Joe Manchin

Mr. MANCHIN

Mr. MANCHIN. Let me tell you what we are dealing with, I say to the Senator from Illinois and the Presiding Officer, my colleague from West Virginia. We face it every day. I am going to read a letter here from another family. I do it once a week because it puts a real family with it. But we have such a situation that we now have people who, because of the hard financial time some States are hitting, are saying: Why don't you just legalize marijuana? Just legalize it, they are telling me. That will help all your problems with all the taxes you will receive. I can tell my colleagues that 99 percent of the addicts I talk to, when I ask them how they got started--how did you go down this path of destroying your life--they say: It started with recreational marijuana. I have people coming to me and saying: You are a public leader. You are in the political arena. Don't you think we need this revenue? I know we need revenue, but I don't think we need it by fostering more addicts. If an addict is telling me not to do it, and then I have other people saying the opposite, I am not going to do it. I can't do it in all good conscience. So this is what we are facing right now. If they think of the revenue from narcotics--the revenue from these destroying drugs we have--and if the doctors don't understand it, here is the problem, as I have just said. We have top-notch pharmaceutical manufacturing companies doing many good things for us and improving our lives by producing a product, and we have, basically, the Federal Government--the DEA and the FDA-- approving it and allowing it to get into the market. Then, we have the doctors, the most trusted people next to our family, saying: Take it; it will help you; it will be good for you. Then, we have a full-flown epidemic. We are fighting Zika now. We have Ebola and all these other things. We are concerned about epidemics, and here we already have one that is full-blown and matured, and we are not doing anything. So I am hoping that common sense will prevail. We found a pay-for--a lifeboat, basically. It is one penny. Opponents are saying it is going to be passed onto the consumer. Well, it can't be. The CDC basically controls the pricing. So they can't gouge the people. Trust me, it is as profitable as anything they make in the pharmaceutical arena. One penny on a milligram is not going to bankrupt anybody, and it is not going to keep any product off the market that is needed. Tell me how else we are going to get $1.5 billion to $2 billion every year to help people get off of this horrible epidemic. I thank the Senator for helping. I want to continue reading a letter from one of our constituents. My colleague gets them the same as I get them, and we talk about this all the time. I want to thank her for helping me fight this because together we are going to make a difference. The letter goes like this: I reach out to you in hopes of possibly making a future I've worked really hard for a little brighter. My name is Kayla, and I am a recovering addict. My sobriety date is February 13, 2013. I struggle with addiction to pain medication of all sorts. It started out as drinking and smoking when I was 13. That's basically all I ever did until I turned 17 and tried my first pill. It blew me completely out of control from there. While in active addiction, I got in trouble with law enforcement for stealing and received a charge for grand larceny. This is when I was only 20, and that was the first and last time I've been in trouble with the law. This was a nonviolent crime, basically, for stealing. Continuing with her letter: I've changed so much since the day I took the first pill. I completed rehabilitation at Crossroads Recovery Home in Gilbert, West Virginia, along with my dear friend Jessica Grubb who sadly lost her battle to this horrible disease. My colleague and I have sponsored ``Jessie's Law,'' and so we know about this tragedy. Continuing with the letter: It truly saved my life. When I completed treatment, I came home to start Drug Court in Greenbrier County, West Virginia. I completed that without any sanctions the whole course of the year I was in the program. I recently moved to Washington State with my husband and children. I want more than anything to take my recovery and life a step further by starting college. Ever since I was a little girl my dream has been to become a veterinarian. That has never changed in my almost 26 years of life. Due to my felony, that dream more than likely can't come true. I would not be able to hold a license unless otherwise approved by the Board of Veterinary Medicine. It's not likely they would approve me. I have worked so hard to be where I'm at today. My dream is to apply to Ohio State University in August of 2016 for the spring 2017 semester. I know I can be a vet. I want to prove to addicts everywhere that there is light at the end of that tunnel. The pain can be stopped. You can go from having to have a fix to get out of bed to having a Doctorate of Veterinary Medicine. I want to show everyone that this small town West Virginia opioid addict made it, and not only that she make it, but that she pushed the limits and reached the stars. The rumor is true. We do recover. Now, let me tell my colleagues the rest of the story. Right now, unless we change the laws, unless we change our attitudes about how we treat addiction and look at it as an illness that needs to have treatment--unless we can do that and find the treatment--we will have people like this person, who got sober--she has been sober for over 6 years--and turned her life around and wants to be a doctor of veterinary medicine, which she doesn't think she can do now because she ruined her life at a very young age and for which she is now paying the consequences. But it was a nonviolent crime. It was a nonviolent crime. What we have said, and what we are trying to forge into a piece of legislation, is that if you have a felony on your record from a drug addiction and it was not violent--you didn't do it with a violent crime of guns and weapons and harming people, it wasn't a horrible sexual crime, and none of those things happened; all you did was steal, which is a crime, and you have a felony on your record--and if you go through drug rehabilitation, if you become a mentor for at least another year-- so that is a 2-year recovery--you then qualify to go before a review panel, which will probably be made up of your sentencing judge, the arresting officers, and the addiction treatment center personnel, who can say you deserve to have one chance in life to clear your record, to expunge your record and now to be a productive citizen, to be a doctor of veterinary medicine, or to be able to be anything you want. Yes, you did screw up. You made a heck of a mistake. But now we are going to give you that second chance because you have fought forward and become clean. You are sober, and you are helping other people become clean and sober. If not, we are going to throw a whole generation of absolutely productive Americans out. What I am asking for is consideration on both sides of the aisle, Democrats and Republicans. Forget about being Democrats and Republicans, and let's be Americans. Let's reach out and help people who want to be productive Americans and who want to contribute to society. These are the things we have to do that are common sense. I am hoping all of us will come together, and I know we will. (Mr. PERDUE assumed the Chair.) Mr. President, I thank the Chair for allowing me to speak on this subject. I do it every week. I am going to continue to do it until we make changes. This affects your beautiful State of Georgia the same as it affects West Virginia. This is one thing we all agree on. We must end this opioid drug addiction, this drug-infested addiction this country has. We are the most drug-infested Nation on Earth. When you consider that 80 percent--80 percent--of all the opioids in the world that are produced are consumed in a country that has less than 5 percent of the world's population--in the United States of America--something is wrong. We are better than this. We are better than this. Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. MANCHIN. Well, yes, when this became the problem we know it is today--my brother is a doctor. He went through medical school in the 1970s. They weren't schooled on this. They weren't trained on this. Most doctors will tell you they got very little training on substance abuse and what it could do. What they find out about it is that the salesmen from the pharmaceuticals is selling it to their office and giving them free samples, saying it is a miracle drug: Try it; I think you will like it. They are people running pill mills. It is basically a business for them. The other thing is that the doctors who don't have that knowledge and haven't been trained in this--we have finally gotten the CDC, or the Centers for Disease Control, to put out, basically, prescription guidelines. A schedule II narcotic, which is basically oxycodone, Vicodin, Lortab--some of the most renowned ones we know of--have a ``30-day,'' a doctor can prescribe for you 30 days. I have young people in my office who go get a tooth extraction, and they get a 30-day prescription. They might need a 2-day or 3-day prescription. So this is what we are cracking down on--the 97 percent who should not be giving you a 30-day prescription just because that is what they are allowed to do. They should be using good common sense. Listen, you are a young, strong person. You may need this for 2 or 3 days. If it is worse, come back to see me.

