Floor Statements

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 5752, the Stop Illicit Drug Importation Act of 2018.

In 2016, 42,000 Americans died from opioid-related overdoses alone, including more than 2,800 victims of opioid addiction in my home State of Texas.

One of the contributing factors to the opioid epidemic is the illicit importation of opioid drugs. According to Commissioner Gottlieb: ``FDA investigators are the last line of defense at the international mail facilities'' when it comes to preventing illicit drugs from entering our country.

Despite the fact that more than 2 million packages are received each day at our international mail facilities, FDA only has the capacity and resources to inspect 40,000 of these. More must be done to equip the FDA, both from the resource perspective but also with the law enforcement perspective.

This is why I was also pleased to support the SCREEN Act, which was passed yesterday, and would authorize additional resources for FDA to take on this fight and grant FDA greater authority to destroy and recall drugs that pose harm to public health.

The Stop Illicit Drug Importation Act of 2018 empowers the FDA to refuse admission and destroy imports identified as items of concern by the FDA and the Drug Enforcement Administration.

The bill will also help streamline seizure procedures and debar individuals and companies that repeatedly violate Federal law from being able to import in the United States.

This commonsense measure passed by the Energy and Commerce Committee by voice vote last month will help stem the tide of illegal and illicit products, including opioids, from entering our country from international mail facilities. I urge my colleagues to support this legislation.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

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

I want to join our chairman in thanking our staff. We couldn't be here today without our staff working on these.

But this bill is so important. I have been on the docks of the Port of Houston and watched these containers come in off the ships and them being inspected. The FDA agents there are frustrated with it, even in our international mail facilities that are actually in our district in Texas. So that is why this bill is so important, and I am glad for my colleague from Tennessee to be sponsoring this bill.

I have no other speakers, Mr. Speaker, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 5228, the Stop Counterfeit Drugs by Regulating and Enhancing Enforcement Now Act, or SCREEN Act.

I am proud to champion an important provision that was added to the SCREEN Act during the Energy and Commerce Committee's markup that clarifies the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's authority to consider the potential for misuse and abuse as part of the approval process.

In March, the Health Subcommittee received testimony from FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb that opioid misuse and abuse is one of the agency's highest priorities.

Last year, the FDA acted when it requested the withdrawal of the opioid pain medication Opana ER, finding, ``the benefits of the drug may no longer outweigh its risks.''

Clarifying the FDA's authority to examine the potential risks for abuse and misuse as a consideration in the approval process is an important step in combatting the opioid crisis.

I thank our committee's chairman, Greg Walden, and our Ranking Member, Frank Pallone, for supporting the inclusion of this important provision.

I ask my colleagues to join me in supporting the underlining bill, which will strengthen the FDA's authority to stop and destroy illicit substances identified through international mail facilities, and my misuse and abuse language which will help protect Americans from opioid and substance use abuse.

Mr. Speaker, I thank my ranking member.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 5327, the Comprehensive Opioid Recovery Centers Act.

The opioid epidemic is harming Americans in communities throughout our great country, including my hometown of Houston, Texas. In 2016 alone, over 42,000 Americans died due to an opioid-related overdose, based on data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

More must be done to give Americans access to treatment and the full continuum of care they need to recover from substance abuse and live a full and healthy life.

For these reasons, I was proud to introduce the Comprehensive Opioid Recovery Centers Act with Representatives Brett Guthrie, Ben Ray Lujan, and Larry Bucshon in March.

This legislation will fund the designated treatment centers where Americans suffering from opioid abuse can receive comprehensive patient-centered care. Our bill would allow designated treatment centers to provide a wider variety of treatment options tailored to the specific needs of its clients.

Covered services under this bill would include mental health, medication-assisted treatment, counseling, recovery housing, peer support, and job training and placement to support reintegration into the workforce. These wraparound services have been shown to help many Americans who have successfully overcome opioid addiction. It is our intention that this bill will help develop world-class models for treatment and recovery that can be duplicated nationwide.

I would like to thank Congressmen Guthrie, Lujan, and Bucshon for their hard work on this bill. I would also like to thank our ranking member, Frank Pallone, and our chair, Greg Walden, for their support of our bill and their assistance moving this legislation through committee and on to the House floor today.

Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me and vote in support of this important legislation.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in honor of the 100th anniversary of the Republic Day of Azerbaijan, and to convey my congratulations to the Republic of Azerbaijan and to all Azerbaijanis.

