Ensuring Compliance Against Drug Diversion Act of 2021

Mr. President, I wish to submit to the Senate a budget scorekeeping report. The report, which covers fiscal year 2022, was prepared by my staff on the Budget Committee and the Congressional Budget Office pursuant to section 308(b) and in aid of section 311 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, as amended. This information allows the Senate Budget Committee to determine if budgetary points of order lie against pending legislation.

The report shows the effect on spending and revenues of congressional action through September 15, 2022, as compared to the levels the Senate agreed to in the budget resolution for fiscal year 2022, S. Con. Res. 14. Since my last scorekeeping report on April 28, seven laws with significant budgetary effects have been signed by the President, and I have revised the levels in the budget resolution two times for legislation.

The Democratic staff of the Budget Committee prepared tables 1 and 2. Table 1 compares the mandatory spending of each authorizing committee against the enforceable allocations under section 302 of the Congressional Budget Act. It shows 10 of the 16 authorizing committees are in compliance with their allocations, either because no legislation with significant budgetary costs was enacted or the legislation qualified under the budget resolution for an allocation adjustment. Most of the spending above allowable levels is attributed to either the CHIPS Act of 2022 or the Honoring our PACT Act of 2022.

Table 2 shows the Senate pay-as-you-go--PAYGO--scorecard tallying enacted legislation with significant effects on mandatory spending and revenues. The scorecard shows a savings of $4.7 billion in 2022, a deficit of $174 billion over the 2022-2026 period, and a deficit of $528 billion over the 2022-2031 period. When compared to the allowable amounts on the PAYGO scorecard last adjusted on September 12, there is a deficit of $1.3 billion on the scorecard for 2022, $185 billion over the 2022-2026 period, and $667 billion over the 2022-2031 period.

In addition to these tables, I am submitting a letter from the Congressional Budget Office with further detail. For fiscal year 2022, current budgetary levels are within allowed amounts. Current law budget authority is $2.6 billion below the maximum allowed in the revised budget resolution, outlays are $17 billion below the allowed maximum, and revenues are $68 million above the allowed minimum. The tables also show that there has been no net change for Social Security.

I ask unanimous consent that the letter and accompanying tables from CBO be printed in the Congressional Record.

Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 1899) to amend the Controlled Substances Act to provide for the modification, transfer, and termination of a registration to manufacture, distribute, or dispense controlled substances or list I chemicals, and for other purposes.

Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on H.R. 1899.

Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 1899, the Ensuring Compliance Against Drug Diversion Act.

The Drug Enforcement Administration is charged with regulating controlled substances and manages access to these substances through a registration system. This system is meant to identify entities that manufacture, distribute, and dispense controlled substances, such as opioids; as well as to prevent diversion of these substances. We rely on the DEA to maintain the integrity of this system as one way to stop illicit diversion before it starts.

However, a 2018 Government Accountability Office report found over 700 registrants in the DEA's system may have been ineligible for registration under the Controlled Substances Act. In fact, the GAO found that some of these registrants were reportedly deceased, did not possess State-level authority, or were incarcerated for offenses related to controlled substances.

If we are to curb rising substance abuse in the U.S., we must ensure, Madam Speaker, that bad actors are prevented from having access to these substances. The legislation we are considering today would terminate the

controlled substance registration of any registrant if the registrant dies, ceases legal existence, discontinues business or professional practice, or surrenders their registration. This bill also codifies DEA authority to ensure accuracy of registrations and limit the transfer of such registrations.

I thank the lead sponsor of this bill, Representative Griffith, for his leadership on this issue.

Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I also urge support for the bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 1899, the Ensuring Compliance Against Drug Diversion Act. This is a small but very important step that could play a key role in helping contain the opioid epidemic.

License to distribute opioids is not a commodity to be freely bought and sold. We must ensure that those who wish to engage in opioid distribution earn the ability to do so.

An investigation, as the Speaker has heard, published by the Energy and Commerce Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee in 2018 found that the current procedures for transferring the licenses to distribute controlled substances lacked sufficient accountability.

In one instance, a distributor and its pharmacy customer did not go through the appropriate process of transferring registration to a new pharmacy owner, but the mistake wasn't caught until long, long afterward. As a result, there was a period of time during which the DEA was unaware that a particular pharmacy was distributing controlled substances.

Failing to properly verify whether a transfer has been approved creates a serious risk of drug diversion. This bill amends the Controlled Substances Act to prohibit the transfer of any DEA registration without consent from the agency.

By requiring written approval from the DEA before the transfer of registration, we decrease the risk of controlled substances falling into the hands of those who have not been vetted by appropriate regulatory authorities.

Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of this legislation, which was introduced by Representative Griffith.

In order to prevent people who have not been vetted by authorities in dispensing controlled substances, this bill would clarify that the transfer of any controlled substance registration without written consent from the Drug Enforcement Administration, DEA, is prohibited.

A 2018 Energy and Commerce Committee report, which summarized the committee's bipartisan investigation into the distribution of prescription opioids by wholesale drug distributors, and the DEA's subsequent enforcement practices found that an opioid distributor and its pharmacy customer did not go through the appropriate process of transferring a registration to a new pharmacy owner.

Failing to contact the DEA appropriately and to verify whether the agency approved the transfer of a registration to dispense controlled substances creates a serious risk that could lead to drug diversion.

Madam Speaker, of course, I urge a ``yes'' vote on this.

Madam Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Griffith).

Madam Speaker, I urge passage of this very good bill. I yield back the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I want to state for the Record that, on April 15, 2021, I missed four roll call votes. Had I been present, I would have voted: yes--Roll Call Vote 113--on motion to suspend the rules and pass H.R. 1899; yes--Roll Call Vote 114--on motion to suspend the rules and pass H.R. 1502; yes--Roll Call Vote 115--on motion to suspend the rules and pass H.R. 1487; and yes--Roll Call Vote 116--on motion to suspend the rules and pass H.R. 1490.