Mr. MANCHIN. Absolutely, I say to the Senator. I have been working on trying to change the culture of the Food and Drug Administration. I have been working with the DEA because not only does the DEA basically set the allotment, they also are the ones who give the license to the doctor and make sure that doctor is certified to dispense it. If you have a doctor who is abusing it, if you have a doctor who is basically putting 10 times to 20 times more on the market in a certain section or region of our State or our country--more than the other doctors--maybe that person is irresponsible, maybe they should be questioned and taken off the list for prescribing. Absolutely. It is a cultural change. This all came about in the eighties when basically pain--your element of pain was one of--the fifth criteria of wellness. It was the Veterans' Administration that brought the product on, so the genie got out of the bottle. How do we put it back? We can if we continue to fight it, but it is a horrible scourge on us.

Mr. MANCHIN

Mr. MANCHIN. Mr. President, first of all, I thank my colleague, Senator Capito. We come from the same State, and we have known each other for a long time, and we basically represent the same people, who have given so much to this country. I want to thank her. This is truly bipartisan, and that is how it should be in this body. When you have something causing the people in your State and in the country to be hurting, you don't worry about the politics. Democrat or Republican, you reach across the aisle and do the right thing. I thank her so much. Everything she said is absolutely correct. This thing goes clear back to 1946 under President Harry Truman. At that point in time, John L. Lewis basically was going on strike for the MWA. Every miner back in the 1940s belonged to the United Mine Workers. This Miners Protection Act basically fulfills the promise that a President of the United States made by Executive order. And what we have asked for now is to fix this. We have a pathway forward. Democrats and Republicans on both sides of the aisle, as Senator Capito has said, have stepped forward, and I am so appreciative of that. If we don't do something quickly--by the end of this year--they will lose their health care, and in another year or two they are going to lose their pensions. We are mostly talking about widows. Most of their husbands have passed away from black lung disease or other causes. These are widows who don't have much to begin with. These are stipends that assist with their medical and health care. This is something that should have been done a long time ago, but we are taking it right down to the end of the wire. That is what we are concerned about. We have asked everybody to look at the bill. We have found pay-fors. Here is a really good pay-for. The 1974 fund was solid until the collapse of 2008. The collapse didn't happen because the MWA did something wrong with the miners' pensions. It happened because of Wall Street. Guess what. We have a $5 billion fine on Goldman Sachs. We said: Let's take $3.5 billion of it. That is what caused the problem; that is a pay-for. We are also using abandoned mine land money excess-- not any of the mitigation we are responsible for. Senator Capito has laid this out to the point, and we have worked together. Both of our staffs have worked closely together on this. This is the way things should have been done. We hope that all of our colleagues on both sides of the aisle will encourage the leadership to take a position on this and put it up for a vote. We think it will pass. We know that it will pass if it gets its day in court. This is the body that will make it happen. I think on the House side they will do the same thing. With that, I thank Senator Capito again for the hard work she has done. It is a pleasure working with her, and we will show that bipartisanship is alive and well in West Virginia and should be alive and well in the United States of America. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. MANCHIN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. MANCHIN

Mr. MANCHIN. Mr. President, I rise today to honor Amber Parsons, an outstanding and accomplished young woman from Wheeling, WV. Amber, a recent graduate of Wheeling Park High School, graduated in May with honors and with an outstanding 4.0 GPA. She has received numerous Presidential Award Scholarships because of her outstanding effort and hard work and also attended the Global Youth Leadership Conference last summer with individuals from more than 30 countries. The Global Youth Leadership Summit is both an academic and professional opportunity for young men and women to not only enhance their academic abilities, but grow personally and professionally as well. The summit immerses students in various cultures and gives them the opportunity to interact with policy officials, lobbyists, journalists, and other industry leaders. It is a wonderful opportunity for young men and women to learn and grow on a professional and personal level. Amber is the only individual ever from West Virginia to be selected to attend this prestigious conference. While being selected from 3,700 applicants is an accomplishment in itself, she was also selected to return again this year. Less than 10 percent of previous attendees are asked to return, and Amber was included in that small percentage. Aside from her outstanding academic work, Amber also helped to establish St. Baldrick's Day in Wheeling, a premiere childhood cancer research fundraiser that is prominent throughout the State and has been for 13 years. Alongside all of her accomplishments, Amber also enjoys performing in stage productions and has performed in several, including ``Scrooge,'' ``Footloose'' among others. Amber Parsons is not only an outstanding student, but an accomplished individual as well. Being a member of National Honor Society, graduating from Wheeling Park with honors, and being selected to attend the Global Youth Leadership Summit, I am extremely proud of this young woman for representing my State of West Virginia.

Mr. MANCHIN

Mr. MANCHIN. If I can ask my good friend from Connecticut a question. When the Senator goes home to Connecticut to explain it, they understand it, they read it. If anything, we are protecting them more to do the thing they do every day and the way they were trained, and they believe that we are correct. What happens is they start saying: Did you get this question? Yes, but if you do that, then they will just expand it further, and they will take more of our rights away. I say that this is a constitutional amendment. It cannot be by an Executive order. It has to have the action of Congress. So don't worry about someone expanding it or some office or law saying that they are going to expand the rule or expand the interpretation of it, or that the executive--the Governor--is basically going to have an executive ruling that takes more of your rights away. I said you cannot do that with a constitutional amendment. We have to do what we are doing right now. So can't we do the logical thing in passing something that is a building block for us to make sure those who are unstable, who have been criminals, or who want to do harm to all of us should not be able to conveniently go anywhere they want to in America, to a gun show in America, or on the internet--which we never know--and buy that. Did the Senator have any feedback on that to him?