On May 28, 1918, the Democratic Republic of Azerbaijan was founded, becoming the first Muslim democratic state and gaining their independence from the Russian Empire for the first time. While that independence was initially short-lived, taken away when Russia invaded in 1920, Azerbaijan again became an independent nation on October 18, 1991, and has since been an increasingly important ally for the U.S. in the South Caucasus.

Like the city I represent, Houston, Azerbaijan's impressive economic growth has been driven by the oil and gas industry and shaped by adapting to the evolution of that industry. A number of American and international energy companies thrive in Azerbaijan and the Caspian Sea. Azerbaijan's rapid development of its energy infrastructure and expertise has helped it play a crucial role in protecting European energy security and U.S. geopolitical interests by ensuring a stable and sufficient flow of energy to Europe.

As a secular Muslim country, Azerbaijan was a pioneer in extending equal political rights to women, becoming the first Muslim country to give women the right to vote in

1918. After 9/11, Azerbaijan was and continues to be an important counterterrorism partner for the United States, participating in coalitions combating international terrorism and sending its own troops to support U.S.-led military efforts in Afghanistan, Kosovo, and Iraq.

Azerbaijan is an important actor for the advancement of global security and diplomatic engagement on the world stage. It holds observer status in the World Trade Organization, was a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council from 2012 to 2013, and is a member of the NATO Partnership for Peace Program and the OSCE.

I congratulate the people of Azerbaijan on their centennial celebration, and wish them many centuries more of prosperity and success.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of America's 50 million seniors who rely on Medicare.

Medicare ensures Americans aged 65 and older have guaranteed health coverage, protecting countless families from bankruptcy, ensuring our seniors can enjoy retirement and pass on life's lessons to their grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

The Medicare Board of Trustees announced on Tuesday the program's trust fund will be exhausted by 2026, 3 years earlier than last year's announcement.

Eight years ago, Congress and the Obama administration worked together to extend Medicare solvency by 12 years when we passed the Affordable Care Act.

Medicare's solvency is now threatened by policy passed by the current Republican majority and enacted by President Trump.

2026 is 8 years away. We should be extending the life of Medicare, not threatening it.

Mr. Speaker, this is not acceptable. America's seniors deserve better. Congress should take action and protect the Medicare guarantee for today's and tomorrow's seniors.

Mr. Chair, I rise today in support of H.R. 8, the Water Resources Development Act of 2018. Our district, centered in Eastside and Northside Houston and eastern Harris County, was one of the most highly impacted by Hurricane Harvey. While we have passed emergency supplemental funding the Port of Houston and the Army Corps of Engineers have drastic needs for mitigating the damage done by Harvey.

The Port of Houston is the second busiest in the U.S. in terms of overall tonnage and the busiest in the U.S. in terms of foreign tonnage. Silt, from the bayous has drastically limited maneuverability and depth. The port had recently completed dredging to 45 feet. Many of the ships can no longer get through the channel due to hurricane damage. The disaster funding has not reached our ports.

The port currently estimates that first phase of recovery from the storm will cost an estimated $457 million dollars. The ship channel is the lifeblood of Houston. The energy renaissance that we have experienced in this country is also driven by industry that relies on the Port and the ship channel. It's absolutely essential to our district that we adequately fund corps projects that get the port back at their normal capacity.

Decades ago Congress created the Harbor Maintenance Fund, a tax on goods to keep our ports and harbors in good working order, and every year appropriators do not appropriate the needed funds. It is past time that we start putting all the money collected from port economic activity back into maintaining our ports.

Army Corps of Engineer projects go hand in hand with the health of our ports as well. Houston is a city of Bayous. When our Bayou's are damaged in a storm like Harvey the silt flows downstream into the ship channel. The turning basis, which was hit hard in the Tax Day Floods of 2016 has seen draft restrictions for over 1,300 days now.

These Army Corps projects don't just save money though, they create jobs. These improvements in this bill aren't theoretical, they're shovel ready projects the Corps has read to go.

The Army Corps of Engineers recently announced that it was allocating around $360 million to address high-priority needs for hurricane ravaged regions but unfortunately while many projects have been submitted to the Office of Management and Budget, no action has been take to clear these projects.

