One year ago, Republicans and Democrats put partisan labels aside to confront a killer claiming more than 130 lives a day in the United States: the opioid crisis. The SUPPORT for Patients and Communities Act passed the House with overwhelming support. Four months later, after the Senate and House agreed on a final version, President Trump would sign it into law, making this joint effort the most comprehensive law ever enacted by Congress to take on a drug crisis.
Whether it be in our communities, our families, our friends, or even in us, we’ve all seen the terrible harm of the opioid epidemic. We all know the numbers. In my state of Oregon, there were 344 deaths in 2017 alone. We’ve seen the despair in families we’ve listened to, the hopelessness. As a member of my local community seeing this firsthand, I knew something needed to be done. As the then-chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, I knew I had a responsibility to act.
