Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor Nancy Schon, a lifelong resident of the Fourth District of Massachusetts and a renowned sculptor, on the occasion of her 90th birthday on September 24, 2018.

Born in 1928, Nancy's interest in art began at a young age. Nancy graduated from the School of the Museum of Fine Arts with Honors in Sculpture in 1952, and her early work was inspired by her family, which has grown to include four children, many grandchildren, and a great grandchild.

Later in her career, Nancy began creating Public Art with a focus on teaching lessons. Her most famous piece, ``Make Way for Ducklings,'' can be found in the Boston Public Garden and has a theme of promises kept and family values. This focus on lessons continues in her other pieces, such as the ``Tortoise and Hare'' sculpture at the finish line of the Boston Marathon and the ``Winnie-the-Pooh and Friends'' sculptures at the Newton Free Library.

Art has led Nancy many places, including the former Soviet Union, where she joined First Lady Barbara Bush to present her copy of ``Make Way for Ducklings'' to Raisa Gorbachev as part of the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START). Nancy is active with non-profit organizations, and helped get the Lynch Family Skate Park built in Cambridge. Nancy is also an author, her memoir; ``Make Way for Nancy'' was published in 2017.

Across Massachusetts, we are proud to call Nancy Schon our neighbor and are grateful for her continued creativity. Mr. Speaker, I wish Nancy Schon a very happy 90th birthday. I am deeply humbled to represent her in Congress, and I hope her 90th year is the best one yet.

Mr. Speaker, Brett Kavanaugh does not belong on our highest court in the land.

Mr. McConnell can withhold all the documents he wants. Mr. Kavanaugh's words betray that silence. His emails show that he will dismantle Roe v. Wade. His rulings show that protections for preexisting conditions are no longer safe. His words show that marriage equality and LGBTQ rights would no longer be etched in stone. His silence shows that a President will be handed a shield against accountability.

To those harmed by his rulings, he offers not even a handshake. When pressed, he offers just a lawyerly dodge and a shield of confidentiality.

But the American people marched for a woman's right to choose. They took to our streets to end gun violence. They fought for marriage equality.

If you believe that healthcare is a right for all and not a privilege just for a few, then we need you to raise your voices today.

Mr. Kavanaugh should not be on our court.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the ranking member for yielding.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of the bill before us, S. 3021; and specifically, Mr. Speaker, the Fair Ratepayer Accountability, Transparency, and Efficiency Standards Act written into title III, culminating more than 4 years of work on this issue.

In 2014, due to an unintended loophole in the Federal Power Act, my constituents were locked out of challenging a nearly $2 billion rate increase, because at the time the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission was deadlocked 2 to 2 on whether to approve or deny the change.

With this bill before us today, we can close that loophole and ensure that no ratepayer suffers the same consequence that continues to threaten the bank accounts and pocketbooks of my constituents. It is especially important today given that the commission currently has only four sitting commissioners.

While this is not the bill that I first introduced more than 3 years ago and it is not the one that the House unanimously passed each of the last two Congresses, it is a compromise with our Senate colleagues and is an important step in the right direction.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this bill.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of the bill before us, H.R. S. 2031.

Specifically I rise in support of the Fair Ratepayer Accountability, Transparency, and Efficiency Standards Act, written into Title III, culminating more than four years of work on this issue.

As my colleagues have heard time and time again, my constituents in New England pay among the highest retail electric rates across the country. And in 2014, due to an unintended loophole in the Federal Power Act, my constituents were locked out of challenging a nearly $2 billion rate increase because at the time, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission was deadlocked two-to-two on whether to approve or deny the change.

As written, the Federal Power Act allows for rate changes to take effect by operation of law if FERC fails to act within the statutory 60-day time period. Due to a deadlock in 2014, no action was taken. And as we have since learned, the Federal Power Act only allows for appeals of official FERC Actions, not rates that take effect by operation of law, including deadlocks like the one that left my constituents voiceless.

With this bill before us today, we can ensure no ratepayer suffers the same consequence. It is especially important now given the current status of the Commission with only 4 sitting commissioners.

This bill represents a compromise with my Senate colleagues. The bill states that any rates that take effect by operation of law, due to a deadlock or a Commission that lacks sufficient members for a quorum, are appealable both at FERC and in the courts. It is intended to ensure that FERC and the courts consider the merits of a rate change and whether such a change is just and reasonable as required by the Federal Power Act. It would not allow FERC or the courts to simply dismiss a challenge because FERC failed to issue an order.

