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Pallone Condemns Republicans For Undermining Efforts to Combat the Drug Overdose Crisis

February 6, 2025

Energy and Commerce Committee Ranking Member Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ) delivered the following remarks today on the House floor on H.R. 27, the HALT Fentanyl Act: 

 

Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to H.R. 27, the HALT Fentanyl Act.

Mr. Speaker, throughout this debate today House Republicans will claim that they are committed to tackling fentanyl, but their actions show that’s simply not true.  

As the Trump Administration illegally stole billions of dollars from federal programs dedicated to helping people who are fighting a substance use disorder, House Republicans buried their heads in the sand.  

Last week, the Trump Administration froze virtually all federal funding, stealing billions of dollars in funding for critical opioid prevention, treatment, and recovery programs. Clinicians have been left wondering if they would receive a paycheck for their work. Patients have been left worrying about whether their access to treatment and recovery had been cut off indefinitely.  

Fortunately, several courts have already ruled in favor of parties seeking to put a stop to this unconstitutional power grab – but make no mistake, there are still real concerns about federal funding not getting out the door to help us combat the drug overdose epidemic. And if this freeze is allowed to go forward, substance use and mental health clinicians who dedicate their lives to helping those experiencing substance use disorder would be forced to shut down and millions of Americans would lose access to care. This is not the way to combat this epidemic.

And now, House Republicans are considering trillions of dollars in cuts to Medicaid so they can give tax breaks to billionaires and big corporations. Medicaid covers nearly 40 percent of all people with an opioid use disorder. Republican plans to cut Medicaid will further limit access to care for substance use disorders – leading to more deaths.   

So again, when you hear Republicans talk about their commitment to fighting this epidemic – remember their actions over their words.  

Now to the bill before us today. Two years ago, my Democratic colleagues and I shared deep concerns with the partisan approach Republicans were taking with this legislation. 

Last Congress, Democrats offered a common-sense alternative to achieve a shared goal of tackling Fentanyl and offered solutions to improve the HALT Fentanyl Act. Unfortunately, none of our priorities were included in the legislation, and again, we find ourselves debating the same bill that stalled in the Senate and still exacerbates inequities in our criminal justice system.

In 2018, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) first issued a temporary class-wide scheduling order of fentanyl-related substances under Schedule I – which is the strictest classification for drugs. Since that administrative action, Congress has voted to extend the temporary order numerous times, most recently in the American Relief Act where we voted to extend the scheduling until March 31, 2025. 

House Republicans know we cannot simply schedule our way out of this crisis, but they have refused to pass bipartisan solutions that address prevention, treatment, and recovery to help stop overdose deaths. This is not just a criminal justice issue – we must combat this crisis through a multi-pronged public health approach.  

And that’s exactly what we did in an end of year bipartisan deal that would have extended temporary fentanyl related substances scheduling for two years. It also reauthorized a wide range of prevention and treatment programs to help address the opioid overdose crisis. The deal has bipartisan support but was squashed by Speaker Johnson so he could please Elon Musk – the unelected billionaire who is now illegally stealing Americans’ personal private information from inside of federal agencies.  

Again, Mr. Speaker, actions speak louder than words and Republicans are not serious about combating this crisis. I oppose this bill and encourage my colleagues to oppose it as well.  Thank you and I reserve the balance of my time.

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Issues:Health