I call on Director Mulvaney to take immediate action on these needs so OMB won't stand as a roadblock to protecting my constituents as we enter a new hurricane season. I'd like to thank my colleagues on the Transportation and Infrastructure committee for crafting a Water Resources Development Act that addresses these pressing issues and urge my colleagues to support the bill.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to honor all the dedicated EMS workers, especially in Houston County and Harris County, Texas, who served our community with distinction during Hurricane Harvey last August. This week is EMS Recognition Week across our country.

Nobody becomes an emergency medical responder, emergency medical technician, or paramedic to get rich. It is hard work, physically strenuous and stressful, and can involve life-or-death situations in certain circumstances.

This was the case during Hurricane Harvey, a historic storm that dropped over 50 inches of rain over Houston and southeast Texas.

While we honor the hard work and dedication of our EMS workers during EMS Week, we must make sure our emergency medical service workers are paid a fair, middle class wage and benefits, and are protected from worker fatigue so that they can deliver high-quality emergency care when it is most needed.

I also wish to recognize the hundreds of EMS workers who traveled from all over the country to help the people of Houston and southeast Texas during our time of need.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to S. 204, the so-called ``Right to Try'' bill that offers false hope for patients and families while circumventing FDA's role in overseeing drugs.

Two months ago, our chamber debated the House Republican version of this legislation, H.R. 5247. I spoke out in opposition to that bill due to my serious concerns over the lack of oversight and protections for terminally ill patients and their families, particularly by excluding the U.S. Food and Drug Administration from any role in ensuring the safety and efficacy of experimental therapies.

Instead of addressing our concerns, the Majority has double-downed on this unnecessary legislation with an even broader proposal that would expose a great number of patients to unproven medical treatments and unwanted side effects.

S. 204 eliminates critical patient protections, such as a review by a third party of clinical protocols and informed consent, and eliminates the requirement that treating physicians and manufacturers report adverse events to the FDA in real time.

Under this legislation, insurers and pharmaceutical companies are not required to cover the cost, or reduce the cost, of these often- expensive treatments--meaning the full cost of these experimental drugs would fall on patients and their families.

All the while, we already have a proven Right-to-Try system already in place through the FDA. This program, popularly known as Compassionate Use, has been helping seriously ill Americans have access to experimental therapies still under clinical trials for 31 years.

FDA approves nearly all requests for investigational drugs. For the past five years, FDA's approval rate for expanded access requests is over 99 percent. In fact, FDA physicians are available 24 hours a day to approve emergency requests.

My daughter, an infectious disease expert at the University of Nebraska, used FDA's Compassionate Use pathway to provide an experimental therapy for an American missionary who had contracted ebola while in Africa in 2014. FDA approved the request for the experimental treatment over the telephone in less than 24 hours.

The new pathway created in S. 204 is not necessary and, in fact, may well endanger the health and safety of seriously ill patients by bypassing FDA's oversight and expertise.

This is an unnecessary and dangerous bill that offers false hope to seriously ill patients and families. I ask my colleague to oppose this legislation and work with me to advance proven measures that will help Americans facing life-threatening diseases.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to the farm bill and the Republican majority's scorched earth and irresponsible

approach to a historically bipartisan bill.

Throughout this Congress, the Republican majority has cast aside bipartisan efforts by keeping Democrats out of negotiations. The farm bill is no different.

From sabotaging the Affordable Care Act to giving wealthy families and corporations a tax break at the cost of hardworking families, to make deep cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, SNAP, this bill is on a dangerous path. We need to return to bipartisan discussion that made the farm bill a win-win for both urban and rural communities.

If this bipartisan bill becomes law, roughly 265,000 low-income children will lose access to free school meals, and more than 1 million Americans will no longer receive a benefit they rely on to buy food. We can do better because America's farmers and children deserve better.

We have a farm bill every 5 years. Is it worth kicking children and families off SNAP? No, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Chairman, I thank my colleague, our ranking member, for allowing me to speak.

I rise in support of H.R. 3053, the Nuclear Waste Policy Amendments Act of 2018. Congress, back in 1982, passed the Nuclear Waste Policy Act, directing the Department of Energy and Nuclear Regulatory Commission to open a permanent repository for our Nation's spent nuclear fuel. Now, Congress is slow, but this is amazing how we haven't dealt with this.

