WASHINGTON-House Committee on Oversight and Reform Ranking Member James Comer (R-Ky.) opened today’s hearing purportedly about holding the Sackler family and Purdue Pharma accountable by criticizing Democrats for using it to promote Democrat donor Patrick Radden Keefe’s book about the family. Given the timing of the hearing, Democrats risk improperly influencing a court case to hold the Sackler family and Purdue Pharma accountable and provide restitution to the families of opioid victims.
At the first hearing about the Sackler family and their destructive role in the opioid crisis, Ranking Member Comer was very clear that the Sackler family and Purdue Pharma must be held accountable for their role in the crisis. But like today’s hearing, another congressional hearing and the possibility of legislative action could endanger any settlement. With the increase of illicit trafficking of fentanyl across the southern border, Ranking Member Comer concluded by calling on Chairwoman Maloney to hold a hearing on the border crisis that is wreaking havoc on American communities.
Below are the remarks as prepared.
We are here today having another hearing-the second in six months-on Purdue Pharma and the Sackler family.
This hearing, however, is a little different than the one from December. That’s because this hearing is the first meeting of the Committee Book Club.
That’s right - the Committee’s star witness today, Patrick Radden Keefe, recently wrote a book on the Sackler family that was released just weeks ago.
In fact, just minutes after Democrats announced this hearing, Mr. Keefe blasted out the hearing announcement on his Twitter page and used the opportunity to talk about his book.
His book currently ranks on Amazon as #1 in the Pharmaceutical and Biotechnology Industry category, #1 in the White Collar True Crime Accounts category, but only #2 in the Biographies of Business Leaders category.
Mr. Keefe donated thousands of dollars exclusively to Democrats and Stacey Abrams-linked groups last election cycle, so perhaps this is the Democrats’ way of paying him back, by helping him reach #1 in that third book category.
Mr. Keefe is a reporter for the New Yorker and formerly of the New York Times. If there is a better way to show the cozy relationship between Democrats and the media other than having him here at this hearing, to promote his own book, I don’t know what it is.
Mr. Keefe can’t really add anything to today’s hearing. We already know the Sackler family played an enormous role in our country’s tragic opioid epidemic, there can be no doubt about that.
But there has been, and continues to be, a legal reckoning for Purdue Pharma and the Sackler family.
Their many victims are having their day in court.
In fact, as we speak, there is a landmark bankruptcy proceeding, which will hopefully provide some financial restitution to hundreds of municipalities across the country.
Purdue Pharma and the Sacklers undoubtedly must be held to account for their contribution to the growing opioid epidemic.
But this is hearing is not doing that.
In fact, this hearing appears to just be helping political allies.
Instead, at this point, we should be focused on other aspects of the opioid epidemic.
We have a growing number of illicit opioids streaming across our southern border.
My Republican colleagues and I have sent three letters to Chairwoman Maloney asking her to hold a hearing on the Biden Border Crisis.
We have not had one yet.
The longer the chairwoman waits to hold a hearing on the border crisis, the more Americans are dying due to the illicit fentanyl coming across the border.
And the economic shutdowns during the COVID pandemic have prevented opioid abuse disorder patients from being able to access care.
Without access to care patients are isolated and at a significantly higher risk of relapsing.
This hearing misses the point.
It is so focused on the Sackler family that it forgets the ongoing epidemic affecting millions of Americans each day.
I urge the Chairwoman to hold a hearing on the border crisis, to stop the illicit trafficking of fentanyl, and to reopen our country so that patient can access the care they need.
Our witness today, former Office of National Drug Control Policy head Jim Carroll, knows full well about the illicit trafficking of fentanyl across our border.
He can speak at length about combatting opioids, what works and what doesn’t, because he is the only witness here who has actually experience doing that.
If we really want to better understand the opioid epidemic, listening to Mr. Carroll is a good place for us to start.