Additionally, I would like to highlight two concerns with this language and make clear congressional intent in the process. First, this bill would not apply to rates that the Commission either chooses, or inadvertently allows, to take effect upon expiration of the statutory clock. It has been my understanding and my experience that FERC can and will continue to address all rate filings with the due diligence and scrutiny each deserves, and I hope FERC will continue to do so even on the most contentious of cases. I expect FERC will abide by the requirements of this legislation and not take advantage of any loophole to avoid a contentious filing.

Second, while unusual, this bill would require each of the sitting commissioners to explain in writing their view on the rate change. To my knowledge, there is no other similar requirement in any part of the Federal Power Act or Natural Gas Act. However, it is my belief that if and when the time comes to address a deadlock, commissioners will use the opportunity to explain their views for purposes of transparency and good government.

While this is not the bill I first introduced more than three years ago, the one that passed the House unanimously in each of the last two Congresses, it is a good compromise and a significant step in the right direction.

I urge my colleagues to support this bill.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to amend the rule and make in order the Quigley amendment to restore funds to prevent Russia from, again, interfering in our elections.

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my colleague, Mr. Raskin, for his kind words and for his leadership on this bill and legislation in bringing it to this point and for all of his efforts in combating domestic violence as well.

I also want to thank my colleagues, in particular Congressman Young; Congresswoman McMorris Rodgers, the Republican Conference Chair; Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard; Congresswoman Brooks; as well as the chairman, Mr. Goodlatte, for his leadership in making sure that this bill comes to the floor today; as well as Senator Sullivan from Alaska who is the original author of this legislation and has been working with me on this for the past several years. I am grateful for his leadership as well.

Mr. Speaker, I remember far too many times in a courtroom as a State- level prosecutor the challenges of bringing domestic violence cases to trial. I remember to this day talking to victims and seeing perhaps a paragraph in a police report and something that didn't quite seem right; doing an interview with the victim and peeling back layer after layer after layer of isolation and of control, and of the creation of a state of dependence and of perpetual fear.

I remember getting ready to try a case one day. The victim came in with her daughter. The victim had a black eye. She sat next to her husband, the defendant, throughout the entire morning of the case. She blamed the black eye on a newborn child who was sleeping in her bed.

I remember watching countless efforts for a restraining order as the attorney badgered a victim, and watching a victim get so disenchanted with our court system that she said she would never come back.

Standing in a courtroom, Mr. Speaker, with those survivors, you start to see our justice system through their eyes. It is, at times, an endless and impossible maze where abuse and injustice is relived and replicated on every single occasion.

That is why we as a Congress must ensure that no survivor is ever forced to stand alone before a judge, because we know and the data well proves that, oftentimes, these cases can be a matter of life and death. It is, in fact, the most predictable form of homicide we have in our Nation.

We know how prevalent and pervasive it is. Nearly 8 million women are raped, assaulted, or stalked every year by a current or former intimate partner. We know that low-income women and men are at higher risk of domestic violence and rape. We know that more than 80 percent of survivors with access to a lawyer successfully obtain restraining orders, while those who stand alone obtain one less than one-third of the time.

Mr. Speaker, passing the POWER Act will begin to restore our sacred promise of an equal justice system. I urge my colleagues to support this legislation.

Mr. Chairman, I have an amendment at the desk.

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

Mr. Chairman, I want to thank the chairman and Ranking Member Schiff for all their support and advocacy to make this amendment possible today.

Mr. Chairman, just a few weeks ago, DNI Director Dan Coats warned our Nation and the world that ``we continue to see Russian targeting of American society in ways that could affect our midterm elections.''

It is indisputable that Russia succeeded in meddling in our election in 2016. It is indisputable that their success, with little consequence, will inspire similar attacks in the future. And it is indisputable that our response to these threats has been inadequate.

States, cities, and towns have scrambled to secure their own elections without enough guidance and support from our national intelligence community.

Voters continue to face a torrent of misinformation online.

Candidates for Congress, city council, and school boards race towards November 6 uncertain that they will become Putin's next target.

The multiple Federal agencies that are responsible for our Nation's response rarely coordinate or receive little guidance from our Nation's government at the highest levels.