Mr. MANCHIN. My question is a followup on that. After we tried to do the Manchin-Toomey amendment to put commonsense measures into place--as law-abiding gun owners do every day--did you have anybody in Connecticut come and say to you that the Manchin-Toomey amendment would take away their gun rights and make it so they can't keep their gun, can't own a gun, or can't buy a gun? Because, in fact, for those who took time to read it, we protected the Second Amendment greater than it had ever been protected. We protected law-abiding gun owners so they are able to do what the Second Amendment right gives them the right to do. We never banned anything because we know the law- abiding gun owners will do the right thing. I think in West Virginia and I would say in Connecticut that 70 to 80 percent of the real ardent collectors, shooters, sportsmen say it makes sense. They don't mind getting a background check. Why we hit a roadblock, I don't know. Did you have anybody coming to you in your State and saying: Senator Murphy, please don't vote for that because I don't want you to take my rights away.

Mr. MANCHIN. Do they think we have broached the amendments and the Bill of Rights, that we have taken people's rights away?

Mr. MANCHIN. Let me first thank all our colleagues and Senators for being here today speaking about this most important issue for the citizens in each one of our respective States. My question to the Senator from Connecticut is on gun culture. I don't think there is another State--if there is, I don't know--that has more of a gun culture than West Virginia. We take the Second Amendment rights extremely seriously, and I want to make sure we are on the same page because some people come from States that don't have much of a gun culture or weren't exposed to guns as a young person growing up. I can state that in West Virginia, at a very young age, we are taught, first of all, how to handle guns safely. We are taught to never sell our gun to a stranger, never sell a gun to someone who has a criminal background, never sell a gun to someone who is mentally unstable. We don't give our guns to a family member or a friend if we don't think they are responsible. This is how we are taught in our gun culture. I am sure Connecticut has the same gun culture we have. So how this all came about with the amendment 3 years ago, after the horrible, horrific tragedy in Newtown, was that if we respect a law-abiding gun owner who didn't buy the gun because they want to do something wrong with it or they are a criminal or are soon to be a criminal because they own it, then you have to assume they are law-abiding, and they are going to do the right thing. If they are going to do the right thing, the right thing is we don't sell to strangers, we don't sell to criminals, we don't sell to mentally unstable people. Doesn't it make sense that if you go to a gun show that would allow somebody not to go through that but to go to a table where there is an unlicensed dealer selling to someone who isn't required by law to have a background check, to say: Well, wait a minute. You can't do that. This is a commercial transaction. As a law-abiding gun owner, I don't do that. I don't know who you are. I don't know you. You want to buy my gun, but before I sell you my gun, I am not going to do that until I know you are capable of owning a gun and respect it and know how it operates. That is what we said and we do so much more. I would say to my good friend from Connecticut, is the gun culture the same? You come from a State that has a gun culture. Even those wonderful families who suffered in the tragic loss of their children weren't trying to ban anything. They wanted common sense. So is the gun culture in your State similar to ours; that we treat people as law- abiding gun owners who do the right thing, and the right thing is to find out who wants to buy your gun and don't let them go to a gun show or on the Internet where they are able to skew around that?

Mr. MANCHIN. Sure.

Mr. MANCHIN. I have not had that in West Virginia at all. If anything, they said: Please, err on the side of caution. Keep me and my children safe. That is what they are saying. We are not taking any people's rights. But we have to have a process where if that person, basically, over a period of time has shown that they haven't really engaged and haven't been involved, then they can come back. I think we have all said: That makes sense to us; we can do that. I think Senator Feinstein has a 5-year provision in there for that which is very reasonable. I can't go back home this weekend and explain to the people in West Virginia why we haven't moved forward on this. There could be another Orlando in, God forbid, one of our States.

Mr. MANCHIN. Senator, do you have anybody in the State of Connecticut who is coming to you and saying: You know, I have a friend who was suspected of being a terrorist, and their rights have been taken away. They are an American citizen, and for some reason they were on the Internet, they were checked out, and the FBI has come to their home and suspected them and questioned them. Should that person still be on the no-buy list, if you will, because they are a suspected terrorist?

Mr. MANCHIN. My other question would be that I am understanding that the Senator and most of my colleagues would like to do two amendments here. We have two amendments proposed. They are basically commonsense building blocks to protect the citizens of this great country in each one of our respective States. There is the one on terrorists, if you are on a terrorist watch list. I have heard my colleagues on both sides here and my colleagues on the other side of the aisle say: Well, there is no due process. Basically, we are taking people's rights away, which is the foundation and the cornerstone of this great democracy of ours. I said: You know, there is not another nation on Earth that has a target on its back the way the United States of America does. Understanding that if a person is being called in--let's take the shooter in Orlando. Our hearts and prayers go out to the families of those who have lost loved ones and those who are still suffering. With that being said, I think this gentleman was called in a couple of times. He was suspected of being a terrorist or of being of a terrorist mindset. They are thinking: How was he able to still legally go and buy the firearms--legally? He didn't go illegally. So they said: You mean you cannot even stop that from happening? Then they said: Well, due process. I know one of my colleagues wants 72 hours, which we know is not even reasonable or practical. But on that, I think both sides--Democrats and Republicans--both want to keep terrorists from getting firearms. The question has been, I am sure--and your people are asking you in Connecticut: How do you go further? How do we get this to the point to where if you have been questioned and are suspected, you should be at least on a watch for 5 years, and you can't buy on a NICS no-buy list? There is the easy list, which they keep asking me about. I don't know if the Senator from Connecticut is asked this same question. But, my goodness, if a person is thought to be of a terrorist mindset and we have flagged them not to fly on an airline--a commercial airline in the United States of America--don't you think we ought to have the same concerns about them being able to buy a weapon legally?

Mr. MANCHIN. I thank the Senator for answering the questions that we have had. I thank all of you for being informative in the questions that we still have furthermore to ask.

