May 9, 2019 - Issue: Vol. 165, No. 77 — Daily Edition116th Congress (2019 - 2020) - 1st Session

[Page H3508]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       TACKLING OPIOID ADDICTION

  (Mr. DELGADO asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute.)
  Mr. DELGADO. Madam Speaker, I rise today because I have heard from 
too many parents and siblings in upstate New York who have lost a loved 
one to overdose from opioids.
  I rise because overdose fatalities are the leading cause of death for 
Americans under 50.
  I rise because addressing the opioid crisis means understanding and 
treating addiction. We must see addiction for what it is: not a 
weakness, but a disease that requires treatment.
  I am proud to have introduced legislation to address this crisis, 
H.R. 2482, the Mainstreaming Addiction Treatment Act. This bipartisan 
bill would end a redundancy in Federal law that restricts health 
providers from prescribing buprenorphine, a proven treatment for 
addiction.
  To tackle this crisis, we must go beyond taking the needed steps of 
holding Big Pharma accountable and creating more drug courts. We must 
treat the addiction.
  Madam Speaker, we cannot let the wrongheaded stigmatization of 
addiction undermine our capacity or our commitment to treating it.
  Let's pass H.R. 2482.

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