President Trump declined to specify how much money Congress should put into staving off the opioid crisis in his State of the Union address Tuesday.
He instead framed the problem as one that should be confronted by law enforcement, particularly by going after the illegal smuggling of drugs between the Mexico-U.S. border.
“For decades, open borders have allowed drugs and gangs to pour into our most vulnerable communities,” Trump said.
He continued: “In 2016, we lost 64,000 Americans to drug overdoses: 174 deaths per day. Seven per hour. We must get much tougher on drug dealers and pushers if we are going to succeed in stopping this scourge.”
Several Democrats said ahead of the speech on Twitter that they hoped the president would say how much Congress should put forward toward the opioid epidemic, which killed 42,249 people in 2016.
Trump went on to say that his administration would also be focused on treatment, and introduced a police officer who was his guest at the address. The officer and his wife adopted a baby whose mother had an addiction to opioids.
“My administration is committed to fighting the drug epidemic and helping get treatment for those in need. The struggle will be long and difficult. But, as Americans always do, we will prevail,” he said.
The Trump administration has declared the crisis a “public health emergency” and created an advisory group that made a list of policy recommendations to the White House. Health agencies are testing various public education ads about addiction, and the Food and Drug Administration has put stronger restrictions on various types of opioids. On Monday, Trump directed his new Health and Human Services Secretary, Alex Azar, to focus his agency on tackling the crisis.
White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said in December the White House was still working on a funding proposal with various agencies.
Trump’s speech included a specific request for an infrastructure bill of $1.5 trillion.
Congress has not coalesced behind a funding figure, but the two Democratic senators from New Hampshire, Maggie Hassan and Jeanne Shaheen, have called for $25 billion in federal spending over two years, while the GOP healthcare plan that failed in the Senate last summer provided $45 billion over a decade toward the effort.
Several senators from both parties wore purple ribbons at the speech to raise awareness about the opioid crisis.
Lawmakers have said they expect a final figure to tackle the issue will be wrapped into an omnibus spending bill, which is facing a Feb. 8 deadline. A final bill is likely to be pushed back, however, because Congress is expect to enact another short-term extension so lawmakers can continue to debate the long-term funding details.