Mr. MANCHIN

Mr. MANCHIN. Mr. President, I just want to say that after listening to both my colleagues, who are passionate about this issue, they are both right. They are both right. If we had a tax plan--a competitive tax plan--that took care of our priorities based on our values, they would both be funded properly. That is what we have to get to. We have to get past picking and choosing and basically take care of the values we have as Americans, so I hope we can come together on that. Opioid Epidemic Mr. President, I am rising today because we have reached another crisis point in our country. In 2014 we had almost 19,000 people die due to opioid prescription drug overdose. These are legal prescriptions. These are by companies that basically developed products legally. We have the FDA that basically said that we should use it, that it is good for us, and our doctors were saying this is what we should do. So basically we have an epidemic on our hands from products we all believed were going to help us. We had 16 percent more people die in 2014 than in 2013. We have lost 200,000 Americans since 1999-- 200,000. If that is not an epidemic, I don't know what is. I really don't know. Unfortunately, a major barrier to those suffering opioid addiction-- these are legal prescription drugs--is insufficient access to substance abuse treatment centers. Between 2009 and 2013, only 22 percent of those who were suffering from addiction could find treatment--only 22 percent. For so long, we kind of put our heads in the sand and basically thought that this was a crime, that it wasn't basically an illness--an illness that we now have come to understand needs treatment. We are way behind the scale on this. In my State of West Virginia, 42,000 West Virginians, including 4,000 youth--these are kids younger than 16 years of age--sought treatment for legal abuse but failed to find it. Think about this: If you are a parent or a grandparent and your kids are begging for help, the only way they can find any help today is to get them arrested, get a felony on them, and then the judge will send them to drug court. That is it. That is the alternative. That is not a solution we as Americans should be settling for. The largest long-term facility in West Virginia with more than 100 beds is Recovery Point. It is run by all former addicts. These were people whose lives were basically destroyed. They got together and said: We can help people. We can save them. There is mentoring. They bring them in, and it is a yearlong program. It has the greatest success rate of anything else we have in our State. In 2014 about 15,000 West Virginians got some sort of treatment for drug or alcohol abuse, but nearly 60,000 people went untreated because they couldn't find it or couldn't afford it. Based on conversations with our State police and all law enforcement in the State of West Virginia, 8 out of every 10 calls they are summoned to for some kind of criminal activity is due to drugs, some form of drugs. All of our young students here will be able to identify with this and the people who have problems. These people recognize they need help and they have been turned away. I have introduced a piece of legislation with quite a few of my colleagues. I would hope all of my colleagues in this body would look at it very seriously. It is called LifeBOAT. LifeBOAT basically simply says this: We need to have a fee on all opiates. The reason for this was that in the 1980s, we were told this was a wonder drug. It will relieve us of pain 24 hours--not addictive at all. Well, we know what happened there. That wasn't effective and it wasn't accurate. What we are asking for is one penny, one penny per milligram on all opiate prescriptions, just one penny. That one penny will give continuous funding for treatment centers around the country. That will bring in about $1.5 billion to $2 billion a year. I would hope it wouldn't bring in anything. That would mean we wouldn't have rampant addictions as we have throughout the country. This is the LifeBOAT. We would hope people would get on board. I have asked my colleagues on the other side of the aisle. This is not a tax. It is basically a treatment plan. We have fees we charge for alcohol. We have a fee for cigarettes--nothing for opiates. This is destroying as many, if not more, lives. All of this is a commonsense approach forward. I say to all of my colleagues, there will not be a Democratic or a Republican family who will hold it against you for trying to find a treatment program for their child or a loved one or someone in their family. I have come to the floor every week to read letters from people who have been affected and their lives have been changed. I have one from my State of West Virginia, and she writes: In Elementary school (I believe 4th grade) my daughter became a cheerleader for Pop Warner Football. Then 6th through 8th she cheered for the Middle School. Her Senior year she cheered for High School as well. She also played Volleyball for the High School and with an adult league, and Basketball for a Jerry West league. She had excellent grades in school, many friends and a great personality. To say she was well rounded is pretty accurate. I am not quite sure where things went wrong. How we have ended up where we are today. Today, and for several years now, my daughter is a drug addict. At one time she was prescribed antidepressants, then nerve pills, then she broadened to her own choices. She has tried many drugs but her choice is opiates. Legal prescription opiates. She is the mother of our first 2 grandbabies that are now in the custody of family members due to her drug use. The home is unfit for the children to be raised in. Continuing: She is also a sister, aunt, granddaughter, cousin, niece and friend to many. And the wife of an addict. She has been in and out of jail, court and community corrections several times. I have lost many nights of sleep waiting for a knock at our door or a phone call to tell me I need to identify my daughter. Thankfully, I am a lucky one so far that has not had to do that. Others have not been as fortunate. She has been homeless and sleeping in her car for almost a year except for the nights I could beg for her to come stay with us. Her husband has stole from my family and is not allowed on any of our properties. She feels obligated into staying by his side. I don't know why. She has had several seizure episodes that were drug related. One time she was at a local grocery store with our granddaughter. She was transported by an ambulance after her 4 year old daughter screamed for help. A 4-year-old daughter screaming for help for a mother who has had an overdose and addiction. Continuing: She went to a 10-day detox. Which ended up being a waste-- We know that 10 days or a month doesn't do a thing-- because there was not a place for her to go for rehab after that. One time she got out of jail and thought she could kick this habit on her own. She couldn't, and back to jail she went. Right now she is in a grant funded long term facility. If you talk to any people in addiction treatment, it takes a minimum of 1 year to get them through. She has been there almost a month. My heart and hopes are high. I pray for her and those like her on a daily basis. Addiction is such a cruel and punishing way of life. It leaves scars inside and out. All I am asking for is this LifeBOAT piece of legislation that will give us a lifeboat to help families who are desperately in need. I would hope everyone would consider this. It is not a burden on anybody. It is not a burden on people taking normal prescriptions. It is only 1 penny per milligram on opiates produced, used, and consumed in the United States. I yield the floor.