Mr. Chairman, this amendment helps to begin to consolidate and concentrate our response to foreign efforts to influence our political processes and elections with one center drawing expertise across all relevant sectors of our government.

If anything, our adversaries have grown more confident in their ability to sway our elections and sow discord and dysfunction at every level of our society.

Our urgency lies now in one simple truth: Our democracy stands tall when our elections stand secure.

I urge my colleagues to support this amendment because those who put ballot boxes in our crosshairs do not ascribe to one political party or the other.

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

Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, about 15 years ago, I walked into a community in the Dominican Republic with a loose grasp of the Spanish language and little idea about the history or culture of those I would be living with for the next two years.

For months, I worked hand in hand with that community to build sustainable ecotourism that continues to grow today.

Wrestling with the existing industry there was hard.

Battling with entrenched government interests was hard.

But the hardest part, the one that took months to achieve, was earning the trust of those people. People who to this day I'm proud to call some of my closest friends.

And that is what the Peace Corps is all about.

Men and women, young and old, walking into foreign lands and remote neighborhoods offering their own helping hand on behalf of this nation.

Diplomats of democracy and decency embedded in the farthest corners of our globe.

Volunteers exporting our values and our ideals in search of a kinder, fairer world.

American might can be found on battlefields and military bases, yes, but it can also be found in the college graduate teaching in a small village in India or the recent retiree teaching a stranger in Belize how to build a business.

Enactment of this bill will allow current and future Peace Corps Volunteers to carry out their important duty while improving their access to care and ensuring their safety and security abroad.

Before they even step foot on a plane, Volunteers will be made fully informed of the risks they face in the country in which they have been invited to serve.

And once the jetlag has worn off and they've written their first letter home, we will guarantee that these Volunteers will have access to well-qualified medical officers and support staff at overseas Peace Corps posts.

In addition, this bill promises to take a number of steps to address and combat instances of sexual assault by reauthorizing the Sexual Assault Advisory Council through 2023 and requiring the Peace Corps to provide information to host families regarding sexual assault prevention and awareness.

And because we recognize that tragedies can occur and this service is not without risks, for any Volunteer who returns home with a service- connected disability, this legislation will help minimize bureaucratic delay and work to ensure that they receive the medical care they deserve without delay.

Through their selfless and tireless work, Peace Corps Volunteers leave lasting, positive impressions in countries all across the world that can endure generations.

With the bipartisan passage of this bill, we are one step closer to protecting our Volunteers currently serving around the world and ensuring the Peace Corps' influence reaches new heights. I thank Congressman Poe for his advocacy and his staff for helping advance this important piece of legislation.

Before concluding, I would like to offer one point of clarification.

Under Section 102 of this bill, if the Director of Peace Corps determines that the injury or illness is probably related to their service outside of the U.S., a former Peace Corps Volunteer will be able to access health care for such condition for 120 days. During this 120 period, the Department of Labor will provide a written authorization for physician or medical facility to provide medical treatment or examination to a former Peace Corps Volunteer. This authorization is referred to as a ``voucher'' under this legislation, and is the mechanism by which the Peace Corps Volunteer secures medical services from a medical provider when they seek medical services. For purposes of clarification, this voucher will be similar to Form CA-16 issued by the U.S. Department of Labor provides medical coverage for a 60 day period. Under FECA, a federal employee injured while in the performance of duty has the initial right to select a physician of his/ her choice to provide necessary treatment. These medical expenses will be paid out of the Employees' Compensation Fund established under the Federal Employees' Compensation Act.

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my colleague, the ranking member of the Committee, Mr. Engel, for his advocacy for this legislation, for his leadership on the Foreign Affairs Committee, for the time that I spent on that committee as well, and for all of his support for this legislation.

I echo the gratitude toward the chairman of the committee, Mr. Royce, and all that he and his staff did to usher this bill through to this point; of course, my colleague, Mr. Poe, and his team, for the leadership that they have shown on it and all that he has done in order to make sure that this bill has come with the broad bipartisan support that it has. And that, as he says, is just the way it is.

I also want to say I would be remiss not to reference our dear colleague, former colleague, Sam Farr, who, if you asked him what day it was, would respond with a Peace Corps story. This is an act that is close to his heart, an organization that is close to his heart that he spent an awful lot of time dedicating himself to, and I am grateful for the recognition that he deserves, and so many others today.

