WASHINGTON, DC - Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Greg Walden (R-OR) and Health Subcommittee Chairman Michael C. Burgess, M.D. (R-TX) issued the following statement after the Senate passed the Opioid Crisis Response Act of 2018.
“We applaud the Senate for passing critical legislation to help combat the opioid crisis. With the House’s overwhelmingly bipartisan passage of H.R. 6, the Substance Use-Disorder Prevention that Promotes Opioid Recovery and Treatment (SUPPORT) for Patients and Communities Act, in June, the Senate’s actions clear the way for the House and Senate to iron out the differences in our proposals. This is an important step forward in our collective fight to end this epidemic that takes 115 American lives each and every day, and we look forward to continuing to work together to advance a final legislative package that will be signed into law."
Background:
Over the course of two weeks in June, the House passed dozens of individual bills to combat the opioid crisis. The vast majority of those bills were included in H.R. 6.
H.R. 6 is a bipartisan bill that will help in our overall efforts to combat the opioid crisis by advancing treatment and recovery initiatives, improving prevention, protecting our communities, and bolstering our efforts to fight deadly illicit synthetic drugs like fentanyl. H.R. 6 passed the House by a vote of 396-14.