Mr. MANCHIN

Mr. MANCHIN. Mr. President, we have come to a crisis point in our country. In 2014, 18,893 people died due to a prescription opioid overdose. On average, 51 people die every day. What we are talking about is legal prescription drugs that are basically produced by pharmaceuticals, which are great companies. They are approved by the Food and Drug Administration, which is supposed to look out for the well-being and welfare of all the citizens of this great country. They are prescribed to us by our doctors, the most trusted persons outside of our family. Now it has become an epidemic. It is doing more harm to people than anything I know of right now. When I talk about an epidemic, we have lost over 200,000 people since 1999, and not to raise this to the level that we should so we can fix this is ridiculous, and the trend is still going in the wrong direction. Some 16 percent more people died in 2014 than died in 2013. We have lost almost 200,000 Americans to prescription opioid abuse since 1999, as I said, and we must take action to stop the epidemic. Unfortunately, a major barrier that those who are suffering from opioid addiction face is inefficient access to substance abuse treatment. There is not one of us in the Senate or in our States, who doesn't have somebody in their immediate or extended family or a close friend that has not been affected either by legal drug abuse or illicit drugs. If you talk to those without any means, you know they have nothing. They have nowhere to go. There are no treatment centers, and we haven't stepped up to the plate. All of the States' budgets are taxed, if you will. Every time we do something with the Federal Government's budget, we have to have a pay- for. We have been looking for ways to do something to make sure that every State has a sufficient amount of treatment centers to help those who need it. In fact, between 2009 and 2013, only 22 percent of Americans suffering from opioid addiction participated in any form of addiction treatment. We talked about addiction treatment. For so many years, we all looked at any type of drug use as being the crime, and we put them away. We put them in jail. We spent $450 billion in the last 20 years for incarceration. Not one time did we look at this issue and say: This might be an illness, and an illness needs treatment, and a treatment can actually cure somebody. We haven't thought along those lines, and it needs to change. In 2014, in my State of West Virginia, 42,000 West Virginians, including 4,000 children, sought treatment for legal drug abuse but failed to receive it. They needed treatment. They said: Please help us. Think about this. A family who has done everything, including exhausting all of their resources, has to have their child arrested and convicted with a felony so that child can go to drug court and get the treatment he or she needs. Isn't that a sad scenario? The largest long- term facility in West Virginia with more than 100 beds is Recovery Point, in Huntington. It has a waiting list that is 4 to 6 months long. This is the most successful treatment center, and it is run by former addicts. These are people who hit rock-bottom. They know what it takes. They have all come back and have been keeping themselves clean and mentoring other people. They have more of a success rate than anyone I know of in my State. In 2014, about 15,000 West Virginians received some form of drug or alcohol abuse treatment, but nearly 60,000 West Virginians were identified as in need of substance abuse treatment and couldn't find help. Based on conversations with West Virginia State Police, 8 out of 10 of all of their calls are drug related. Imagine if the Presiding Officer, who is from the beautiful State of Florida, should ask his law enforcement how many calls they get that are drug related. It is unbelievable. The costs are prohibitive as far as what we are spending now and how much is being taken out of our economy. These are people who have recognized they needed help and were turned away because there were not enough facility beds or health care providers in their community or they couldn't afford the pricey high-end facilities out there. That is why I joined my colleagues this week to introduce the Budgeting for Opioid Addiction Treatment Act. This Life BOAT Act would establish a steady, sustainable funding stream to provide access to substance abuse treatment. This is a difficult thing for a lot of my colleagues and friends on the other side of the aisle. Somehow, we have to step up to the plate and not worry about this being a tax. There are those who have said that we can't take out another tax and have pledged: I won't go for a new tax. How about voting for treatment? How about voting to help people? How about voting to put people back in the economic mainstream to be a part of this great country of ours? How about taking them out of the prisons and not incarcerating people who don't have violent or sexual crimes and can basically be rehabilitated? We have a tax on cigarettes because we know it is harmful to you. We have a tax on alcohol because we know it is harmful for you. We have nothing on opioids. I have a piece of legislation--and we are looking for more and more sponsors all the time--that would tax 1 penny for every milligram of opioid that is prescribed. We know opioids are addictive. We were led to believe that they weren't addictive. When opioids first came out in 1980, the pharmaceutical companies said this is a wonder drug with 24-hour relief from severe pain, and it is nonaddictive. Guess what. The genie is out of the bottle, and we lost 200,000 citizens. But we have doctors prescribing them. We prescribe more opioids than anyone in the world. We consume more painkillers than anybody in the world. I am talking about the entire world. There are only 330 million in our country. When we look at the population of the world, which consists of 7 billion people, and we consume over 80 percent of all opioids produced in the world. We only have 5 percent of the world's population. Something is dead wrong. That 1 penny will generate--if you can believe this--$1.5 to $2 billion a year. This is what we call the penny of gold. We can help people. We can go back to every community and every State in this great country of ours and help people get their lives back. We can help people get clear and clean and working again. Every week I come to the floor and read a letter. I read letters from all over the country. I read letters of those from my State who have been affected. The legal drug abuse of opioids has been a silent killer. We haven't talked about it enough. We have had someone in our family--whether it is your child, mother, father, aunt, uncle, or cousin--and we were ashamed. Guess what. We continue to lose more and more people. Now they are coming forward. I want to read another letter. These letters have a common theme. They mention how hard it is to get themselves or their loved ones into treatment. Sometimes it takes months, and