{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.leahy.senate.gov/press/leahy-statement-at-appropriations-subcommittee-hearing-addressing-the-opioid-crisis-in-america", "Leahy Statement At Appropriations Subcommittee Hearing \"Addressing The Opioid Crisis In America\"", "2017-12-05", "2017", "2017-12", "Democrat", "House", "VT", "Patrick Leahy", "L000174", "www.leahy.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "12.05.17\n\t\t\t Leahy Statement At Appropriations Subcommittee Hearing \"Addressing The Opioid Crisis In America\" \n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tThank you, Mr. Chairman.\u00a0 Here\u2019s a startling statistic: last year alone, drug overdoses claimed the lives of 64,000 people.\u00a0 This is the latest figure in a shocking rise in overdose deaths, driven by the opioid epidemic that has hit every corner of our country, and plagues every community.\u00a0 This is a public health crisis.\u00a0 We need to start treating it like one.\u00a0 We need to allocate every necessary resource to finally \u2013 and meaningfully \u2013 confront it.\u00a0\r\nVermont has made tremendous strides by leveraging Medicaid dollars through a \u201chub and spoke\u201d model to confront opioid addiction as a healthcare crisis, not an incarceration problem.\u00a0 This is a system that provides patients with medication-assisted treatment and connects patients with a variety of resources from housing to peer support to counseling, not just once or twice, but through their recovery and beyond.\u00a0\r\nIn Vermont, this model is proving effective.\u00a0 But we must continue to invest in it.\u00a0 It is alarming and disappointing that, from the start of his administration, President Trump has refused to make the necessary investments to tackle the opioid epidemic.\u00a0 The President\u2019s budget request seeks to eliminate programs, like the anti-heroin task force, that have proven to be effective.\u00a0 In fact, in his budget, President Trump called for reducing funding for the opioid epidemic by $104 million.\u00a0\r\nAnd President Trump\u2019s long awaited October declaration on the nationwide opioids crisis proved nothing more than symbolic talk.\u00a0 There is no action or new funding behind the President\u2019s empty words to address this crisis.\u00a0 This is unacceptable.\r\nEven worse, in the middle of the night Saturday, Republicans here in the Senate voted to slash Medicaid by $1 trillion to pay for tax cuts for the wealthy.\u00a0 Medicaid is a critical lifeline to provide care for victims of opioid abuse and is the main funding source behind Vermont\u2019s \u201chub and spoke\u201d model.\u00a0\u00a0\r\nWe cannot pretend to be seriously addressing this crisis while simultaneously kicking the legs out from under the recovery effort.\u00a0\r\nHere in the Senate Appropriations Committee, however, we are trying to meet our commitment to address this public health crisis. The fiscal year 2018 Senate Appropriations bills would provide more than $1.6 billion in funding.\r\nSince March, I have been calling for a bipartisan deal that would raise the spending caps for both defense and non-defense spending and allow us to increase these investments, because we still need to be doing more.\u00a0 It is now December.\u00a0 We need that deal, and we need it now.\r\nIt should not be understated: 64,000 people lost their lives to opioid addiction last year.\u00a0 Tens of thousands of more people were impacted by those deaths \u2013 families, friends, communities.\u00a0 I fear those numbers will only rise this year, next year, and beyond if we do not act now to fight this epidemic.\u00a0 It affects us all.\u00a0 It\u2019s time we give it the serious attention and investment it demands.\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t Press Contact \n\t\t\t\tDavid Carle: 202-224-3693\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\n\t  \n\t\n\t\n\t\n  \n\t\n    \n    \n    \n    \n    \n    \t\n    \t\n\t    \t  \n\t\t    \n\t\t    \n\t\t    \tPrevious Article", 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.leahy.senate.gov/press/leahy-statement-at-appropriations-subcommittee-hearing-addressing-the-opioid-crisis-in-america"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.5044980682432652, "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"}