Mr. Speaker, about 15 years ago, I got off an airplane in Santo Domingo not knowing what to expect, and a couple of weeks later, was welcomed with open arms into a pretty rural community on the side of a highway in the Northern Dominican Republic.

Over the course of the next two-plus years, families that I didn't know, in a language that I barely spoke, accepted

me as one of their own. They cared for me when I was sick. They would literally take half of the food that they had on their plate and scrape it off so that I had a meal to eat. Folks that were making a couple of dollars a day, at best, intermittent electricity, intermittent running water, but whatever they had they were eager to share with me.

And my story and this is not unique. This is told over and over again by the hundreds of thousands of individuals who have had the opportunity to serve our country as Peace Corps volunteers around the globe. You listen to those stories, and they echo from East Timor and the Philippines, through Mongolia and the Far East, to sub-Saharan Africa, across the continent, Eastern Europe, Latin America, and Central America.

Over and over again, the stories that you hear, you ask any Peace Corps volunteer, and they believe that they serve, not just are serving the greatest Nation in the world, but they are also in service in one of the greatest nations in the world, and every volunteer says the same thing.

What you also see from those volunteers is this extraordinary generosity of spirit, this dedication to living out the ideals that we hold so dear, that we speak of in this Chamber, about reaching out to others and asking what we can do to help them in service, through our own actions, through the support of the Federal Government behind; what we can do, day by day, step by step to try to make our communities and their communities, our world, a little bit better.

That is what the Peace Corps stands for. That is what has been repeated day after day, volunteer after volunteer, in hundreds of countries around the world at various times and through all of those volunteers and their experiences.

That is why this bill today is so important, for Mr. Speaker, American might can be found on battlefields and military bases, but it is also found by that college graduate who is teaching in a small village in India, or a retiree who is teaching a stranger in Belize how to build a business.

By passing this bill, we can allow current and future Peace Corps volunteers to carry out their important duty while improving their access to care and ensuring their safety and security at home and abroad. Before they even set foot on a plane, volunteers will be made fully informed of the risks that they will face in their country where they have been invited to serve.

And once that jet lag has worn off and the nerves settle down, they have written their first letter home, we will guarantee that these volunteers have the access to well-qualified medical officers and support staff in Peace Corps offices overseas.

In addition, this bill promises to take a number of steps to address and combat instances of sexual assault by reauthorizing the Sexual Assault Advisory Council through 2023, and requiring the Peace Corps to provide information to host families regarding sexual assault prevention awareness.

And because we recognize that tragedies can occur, and that service is not without risks, for any volunteer who returns home with a service-connected disability, this legislation will minimize bureaucratic delay and work to ensure that medical care is received without delay.

Through their selfless and tireless work, Mr. Speaker, Peace Corps volunteers leave a lasting, positive impression in countries all around the world that can endure for generations.

With the bipartisan passage of this bill, we are one step closer to protecting our volunteers serving around the world and ensuring the Peace Corps' influence continues to reach new heights.

I want to thank my colleagues, Mr. Poe, Chairman Royce, and Ranking Member Engel for all their work on this important legislation, and I urge swift passage of H.R. 2259.

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my colleague, Ms. Clarke, for her leadership on this issue and so many others in Congress as a member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus and of the Energy and Commerce Committee. Healthcare and immigration policies run through the veins of our society.

Mr. Speaker, over the course of the day today and over the course of the last several days, my colleagues have

eloquently described the shortcomings of the immigration bills brought forward by Republicans. I echo their outrage at what has taken place over the past few weeks on American soil and their fury that Congress still is so unwilling or unable to address it.

As this debate has unfolded, one chorus in particular caught my ear, these voices that say: Our own kids are suffering. Our own country has issues. We feel for these children at the border, but how do you expect us to take care of them when you have made it so hard for us to take care of our own?

Mr. Speaker, it is those voices that I want to speak to this evening first to say: You are right.

Mr. Speaker, we have children in this country who will not get one hot meal today let alone three. We have children who will show up to schools without books, children who will spend a winter without coats or Christmas presents, or a summer without clean water and cool air. We have children who are abused or ill, who are abandoned, and who are oppressed.