sometimes it never happens. This problem stems from our lack of systems to help those who are looking for help. We need permanent treatment facilities to help people get clean and stay clean. I say to all of my colleagues: This is not a Democratic or Republican problem. This is an American epidemic, and I don't believe one person-- whether Democrat or Republican--can argue against voting for 1 penny to try to help cure people who have been affected by this epidemic. It won't cost anybody one vote--not one vote. I hope they will consider that. Today I am reading an anonymous letter from a veteran in West Virginia about his struggle to get his sons into one of the treatment facilities they desperately need. He says: I'm sure many have heard my story before. I have a 34-year- old son that first got addicted to Oxycontin while residing in Wyoming County. He had been in trouble with the law for stealing everything from ATVs or whatever he could get his hands on. Most addicts, as you know, basically commit a felony. First, they steal from their families or friends of their family. When they run out of people who won't turn them in, they steal from anyone's home they can break into--anything they can do to get the money that gives them the fix they need for their addiction. Then they end up with a felony, and the system basically spirals down. This young man stole everything he could get his hands on. They went to a methadone clinic. They have methadone and Suboxone. These are wonder drugs that are supposed to help an addict wean off drugs, but they never do. Methadone and Suboxone still have the heroin effect in them. And people get on those and they can't get off of them either. Well then a Methadone Clinic was opened in Beaver, WV. He went to this clinic. I'm not sure what dosage he started at but I know till here recently he was on 120 milligrams a day. And 120 milligrams a day is a lot. He had lost his take homes-- Which is what they give him to self-medicate. --so he had to drive from Mercer County to Beaver, WV, everyday. He had trouble holding down jobs, so if he didn't have the money he couldn't go or get dosed. The clinic there only takes cash or credit card. I helped my son finance his home, cars, and lots of time I wasn't getting paid, I would pay these to protect my credit but I might not get my money back. This is the father's and mother's credit. So here recently I started to stop paying things. Cut him off cold turkey. Now he has pawned most of what he had in his house for cocaine, he says it's to help him with methadone withdrawals, I'm not sure. But his wife is getting ready to leave him, their son has been living with me since November of 2015. My wife and I called and tried to find him a detox and inpatient treatment, but since he hasn't weaned down at the clinic they say he don't meet their criteria. My son hasn't had methadone to the best of my knowledge since May 8th, 2016. I have told him he can't live in his house if he can't pay the bills. He says he will accept treatment at a detox, the only place I found that may take him is a behavioral health at Appalachian Regional in Beckley for his depression and bipolar and they will help him to be safe while going through withdrawals. We don't have the money to afford private care, he is on WV Medicaid. Most places he can go is out of state and WV won't pay for it. I'm so afraid that I'm going to lose my 34 year old son to this dilemma. I hope there is someone out there that can hopefully get him free of his addictions, so he can live and prosper. He said that is only one son. That's one son, my other son, is 30 and he too has some addictions and mental health issues. I paid his rent for 2 months to remove him from my home because he was so disruptive and searching for alternatives, such as he has been going to southern highlands for over 4 years for [his] bipolar [treatment]. He has been seeing the same physician. He has checked himself into the Pavilion in Mercer County several times but checks himself out he says its [be]cause they won't give him his medications that he wants. This is another problem we have. A lot of people who go to the hospitals or clinics, if they don't get what they want, they give a bad report to the doctor or medical facility, and it hurts them on their reimbursement for Medicare and Medicaid. We have a piece of legislation to change that also. He has been prescribed clonopins and Neurontin's. He prefers to either take them all at once per day or more than prescribed, since I moved him out of his apartment, I hear he diverts them for other drugs. He hasn't had a job in years. I don't know what to do to help my two sons. I know the system hasn't seemed to benefit them at all but they still get their medications and etc. It kind of keeps their addiction going on. If they don't get the prescribed ones they search for street drugs and they will sell their own soles and [even] mine to get them. What is a parent to do? For mothers it's hard to see your child in pain and maybe more willing to give them money and so forth but I have learned that is only enabling them. But there is so many ones out there it's too easy for them to get the drugs or divert them. I feel we need to do a few things. One, we must either put strict controls on methadone clinics-- And I can assure that methadone clinics do not work and shouldn't be prescribed to everyone, and there should be professionals who prescribe methadone and it should be closely regulated-- and not let them keep our families hostage for their life. What they mean by that is that once they go to these clinics, they never let them go. They are with them for life. Two, counselors and physicians need to try and understand what is a success in treatment or failure. If our children can't function in normal society, hold down a job, take medications as directed, that plan of treatment isn't working, let's do something else . . . don't keep doing the same thing to get them out of the office. Why keep them in the same type of program to give them the fix they are looking for when they are never going to be cured? Don't keep going to the same thing and expect a different result. Let's get them out of this type of situation. It's not working, what is next? People are asking and begging for help. They truly are, in West Virginia, in the Presiding Officer's beautiful State, and every State. It is atrocious what is going on. We have legislation, and I think we can put our politics aside. This is not Democratic or Republican. I have said it over and over. This doesn't have a home. This is a killer. It is epidemic--200,000 have died. In my State of West Virginia last year, 630 West Virginians died of legal prescription overdoses--legal. This is not counting illicit overdoses--legal prescription overdoses. So I am committed to fighting this with every breath I have in my body. I hope we will consider legislation we can work on, that is bipartisan and that will help every person in every State in America. I yield the floor.

