WASHINGTON, DC - House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Greg Walden (R-OR) and Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee Chairman Gregg Harper (R-MS) today released a statement following the Department of Justice (DOJ) announcement on the creation of the Appalachian Regional Prescription Opioid Strike Force. The Energy and Commerce Committee has spent more than a year investigating alleged pill-dumping in West Virginia.
“As one of the hardest-hit regions in the country, Appalachia is ground zero in the fight against opioid abuse, diversion, and overdose. The creation of the Appalachian Regional Prescription Opioid Strike Force announced today by the Department of Justice expands the Trump Administration’s already robust efforts to combat the opioid crisis and comes just one day after the president signed into law the SUPPORT for Patients and Communities Act, the most sweeping legislative effort to tackle a drug crisis in American history. At the House Energy and Commerce Committee, we have spent more than a year investigating how massive quantities of prescription opioids were allowed to flood small towns in West Virginia, including questioning the CEOs of major opioid distributors at a Congressional hearing. We commend the administration’s efforts and look forward to continuing to work together to end this deadly epidemic and save American lives," said Chairman Walden and #SubOversight Chairman Harper.
Learn more about the committee’s investigations HERE.