All of this is in the most powerful country in the world. We should be ashamed and united in our rage that, as a country, a nation as rich as ours makes it so damn hard for families to be able to survive. We are united by a resolve to do better because if a place, a country like America, can't meet its people's needs, then who can?

So, Mr. Speaker, some dream up walls, frantically grasping at what they can have and pushing others away in a desperate attempt to make sure that there is enough left over for them and their families. It is a ferocious instinct to defend ourselves and our loved ones, and one that any parent can understand, particularly those parents arriving at our border today, those who risk everything to show up on our shores and beg for mercy.

Can we not see in them that same parental, basic human instinct to bear any burden to protect your child? If we were they, I know of no parent who wouldn't walk through jungles and deserts and risk gangs and violence for the chance of a brighter future for their child.

In a perfect world, all borders would be peaceful, all governments would be strong and good, all families would be whole, all neighborhoods would be safe, and all communities would have the resources to fix what is broken and pick up those among us who have fallen.

But ours is not a perfect world. So, night after night, children show up on our doorstep terrified and traumatized. Yes, we have our own tragedies, our own struggles, and our own monsters to defeat. No, we cannot right every wrong; we cannot save every soul; and we cannot shoulder the world's inequities alone.

But we absolutely can offer small and weary heads a safe place to rest. We can make space for people with no place else to go. We can do that and still take care of our own. We can welcome the tired, the poor, and those yearning to be free and still be free ourselves. We can help the very hungry afford food, the very sick get care, and the very cold shelter without jeopardizing our own dinner, our own health, and our own bed.

We can choose both. Americans do every single day. Across the country in soup kitchens and shelters, in schools, on battlefields and operating tables, our people struggle, they stretch, and they extend. They do it when it is hard and when it is uncomfortable and inconvenient.

So no matter how many times this administration doubts their capacity or their compassion, they reach out. No matter how many times they try and force us to choose between taking care of someone else and taking care of ourselves, they do choose both.

We cannot fall for that false choice, because if we, the United States of America, cannot figure out how to muster the resources, the courage, the boldness, and the political will to ensure that no child suffers on our shores, who will?

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 3192. I want to begin by thanking the chairman of our committee, Mr. Walden, for giving us a hearing on this bill and for moving the process forward. I thank the gentleman along with Dr. Burgess; Ranking Member Pallone; Ranking Member Green; and our cosponsor, Democratic colead Mrs. Napolitano as well.

Mr. Speaker, a couple of decades ago, my uncle, Senator Edward Kennedy, and Senator Orrin Hatch created the CHIP program because of a consensus that children should never be caught in the midst of our debates over healthcare. It has been a successful, bipartisan program that has saved lived lives and has helped families facing their deepest despair. But just like any program, Mr. Speaker, it has been a work in progress.

This bill offers a simple fix to a troubling problem. According to some estimates, nearly 500,000 children and pregnant mothers covered by CHIP are not

guaranteed mental health care or substance use disorder treatment. We have guaranteed that treatment for Americans covered by Medicaid, private insurance, and employer-sponsored insurance. It is time we do so for low-income families and babies as well.

In our efforts to confront an opioid epidemic that cares for no age, no income, no race--nothing at all--this bill is a crucial piece of our response.

With that, Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank everyone at the Legislative Counsel's Office, at CMS, and the staff on both sides of the aisle from the Energy and Commerce Committee, and, in particular, Rachel Pryor, for putting up with my relentless and sometimes misguided questions.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Tonko).

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I also endorse H.R. 4005, the Medicaid Reentry Act.

One particularly vulnerable population for overdose is individuals reentering society post-incarceration. Incarcerated individuals, as my colleague, Mr. Tonko, indicated, are far more likely to suffer from substance use disorder. And without proper transition planning and treatment, former inmates are at extremely high risk of dying from an overdose after release. This legislation seeks to get at that problem.

Mr. Speaker, over the course of the hearings we have had on all of these bills, there has not been a more dedicated, poignant, or powerful speaker than Mr. Tonko. This is an issue that he cares passionately about and that he has dedicated much of his time in Congress addressing. He has put that effort into text in this bill.

Mr. Speaker, I urge the House to adopt it, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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

I rise to voice my support for H.R. 5687, legislation authored by my colleagues, Mr. Hudson and Mr. Butterfield, to provide the FDA with authority to employ the use of packaging and disposal technologies to help mitigate the risk of abuse and misuse of opioids.