Mr. MANCHIN

Mr. MANCHIN. Madam President, let me first of all say thanks to my dear friend Senator Casey from Pennsylvania. If you don't come from a coal-mining region or a coal-mining State, you probably don't understand the culture of coal mining, the people who do this work, and the families who support them. It might be hard to explain it, but we are going to try to give you a picture of the most patriotic people in America. What I mean by that is they have done the heavy lifting. They have done everything that has been asked of them by this country to basically make us the greatest country on Earth--the superpower of the world, if you will. That has been because of the energy we have had domestically in our backyard and the people willing to harvest that for us. So when you look at this country and you look at how we are treating people who have done the job and heavy lifting for over 100 years, the coal miners in West Virginia feel this way: They feel like the returning veterans from Vietnam, the returning servicemen who came from Vietnam--a war that was not appreciated and soldiers who were treated less than honorably for doing the job they did in serving their country. Americans now want to cast them aside. It is just unfair-- totally unfair. This country was so dependent upon this industry that in 1947--which will be 70 years tomorrow--President Harry S. Truman and John L. Lewis, head of the United Mine Workers--and back then, in the 1940s, anybody who mined coal was a member of the United Mine Workers of America because it was all unionized--made a commitment and a promise they would get their benefits. It would be their health care, and they would get their pensions, which were so meager--so meager--just to keep working and to keep the country energized after World War II. If they had shut down and gone on strike, the country would have fallen on extremely hard times coming off of World War II. That is how important this is. It is the only agreement where you have an Executive order by a President committing the United States of America to keeping its promise to our coal miners doing a job that made our country as great as we are today. Yet here we are, about ready to default on that, and we can't get people to move on it for whatever reason. The miners are facing multiple pressures on their health care, pension, and benefits as a result of the financial crisis and corporate bankruptcy. This is not because of something they have mismanaged themselves. As we heard Senator Casey mention, the 1974 pension plan was 94 percent funded, which is extremely healthy and solvent, up until 2008, when the financial collapse happened. It was not their fault, but now they are thrown into disarray. Most of the people still collecting these pensions are widows. A lot of the husbands have died from black lung. These people are depending on a very meager amount of support for any type of quality of life, and we have it paid for also. We have had it paid for. We are talking about the excess AML money that could basically take care of this. Also, there is another pay-for. There is a $5 billion fine that Goldman Sachs paid the DOJ for their financial shenanigans during this financial collapse that could go to pay for this. I mean, it is Wall Street that caused the problem. It wasn't the miners, basically the miners' pension fund or the plan that was being managed at all. When you couple this with the fact that 60 percent of the beneficiaries are orphan retirees, which has been explained, and that we have 10,000 active workers for 120,000 retirees, that has placed the plan on the road to insolvency. I think everyone understands that. The Miners Protection Act is not only important to all miners in all States--my good friend here Senator Warner from Virginia has a tremendous mining community in Southwest Virginia, along with our entire State. Pennsylvania is the home of anthracite coal. The coal industry really got started there. We have Senator Brown in Southeast Ohio, which butts up to West Virginia and is a major mining area. So it is important to my State and all the other States that have retired miners. People are asking about the nonunion. I am concerned about the nonunion miners, and I will do everything and commit myself to helping them also, but if we can't even keep our commitment to the United Mine Workers of America that was basically signed by President Harry S. Truman in 1947, we are not sincere or intent on helping anybody. This is something that must be done and must be done immediately. I have said that, and I have been preaching this, so I hope we all come to our senses and do something as quickly as possible about this. These retirees--as far as basically their medical, runs out the end of this year. The following year they lose their pensions too. That is how desperate this is and what we are dealing with. To address these issues the Miners Protection Act would simply do this: It would amend the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act to transfer funds in excess of the amounts needed to meet existing obligations under the Abandoned Mine Land Fund to the UMWA 1974 Pension Plan to prevent its insolvency; second, make certain retirees who lose health care benefits following the bankruptcy or insolvency of his or her employer eligible for the 1993 Benefit Plan. These assets of Voluntary Employment Benefit Association, created following the Patriot Coal bankruptcy--and if you don't know about the Patriot Coal bankruptcy, I will give you a minute or two on this one. Patriot Coal came out of Peabody. Peabody spun Patriot off and put all of their liabilities--all of their liabilities--which were basically doomed to fail, into Patriot. They threw all of the union workers into this liability. And guess what. They went bankrupt. It went bankrupt. It was designed to go bankrupt so they could be shed of all the liabilities. It is our responsibility to keep the promise to our miners who have answered the call whenever their country needed them. They have never failed us. When our country went to war, these miners powered us to prosperity. A lot of these young people we have here today don't understand that basically coal mining was so important to this country, when we entered World War II, if you were a coal miner, it was more important for you to stay and mine the coal to power the country--the coal that made the steel, that built the guns and ships--than it was to go on the frontlines and fight. They were on the frontlines every day. They never left the frontlines. When our economy was stagnant, the miners fueled its growth and expansion. After the war, there was so much buildup, the economy started dipping. You had to continue to work and produce in order to make that happen, and we needed energy to do that, so the coal miners did that. They kept their promise to us, and now it is time for us to keep our promise to them. We need to honor the commitment. We need to honor the Executive order signed by the United States of America to make sure they get their pension and make sure they get their health care. Senator Casey and I introduced the Robert C. Byrd Mine Safety Protection Act to, among other things, make it a felony for mine operators to knowingly violate safety standards. Six years and 1 day after 29 brave miners were tragically killed at the Upper Big Branch Mine in West Virginia, former Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship received 1 year in prison, the maximum allowable sentence, for willfully conspiring to violate mine safety standards. Put simply, the penalty does not fit the crime committed there, and we aim to change that. I stood with the families of the beloved miners in the days following the devastating tragedy at Upper Big Branch. Through moments of hope and despair, I witnessed again and again the unbreakable bonds of family that are as strong or stronger than anything I have ever seen. While no sentence or amount of jail time will ever heal the hearts of the families who have been forever devastated, I believe we have a responsibility to do everything we can in Congress to ensure that a tragedy like this never, ever happens again. I thank Senators Casey, Brown, Warner, Wyden, and all of my colleagues for putting these miners first and keeping the promise that we made to them. It is vitally important that we hold executives who are willing to put the health and lives of our workers at risk accountable for their actions. We must hold everybody responsible. We must hold ourselves responsible first to do the right thing. That is what we are standing here talking about today. If we don't stand up for the people who basically have stood up and defended us, powered a nation and did the heavy lifting and if we can't keep the promise that was made 70 years ago, then God help us in the Senate and the Congress. I hope we do step up and do the right thing. I tell all of my colleagues that this is not a partisan issue. This is truly bipartisan. This is truly bipartisan. These people work for all of us, not just for part of us. I yield the floor.

