As Congress Finalizes Response to Opioid Epidemic, Senate Overwhelmingly Passes Shaheen Resolution Calling For More Funding
**Shaheen has led the effort in Congress to pass emergency funding for those on frontlines of opioid and heroin crisis**
(Washington, DC) – Today, the Senate passed a motion filed by U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) to instruct conferees reconciling the Shaheen-sponsored Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act (CARA) to advocate for the inclusion of funding for prevention and treatment associated with state and local efforts to combat the opioid and heroin epidemic nationwide. The Senate passed Shaheen’s motion 66 to 29. Both the House and Senate versions of CARA authorize new initiatives to address the opioid crisis, however they do not include the funding needed to support state and local law enforcement and treatment providers who are on the frontlines working to stem the tide of the epidemic.
“CARA is a good bill but without real dollars behind it, it’s the equivalent of offering a life preserver with no air,” said Shaheen. “The conference for this bill provides another opportunity to get resources to the frontlines of the opioid epidemic. This is a national public health emergency, and Senate and House leadership must commit to funding our response as we have done when faced with other health crises. First responders and treatment providers in New Hampshire and around the country have waited long enough and desperately need these resources now.”
New Hampshire has been one of the hardest hit states in the opioid and heroin epidemic. According to a 2014 study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, New Hampshire has the third highest death rate in the country due to overdoses, nearly twice the national average.
Shaheen has continued to lead the effort in Congress to pass emergency supplemental funding for those on the frontlines of the opioid addiction crisis. Her legislation would provide supplemental appropriations totaling $600 million to programs at the Department of Justice and the Department of Health and Human Services that focus on treatment and recovery, as well as state and local law enforcement initiatives.