As a part of FDA's efforts to help prevent misuse of opioids, Commissioner Gottlieb has been actively exploring how packaging and disposal innovations can deter abuse and reduce the supply of opioids in the market.

This included hosting a public workshop in December to explore how we can harness these technologies in the fight against opioid addiction and how to improve the safety of these products for those patients who rely on them to manage chronic pain every day.

Commissioner Gottlieb also noted, Mr. Speaker, that the use of these technologies, such as packaging, merits consideration through a careful, science-based process, one that I hope will continue.

The legislation we are considering today builds on this work and grants FDA authority to require packaging and disposal technologies for schedule II and schedule III controlled substances that reflect a level of risk associated with that substance.

FDA is provided with the flexibility to permit a range of options for packaging or disposal technologies, as long as such technologies demonstrate comparable effectiveness. This flexibility will be crucial to reduce barriers to generic entry, one of the concerns that was raised during our committee consideration, and to maintain appropriate patient access to these substances.

H.R. 5687 also clarifies that labeling related to the inclusion of packaging or disposal technologies cannot be used as a blocking strategy by brand manufacturers.

If enacted, it is my hope that the FDA will continue to work with stakeholders, including manufacturers, to ensure that generic entry is not impeded by the requirement of packaging or disposal technologies. Both brand and generic manufacturers should be held to the same performance outcome of mitigating risk and abuse; however, at a time of rising drug costs, I believe manufacturers should be afforded enough flexibility to pursue cost-effective technologies that will also meet the shared goals of the FDA and patient community.

I also hope that any costs associated with the adoption of packaging or disposal technologies will not be borne by the patients who rely on these medications to manage their diseases or conditions.

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank Mr. Hudson and Mr. Butterfield for their work on this issue as well as the FDA for their guidance through the process.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 5687, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 5796, the REACH OUT Act.

This bill creates grants for technical assistance education for outlier prescribers of opioids. The recipients of these grants, Mr. Speaker, will educate outlier prescribers on best practices for prescribing opioids and provide instruction on how to reduce the number of opioids prescribed in the future.

Coupled with legislation we will also consider today that would require notification of outlier prescribers of

opioids, this bill will further provide outlier prescribers with the tools to return to the appropriate prescribing range for their specialty to help reduce overprescribing.

Mr. Speaker, I have to say that we have just been informed that there will be a last-minute change to two of the suspension prints under consideration today in order to accommodate a request from the Appropriations Committee.

The minority only received notice of these changes within the last hour. While they appear to be changes that are technical in nature to address the jurisdictional issues, we want to highlight our concerns with the last-minute changes being made to legislative text that are being considered on the floor with such short notice. It is not the best way to legislate, especially on bipartisan bills on such an important topic.

My colleagues and I have expressed some concern about this process, and this latest issue reinforces those concerns. We urge the Speaker to commit to continuing to work with us on a bipartisan basis to avoid some of these changes in the future.

Mr. Speaker, I support this bill. I hope the House will support it as well, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from California (Mr. Ruiz), my colleague.

Mr. Speaker, I think Dr. Ruiz has done an extraordinary job on this legislation. I would urge the House to support it, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 5811, the Long-Term Opioid Efficacy Act of 2018, authored by Representatives McNerney and Griffith.

Despite the prevalent use of opioids today in combating pain, the long-term

impacts of opioids and whether or not they are truly the most effective treatment is still fairly unknown.

FDA Commissioner Gottlieb testified before the Energy and Commerce Committee that many opioids have not been studied for chronic administration and further studying could help address certain questions. This includes the long-term efficacy of opioids and whether opioids may contribute to increased addictive tendencies over time.

This legislation would help us better understand the long-term impacts of opioids and whether opioids truly are the most effective treatment for chronic pain management by allowing the FDA to require manufacturers of controlled substances, such as opioids, to conduct post-market studies to assess the effectiveness of these products and whether or not they pose an increase in serious risk.

Under current law, the FDA has the authority to request postmarket studies relating to the safety considerations of a drug, but it does not have explicit authority to do so related to the efficacy of a drug. It is our hope that, by granting this authority to the FDA, we will better understand the long-term impacts of opioids that are chronically administered and encourage more responsible prescribing of opioids moving forward.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this legislation, and I yield back the balance of my time.