The White House wants more than double the funding Congress is expected to provide to fight the opioid epidemic.
White House counselor Kellyanne Conway told reporters on Air Force One Monday that it wants $13 billion to fight the opioid crisis, far more than the $6 billion over two years that Congress is considering.
Conway made comments while traveling with President Trump to New Hampshire, where he is scheduled to lay out a new plan to use the death penalty for drug dealers.
Conway told reporters the plan is to use the existing law regarding execution in “very specific high-level cases” involving drug traffickers.
She also said the administration wants Congress to take tougher action on mandatory minimum sentences for fentanyl dealing.
The $6 billion over two years that Congress is considering is expected to be used for treatment. More than 64,000 people died from opioid overdoses in 2016, with a sharp increase in deaths from illegal versions of the powerful synthetic painkiller fentanyl, according to federal data.
The money is expected to be added to a two-year spending bill that Congress must pass by March 23 to avoid a government shutdown.