Over three decades later, America is still without a repository, leaving tens of thousands of tons of nuclear waste vulnerable to acts of terror or other catastrophes.

If you say you are for all-of-the-above for power generation, then you need to vote for this bill, because if we are really going to use nuclear power, which we get about 20 percent in Texas, we need a place to put that waste, and not just on the sites where we produce it.

There was a decision made in the 1980s it would be out in Yucca Mountain, and that wasn't our decision, but that is there, and it is Federal property. That is where we exploded atomic bombs during the testing. Nobody is going to build condos on that property, because I was out there with the chairman of the committee.

Until the day we find interim storage to ensure 70,000 tons of spent fuel sitting in our Nation's nuclear plants are safe from harm at an interim storage facility, there is one proposed in west Texas that the folks out there want it.

I ask my colleagues to support this bill so we ca finally move the ball forward on safely storing our Nation's spent nuclear fuel.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize, Barbara Bush, the former First Lady of the United States from 1989 to 1993. Barbara Bush was the only woman besides Abigail Adams to serve her country as both a wife and a mother to a president of the United States. However, her service to her country did not end there. She also dedicated her life to literacy efforts through the Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy.

Mrs. Bush, a dedicated wife and mother, committed her life to her family and community. Early on in her life she volunteered at YMCA and United Way and actively participated in her husband's campaigns. When her husband became U.S. ambassador to the United Nations and Chief of the U.S. Liaison Office in the People's Republic of China, her time entertaining foreign dignitaries and traveling abroad to China gave her the experience and popularity that only rose when she began to represent the United States as the wife of the Vice President of the United States in the early 80s.

As the wife of the Vice President, Mrs. Bush found her passion in literacy and started to dedicate her life to supporting the cause. When her husband became President, she dedicated her life to supporting literacy efforts, and it was during this time that she started her non- profit, the Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy. Once her husband left office and moved back to Texas, she continued to devote her life to her non-profit and later served as an ambassador-at-large for AmeriCares.

Today, I honor former First Lady Barbara Bush for her commitment to literacy efforts for children across the United States and her grace, poise, and leadership as she supported her husband and, later, her son in leading the United States.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to call attention to the rule that the Trump administration is expected to release shortly, which will allow fake, short-term health insurance plans to be sold.

During the 115th Congress, the Republican majority has taken every action possible to undermine and sabotage the Affordable Care Act. I expect these new regulations will be no different.

No matter how the Trump administration and our majority try to sell short-term insurance plans to the American people, the devil is in the details. These junk plans are just that: junk.

According to the Kaiser Family Foundation report, these plans are likely to exclude coverage for preexisting conditions and not cover essential services such as maternity care, mental health, and substance abuse treatment and prescription drugs. The people need to know what is covered when they buy that insurance and what is not covered when they get sick.

AARP, the American Heart Association, the American Medical Association, and many other health and patient advocacy organizations have urged the President to withdraw this proposed rule. I ask my colleagues to join me and ask President Trump to withdraw this harmful rule.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the chair of our Health Subcommittee for organizing this Special Order tonight because it is so important to our country.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to bring attention to the countless Americans suffering from opioid addiction in Houston and Harris County, Texas, whom I represent, and throughout our great country. I call on Congress and the Trump administration to take immediate action to help our fellow Americans in need.

The Department of Health and Human Services estimates that over 2 million Americans suffer from opioid use disorder and millions more misuse their legally prescribed opioids. Most troubling are the 42,000 Americans who died from opioid-related overdoses in 2016 alone, including over 2,800 victims of opioid addiction in Texas.

The economic burden of prescription opioid misuse in our country is estimated to cost over $78 billion a year, including the cost of healthcare, lost productivity, addiction treatment, and the criminal justice system. We must do more to turn the tide against the opioid epidemic and give Americans the tools to overcome addiction and rebuild their lives.

In the past 2 years, Congress has made a concerted effort to help Americans and prevent abuse from happening in the first place. In 2016, the Committee on Energy and Commerce wrote and passed the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act, or CARA, the first major Federal addiction legislation in 40 years, the most comprehensive effort to address the opioid crisis.

I supported CARA when it was considered by our committee and am proud of our results, a law that provides over $180 million annually to our State and local partners to help support prevention, recovery, overdose reversal, law enforcement, and criminal justice reform.

