WASHINGTON, DC - Energy and Commerce Committee Republican Leader Greg Walden (R-OR) and Subcommittee on Health Republican Leader Michael C. Burgess, M.D. (R-TX), and Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations Republican Leader Brett Guthrie (R-KY) sent a letter to Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ), Subcommittee on Health Chair Anna Eshoo (D-CA), and Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations Chair Diana DeGette (R-CO), requesting the committee continue its bipartisan work to help combat the opioid crisis.
Specifically, the leaders requested hearings to examine the implementation of H.R. 6, the SUPPORT for Patients and Communities Act, discuss additional efforts to address the ongoing opioid crisis, and review the recommendations of the committee’s investigation into opioid distribution. Additionally, they requested the continuation of the committee’s investigations into opioid manufacturers and patient brokering.
“In the 115th Congress, Republicans and Democrats on the Energy and Commerce Committee worked together in a bipartisan way to combat the nation’s opioid crisis, which included bipartisan investigations into several key issues that have contributed to the crisis as well as numerous legislative initiatives. Our efforts culminated in the signing into law of H.R. 6, the SUPPORT for Patients and Communities Act, which is considered the most significant congressional effort against a single drug crisis in history. We write to request that the Committee continue our legislative and investigative work to combat the opioid crisis. While we made great strides working together last Congress, our work is far from done. As the Committee with primary jurisdiction over public health issues in the U.S. House of Representatives, we must address the scourge that is sadly claiming 130 American lives per day and continue our work of the last two Congresses," Walden, Burgess, and Guthrie wrote.
