{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.donnelly.senate.gov/newsroom/press/donnelly-to-senate-leadership-we-need-robust-funding-to-address-the-opioid-crisis", "Donnelly to Senate Leadership: We Need Robust Funding to Address the Opioid Crisis", "2017-10-31", "2017", "2017-10", "Democrat", "House", "IN", "Joe Donnelly", "D000607", "www.donnelly.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Donnelly to Senate Leadership: We Need Robust Funding to Address the Opioid Crisis\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tTuesday, October 31, 2017\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tWashington, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Senator Joe Donnelly today sent a letter to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer calling on the leaders to bring more funding to the fight against the opioid abuse epidemic. The letter follows last week\u2019s designation by President Trump declaring the crisis a \u2018Nationwide Public Health Emergency.\u2019 Although the designation allows for increased engagement from federal agencies, it does not provide for any new funding for the fight.\r\nLast year,\u00a0several of Donnelly\u2019s provisions were signed into law, and he successfully advocated and continues to advocate for funding\u00a0that would expand prevention and treatment programs. The Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act (CARA) and the 21st\u00a0Century Cures Act, both of which Donnelly helped pass into law, have programs and funding to combat the opioid abuse and heroin use epidemics. Through the Cures Act, Donnelly helped Indiana secure nearly $11 million in federal grant funding this year that will support prevention, treatment, and recovery services across the state.\r\nDonnelly said in his letter today, in part, \u201cThe President was right to declare the opioid epidemic a national public health emergency, but additional progress will require Congress to invest more in\u00a0state and local addiction treatment, recovery, and prevention efforts.\r\n\u201c\u2026I encourage you to include robust funding to address this crisis and to give the President's public health emergency declaration the resources required to make a meaningful difference.\u201d\r\nTo read Senator Donnelly\u2019s letter, see below or click here.\r\nSenator Mitch McConnell\r\nMajority Leader\r\nSenator Chuck Schumer\r\nMinority Leader\r\nDear Leader McConnell and Leader Schumer,\r\nAs you know, President Trump recently declared the opioid crisis a nationwide public health emergency. This declaration was a positive step in the ongoing effort to bring more awareness to this escalating crisis that has devastated families and communities across Indiana and our country.\r\nThe President was right to declare the opioid epidemic a national public health emergency, but additional progress will require Congress to invest more in\u00a0state and local addiction treatment, recovery, and prevention efforts.\r\nWe know that it will take an all-hands on deck approach at the federal, state, and local levels to combat the opioid epidemic. I was proud to support the bipartisan Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act (CARA) and 21st Century Cures Act, which were signed into law last year. The state of Indiana has used the funding and authorities from these laws to among other things, expand addiction treatment services, support clinicians through innovative technical assistance programs, create mobile crisis teams that can deploy to areas of acute need, integrate electronic health records with the state Prescription Drug Monitoring Program (PDMP), and distribute naloxone to areas of need. And yet, there is still a great need in my state and more work to be done.\r\nBoth Congress and the administration have recognized the scope of the problem and provided tools needed to more effectively address this epidemic. However,\u00a0I continue to hear\u00a0from experts on the ground that more resources are needed to expand treatment capabilities.\u00a0\r\nWhile there is still much work for us to do before the remainder of the year, I encourage you to include robust funding to address this crisis and to give the President's public health emergency declaration the resources required to make a meaningful difference.\u00a0\r\nSincerely,\r\nJoe Donnelly\r\nU.S. Senator\r\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.donnelly.senate.gov/newsroom/press/donnelly-to-senate-leadership-we-need-robust-funding-to-address-the-opioid-crisis"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.3788400683552027, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}