The attempt by the House to address the drug abuse epidemic received a significant boost on Friday as there was overwhelming support. It thus swept the bipartisan opioid legislation. Only one Democrat and thirteen Republicans did not vote for the bill thus enabling it to garner 396 votes against fourteen of those opposing. The measure puts together more than fifty legislations all passed individually by the Congress with the aim of increasing treatment accessibility, boosting the expansion of other pain treatments and limiting the movement of prohibited drugs into the United States.
Greg Walden (R-Ore.) who is the energy and commerce chairman referred to the law, that almost entirely originate from his team as the most common effort the House has ever assumed to tackle the opioid epidemic. Democrats and those campaigning against addiction disapproved the effort for not putting more resources, but still voted for the bill.
At the moment the legislation is on the way to the Senate one week after receiving the endorsement of the Whitehouse. The legislators in this House are already planning to take up opioidlegislation that belongs to them. An aide to the House of Republican alleged that leadership is hoping to conference the laws in July, although there is a likelihood it could slide later into the summertimeas long as it stays within the schedule of the Senate.
Both the Democrats and Republican lawmakers have flaunted their opioid legislation before the midterm voting exercise commence, with the opioid disaster anticipated to be a burning issue for voters this fall. According to A CBS News poll conducted from May, revealed that almost eighty percent of all voters felt that the administration should put extra effort to address the epidemic.
According to GOP aide, there are also efforts by Senate HELP Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) to combinethe bills from the Judiciary and Finance commissions and his, into a set to present to Senate floor. However, there lacks clarity on whether the Senate will let the lawmakers help in the amendment. A representative of Mitch McConnell who is the Senate majority leader said that opioid bill failed to give the timeline but said it is on the Senate’s summer.
Supporters say the House legislation is an excellent starting point, but the epidemic cannot be halted when there is no supporting funding stream. In their opinion, there is need to have tens of billions of dollars to help curb a crisis that is killing one hundred and fifteen Americans daily. Earlier this year the Congress appropriated around USD 4 billion in new financing to fight opioid abuse. Additionally, the Republican legislators have said that they expect to put extra resources in the future legislation to curb the crisis.
