully supports military families and our wounded warriors.  

Find more details about the FY 2017 Defense Appropriations bill here.

You can read our draft bill here.

Court Re-affirms Congress’ Power of the Purse

In a setback to President Barack Obama’s health care law, a federal judge ruled yesterday that the administration is unconstitutionally spending federal money to fund the measure without approval from Congress. The ruling was a win for House Republicans who brought a legal challenge.

The Constitution specifically states that the power of the purse lies with Congress – not the White House. It is pretty clear that the administration overstepped the constitutional bounds on its authority when it funded billions of Obamacare spending without appropriations from Congress.  I am pleased the court has upheld this fundamental tenet of our democratic system.

Read more about this decision in Forbe’s article, “Judge Hands Victory to Republicans on Obamacare Challenge” here.

Recommended Reading: “U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry Meets With European Bankers in Iran-Business Push”

In today’s Wall Street Journal, Felicia Schwartz and Margot Patrickoutline the steps Secretary Kerry is taking to encourage European banks to do business in Iran. 

As readers of my e-Newsletter know, I opposed the misguided Iran Nuclear Weapons Agreement.  We now are seeing the Secretary of State lobby for billions of dollars of foreign investment on behalf of the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism!

Honoring the Women of WWII

This week the House acted to ensure the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASPs) are eligible to have their remains placed at Arlington National Cemetery.  Last year, the Administration denied these female pioneers their eligibility. 

Salute: County College of Morris “Peace Prize” Winner

Congratulations to Mirelle Quintana, a student at the County College of Morris in Randolph for winning the 15^th winner of the CCM Foundation’s peace Prize.  Mirelle created a video about how the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks impacted people, which she says “forced us to come together and grow.”