Guthrie Leads Hearing on Opioid Crisis

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congressman Brett Guthrie (KY-02), top Republican on the House Energy and Commerce Committee’s Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, today led a hearing on state-level responses to the ongoing opioid epidemic.

“Our local communities are suffering. On average, 130 Americans die every day from an opioid overdose and opioids were involved in 47,600 overdose deaths in 2017, which accounted for 67.8 percent of all drug overdose deaths. In Kentucky, there were 1,160 reported opioid-involved deaths in 2017,” said Guthrie in his opening statement.

He continued, “When it comes to legislation, this committee led the way on passage of the 21st Century Cures Act, the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act, and the SUPPORT for Patients and Communities Act. I was proud to work on all three of these comprehensive laws, which are designed to combat the opioid crisis through prevention, advancing treatment and recovery initiatives, protecting communities, and bolstering our efforts to fight synthetic drugs, like fentanyl.”

Today’s hearing examined how states are using resources from the three bills passed to combat the opioid epidemic as well as federal appropriations for this epidemic. Congressman Guthrie’s Comprehensive Opioid Recovery Centers Act was signed into law as part of the SUPPORT Act in 2018. This legislation was funded recently in the Fiscal Year 2020 appropriations packages along with a total of $1.5 billion for the opioid epidemic. 

Last year, Guthrie led a hearing on the impact of the illicit fentanyl trade on the ongoing opioid crisis.

In addition to this week’s hearing, Congressman Guthrie joined with Energy and Commerce Committee Republican Leader Rep. Greg Walden (OR-02) and Rep. Morgan Griffith (VA-09) in pressing top opioid manufacturers on their role in role on the ongoing opioid crisis. Click here to read more about the investigation.