{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.portman.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases?ID=9F3B4AD3-C060-4BBD-8156-A7CC692DCDB8", "Portman Receives Award for His Work to Combat Addiction", "2016-12-14", "2016", "2016-12", "Republican", "House", "OH", "Rob Portman", "P000449", "www.portman.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Last night, U.S. Senator Rob Portman (R-OH) received the James E. Burke award from The Partnership for Drug-Free Kids for his work to combat addiction. Portman, who is the author of the bipartisan\u00a0Comprehensive Addiction & Recovery Act\u00a0(CARA), which was signed into law by President Obama in July, has led the national effort to combat the drug epidemic that is devastating communities across Ohio and our country.\u00a0 His work has been praised by Ohio anti-drug advocates as well as editorial boards around the country. This year alone, Senator Portman has delivered 29 speeches on the Senate floor as part of his tireless effort to raise awareness about the heroin and prescription drug epidemic, and pass CARA. Upon receiving the award, Portman released the following statement:\r\nAccording to the Partnership for Drug-Free Kids, the James Burke Award is given annually to someone who \u201chas a strong character and is respected as a leader by their peers and colleagues. Their enthusiastic spirit serves as a constant motivation to those around them, encouraging others to accomplish great things.\u00a0 He or she stands as an example of dedication and devotion in all that they do.\u00a0 The recipient is committed to improving the lives of young people, and works tirelessly to make sure that every child can grow up to live a happy and healthy life.\u00a0 Quite simply, they make the world a better place.\u201d\r\nUpon receiving the award, Portman released the following statement:\r\n\u201cJim Burke was a friend of mine, and he gave me good advice when I authored the Drug-Free Media Campaign Act, which President Bill Clinton signed into law and which supported using the power of advertising to get kids to stay away from drugs,\u201d Portman said. \u201cIt is an honor to receive this award. I want to thank the Partnership especially for their continued support of my efforts to prevent drug addiction\u2014from the Drug-Free Communities Act to the Drug-Free Workplace Act in the 1990s to the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act, or CARA, which became law this summer. Addiction is still taking a heavy toll on our communities\u2014probably worse than ever\u2014so we\u2019ve got to continue working together on this issue that has become a crisis in Ohio and across the country.\u201d\r\nNOTE:\u00a0Senator Portman has led the national effort to combat the\u00a0heroin and prescription drug epidemic that is devastating communities across Ohio and our country:\r\n\r\n \r\nPortman has\u00a0led\u00a0the\u00a0effort\u00a0to increase federal funding in order to tackle the opioid epidemic, including securing additional funding in the recently signed-into-law Cures Act. Portman\u2019s efforts in working with the Senate Appropriations Committee to secure significant increases in funding for opioid programs are already yielding results. The original Senate-passed CARA authorized $78 million in new funding, but Portman worked to more than double that spending to $181 million in the final measure signed into law.\u00a0 For the current fiscal year the House and Senate passed (and President Obama signed into law) an increase in total federal spending on opioids of 47 percent over last year ($220M vs. $321M).\u00a0 For next fiscal year, Senator Portman has worked with the Senate Appropriations Committee to approve $471.5M for federal opioid programs, which \u2013 if enacted \u2013 would more than double funding from two years ago ($220M vs. $471.5M). Portman also supports emergency funding in order to ensure that everyone who needs treatment can get it.\r\n \r\n \r\nPortman recently introduced\u00a0the\u00a0Synthetic Trafficking and Overdose Prevention (STOP) Act, legislation that will help stop dangerous synthetic drugs like fentanyl and carfentanil from being shipped through our borders to drug traffickers here in the United States.\r\n \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.portman.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases?ID=9F3B4AD3-C060-4BBD-8156-A7CC692DCDB8"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.671056030318141, "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"}