The Health Subcommittee, on which I am proud to serve as ranking member, is currently holding a series of hearings on opioids. Last month, I introduced, with Congressman Brett Guthrie of Kentucky, the Comprehensive Opioid Recovery Centers Act, H.R. 5237. This legislation would fund designated treatment centers where individuals will receive comprehensive, patient-centered care for opioid addiction and other substance abuse disorders. It is our intention to build model practices for treatment and recovery that can be duplicated nationwide.

I am also working on legislation that would clarify the Food and Drug Administration authority to consider potential for misuse and abuse when assessing risks and benefits of controlled substances for approval. Our expert agencies must have clear authority to consider the potential harm of medical therapies and protect Americans if the harm outweighs the benefits.

Federal programs like Medicaid, Medicare, and coverage through the Affordable Care Act are critical in ensuring Americans struggling with opioid abuse have access to treatment and recovery. The Kaiser Family Foundation reported in February that nearly 4 in 10 adults under the age of 65 with an opioid addiction received their coverage through Medicaid. Any honest effort by Congress to address the opioid epidemic must include measures to stabilize and strengthen health exchanges and make coverage accessible for Americans who currently do not have health insurance, including the 3 million Americans who lost their insurance last year.

I ask for the Energy and Commerce Committee to come together and agree on a package of bills that will affirmatively help Americans struggling with opioid abuse and prevent abuse from happening. The American people deserve nothing less.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to the Balanced Budget Amendment.

This Monday, we heard that federal deficits are going to be almost $2 trillion more over the next decade than previously projected. While there is more than one reason for our exploding deficit, the GOP's tax reform bill increased our deficit by almost 20 percent.

Last fall, I and many of my colleagues voiced our fears that the so- called party of fiscal conservatism was going to try to pay for their tax bill by gutting Medicare and Social Security.

I agree with the amendment's authors that Congress urgently needs to address our debt. If Congress advanced a carefully structured balanced budget amendment, with waivers to allow fast action to stabilize the markets in the event of a financial crisis like the one we faced just a few short years ago, and with waivers to allow us to fulfill the promises that we have already made to our country's senior citizens, I would support it.

But this amendment does not do that. It endangers our long-term prosperity in order to pay short-term lip service to fiscal responsibility.

I do not support potentially pulling the rug out from under Americans counting on their Medicare and Social Security benefits, who have been relying on the promises our government made to them for their whole lives. I do not support action that increases the likelihood that our country will be plunged once again into recession, endangering markets and economies worldwide. And I do not agree that the cost of larger tax breaks for multinational companies or of other fiscal decisions made by Congress should be borne by our country's elderly and sick.

I ask my colleagues to vote to protect our constituents from an economic crisis that could be far worse than the one we suffered in 2008, and to join me in voting against this amendment.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of the Omnibus Appropriations Act of 2018. While no bill of this size is ever truly perfect, the legislation contains a number of provisions that support important programs that Americans rely on.

The bill invests in critical priorities like child care; transportation and infrastructure; medical

research; opioid abuse; veterans' health insurance and much more. Community Health Centers, which provide essential help all throughout my district will receive an extra $135 million increase over last year's total to expand addiction prevention and treatment services. Also, children's providers will get a boost in their reimbursement rates under the Child Care and Development Block Grant. Protecting the health of our children should be one of our first priorities as Members of Congress and I am glad to sec this bill do so.

That National Institute of Health will also receive a $3 billion boost in funding, allowing new research that could lead to cures for ailments and disease that have gone untreatable. The bill also includes $500 million to drive the development of alternative pain medicine, so that people may choose a pain management treatment that does not involve the risk of opioids.

While I am disappointed that this bill does not address DACA recipients, I will continue to push my colleagues to come together to address this pressing issue. President Trump's campaign promise to deport 2 to 3 million people is contrary to the values that make this country great. Not only will his empty promise separate families, but it'll negatively affect the future of our economic stability. Our country depends on the hard working young men and women who are pursuing their dreams to become doctors, engineers and members of the Armed Forces. We are stronger as a nation when we embrace immigrants and their contributions to our communities and shouldn't vilify them.

I am also pleased to see that the bill does not include any funding for construction of new sections of a border wall. Texas has seven hundred miles of border with Mexico and trade with Mexico drives much of our economy in the region. While border security is essential, and this bill addresses that with money for refurbishment of existing structures and fencing, the President's proposal would simply amount to a large waste of money.