Rep. Evan Jenkins highlighted legislative efforts by Republican lawmakers to help children exposed to drug use.
The West Virginia congressman used the GOP weekly address to draw attention to a bill that would provide care and recovery resources for parents with opioid-related addictions and babies born with neonatal abstinence syndrome.
Jenkins, who helped found a pediatric recovery center in Huntington, W.V., said the legislation would provide medical treatment for babies in withdrawal and provide counseling for mothers.
“We need more programs like it, but it took years of cutting through red tape just to get this one program set up,” Jenkins said. “There are real gaps in health care all across the country, and far too many obstacles getting in the way of our doctors and nurses.”
The Senate has passed the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act, which New Hampshire Sen. Kelly Ayotte drew attention to in a GOP weekly address earlier this week.
Congress has also enacted a separate bill introduced by Jenkins that funded research for the treatments of mothers with opioid addictions, but the new bill would seek to give immediate care to those in need of it.
Jenkins said the bill, called “the Nurturing and Supporting Healthy Babies Act” is just one of a number of initiatives Republicans and Democrats are working on to combat opioid abuse.
The GOP-led House is expected to vote on and pass the bill to the Senate in the coming weeks.