Mr. MANCHIN

Mr. MANCHIN. Mr. President, I rise, as I have for the past few weeks, to bring stories of the opiate crisis that we have throughout my State, the Presiding Officer's State of North Carolina, and all over this country. This epidemic is something we have to face because it affects every person in America right now. There is not a person I know of and not anyone, I believe, in America who doesn't know somebody in their immediate family, extended family, or close friend who hasn't been affected by prescription drug abuse or illicit drug abuse. I have been dealing with this since my days as Governor of the great State of West Virginia. As the Presiding Officer knows, it has ravaged my State. We have been hit harder than any other State in the country. Drug overdoses have soared by over 700 percent since 1999. Just last year alone, we lost over 600 West Virginians to opioids. These are legal prescription drugs that are made legally in the country by a legal manufacturer of pharmaceuticals. They are approved by the Food and Drug Administration, a Federal agency that is supposed to look out for our well-being. They are being prescribed by the most trusted person next to our family members, our doctors, and they are killing us. Our State is not unique in that it has hit everybody. Fifty-one Americans are dying every day--every day. We have lost over 200,000 Americans. Two hundred thousand Americans have died since 1999. If we think about that in epidemic proportions--we are talking about Zika. We just put $1.1 billion toward Zika. We spent $500 million on Ebola. All of these horrible epidemics that can cause devastation in America, we will rise up and face. We haven't done a thing in this line. We need a serious culture change to get through the problem, and we need to change approval of opiate drugs. Basically, FDA does not need to be putting out these powerful drugs. We don't need them. Think about the United States of America. Less than 5 percent of the world's population lives in our great country. Yet we consume over 80 percent of the opiates produced in the world. How did we become the most addicted? How did we become so intolerant to pain that we have to have the most powerful drugs ever produced? We have to treat the way we look at this drug coming to the market. Also, 10, 20 years ago, anybody who did drugs, if they committed a crime, we put them in jail. We have spent over $500 billion in the last two decades incarcerating people for nonviolent crimes. They come out as bad as they went in. We haven't cured anything. We have to change. We are looking at sentencing guideline changes on nonviolent crime-- nonsexual, nonviolent crime. Most addicts commit thievery. That is a theft. It is larceny. That is where they get their sentencing from. So they get sentenced, they get a criminal record, and they can't get a job. They are out of the market. My State of West Virginia has the lowest workforce participation. Only three things take you out of the workforce if you are an adult: If you have an incarceration record, people will not hire you; if you have a lack of skill sets; if you are addicted, you can't pass a drug test-- or a combination of those three. Something is going on. We can't fill jobs. People are telling me how bad the economy is. Then I talk to the employers who say: We can't get people to pass a drug test. We can't get people into the marketplace. So it is something we have to do. My office continues to get flooded. I get letters from all over the country now because I invite that. I want them. Let me read your letter. Let's put a face and let's put a family on it. It is not just a hardship, it is not just poverty, it is basically every walk of life in America. They are writing stories. I want to read another story to you right now. This is Carolyn's story. This is the grandmother writing to me: Dear Senator Manchin, I am enclosing a copy of the letter I sent to ``The Journal'' in Martinsburg concerning the death of our son's step-daughter. She died of a heroin overdose. I consider myself Devon's grandmother, and at my age words are my best weapon to fight the scourge that killed her. Please, Senator, read my letter and then use it in any way you see fit in the fight for the passage of ``Jessie's Law.'' We have talked about Jessie's Law. The Presiding Officer has been helpful, and I appreciate it very much. It basically says: If you go to the hospital and you know your child or a loved one in your family is addicted and the child is trying to overcome the addiction, then the hospital has the responsibility to stamp on their record ``addiction'' so they will be watching how they discharge them and the type of opiates they give them. You can't reaffirm an addiction by giving more pills. So this is what we are fighting against. She said: Our granddaughter, Devon, that tall exuberant redhead who laughed her way into our hearts, is now a statistic. Several days ago our son called us to tell us that she had died the night before from a heroin over-dose. It wasn't her first over-dose by far, but the other times someone had always managed to get her to the hospital. That last time the friend shooting up with her couldn't help. He died at her side. She still held the needle in her hand [that killed her]. It was that quick. Devon started her drug journey with prescription opiates. She had been injured, she had an ailment, and she had pain. When those pills weren't enough anymore, heroin stepped in, and the downward spiral began. Heroin steps in every time. It isn't just the problem kids from poor neighborhoods who get hooked, you know. Everybody thinks it is because of the economic downturn. That is a part of it but not all of it. Our granddaughter came from a stable, affectionate upper- middle class home. Even though her parents tried their best to save her with countless sleepless nights, multiple trips to rehab, tough love and loving persuasion, that drug won the battle. Now, we are not even allowed to grieve. We must also contend with the many forms of our anger; impatience with Devon for not being stronger, rage at those who sold her the drugs, frustration with the authorities for not doing more to stop the trafficking or establishing more treatment centers, and self-recrimination for maybe not doing enough. We also are trying to cope with the guilt of feeling relief that her hell has finally ended. There is nothing more we can do for her now, no more treatments that we can try. Can you imagine living with that? You tried everything, and then, finally, when the end comes like that, you have a feeling of relief-- and then you feel remorse for that. Can you imagine grandparents going through this? Finally: She's just gone. Just . . . gone . . . People are now coming out. Before, people didn't want to tell me. They were afraid. They had a son or a daughter in rehab, and they felt that would be a scourge on their family. They didn't want to be embarrassed. So we never knew about it. It was a silent killer. Then we saw young people--going through the obituaries, it doesn't give the cause of death, but we can pretty much figure it out. People are now saying: If we don't come out of the closet and talk about it, we are not going to fix it. There is a lot that needs to be done. I am going to read another story that has a happy ending. I am going to read Chelsea's story, which I have read before. This is a young girl from Boone County, WV. This young girl had started using drugs when she was 12 years old--12 years old. Anything and everything that could happen to a human being--her dad was mayor of the town. He was mayor. She had gone through everything, hit bottom as far as bottom could be. The person she went through drug court and drug rehab with died, couldn't get out. She made it. I am going to read hers now so we see a happy ending. Most of these stories are about the pain and heartache associated with opiate abuse, but Chelsea's story is a little different. In February, on the Senator floor, I read Chelsea Carter's powerful story on how she has overcome her opiate addiction, and today I am proud to say she just received her master's degree in social work from Concord University. She said: After being addicted to drugs since I was 12 years old [by a neighborhood friend], I decided to go back to school and teach others what I have been taught my whole life. I received my bachelor's degree from West Virginia University in the Art of Psychology in May of 2013 and last Saturday May 7, 2016 I graduated with my Masters in Social Work from Concord University. I am currently working on my Alcohol and Drug Counseling Licensure and also myself and seven other people are in the process of opening up a Sober Living home in Danville, West Virginia [her home area] called the Hero House. They get no funding. They don't qualify for Medicaid, Medicare-- nothing. What they are going to do is all going to be on love and kindness. Also, with the record she has now--because she has a felony record for grand larceny--it will be hard for her to get a job. We are taking a person now with a master's degree out of the workforce. It is unbelievable. She said: I currently work for Appalachian Health Services as an addiction therapist-- They went beyond that and hired her anyway. Most people will not. --but my dream is to one day open my own inpatient treatment facility and help other people who are just like me. A message I would like people to know is that recovery is possible, but you have to be willing to work at it. It is a lot easier to go out on the streets and buy drugs instead of trying to change your life, but the one thing that recovery gives you that the drugs will never is your life back. I am living proof that if you want something bad enough you can change. We have to give them hope. We have to give them reasons. We have to give them the ability to get back in the mainstream. This is the best example of what can be done if we make investments, and the investments we make are investments in human capital in the United States of America and the spirit of America. This is what we are doing. For the many stories I read that have such horrible endings, this has a happy ending, and it helps many people. Mr. President, I yield the floor.

Mr. MANCHIN

Mr. MANCHIN. Mr. President, with immense pride, I wish to recognize the 25 heroic veterans who have traveled to Washington from West Virginia on this year's Always Free Honor Flight this week. This truly moving event serves as a unique opportunity for us to honor and share our deepest gratitude for these individuals who have sacrificed so much in the service of our great Nation. With one of our country's highest per capita rates of military servicemembers and veterans, West Virginia is undoubtedly one of our Nation's most patriotic States. Throughout the history of the Mountain State, our citizens have demonstrated the bravery and selflessness time and again in making tremendous sacrifices to keep our homeland safe and free. According to the Department of Defense, West Virginia had the highest casualty rate in the Nation during the Vietnam war, and I am so proud that the honor flight will allow these West Virginia veterans to pay homage to their brethren at the Vietnam wall. As these veterans tour the monuments that have been constructed in their honor, I offer my sincerest thanks to them on behalf of our Nation for their service. The veterans joining us in Washington hail from across West Virginia, from Scott Depot and Princeton to Rainelle and Lewisburg. They have served in World War II, the Korean war, the Vietnam war, during the Cold War prior to the Berlin Wall's collapse, and the wars in the Middle East. They have participated in decisive overseas battles and won myriad accolades for their accomplishments in uniform. First and foremost, I wish to remember PO3 Earnest McKenzie, an Athens, WV, native, who joined the U.S. Navy in 1955 and served on the USS Brownson in the Vietnam war. He was supposed to attend this week's honor flight to visit the memorials made in his honor, but he sadly passed away on Friday at the age of 75. My thoughts and prayers are with his family during this sad time, and I sincerely thank him for his service and sacrifice. I especially wish to recognize our World War II veterans who will be on this honor flight. Ninety-four year old former SN William ``Ray'' Calvin Sexton from Tazewell, joined the Navy in Bramwell, WV, in 1943 and was a gunner stationed in Panama and the Galapagos Islands. We will also be joined by Machinist Mate Third Class Marion Grey Noel, who joined the Navy in the 1940s and bravely fought at the battle of Iwo Jima and Okinawa. These men truly represent the sacrifices made by our Nation's ``greatest generation'' and embody American patriotism and valor. They fearlessly fought in such a pivotal war in an era that threatened our existence as a nation. We are losing so many of our World War II veterans every day, and the time to show our utmost gratitude to them is here and now. I also wish to highlight the tremendous achievements of two Vietnam war veterans who will be on this honor flight. Mabscott, WV, native, former SPC Raymond C. Palmer joined the Army in 1967 and fought in the 1968 Tet Offensive when the Vietcong and North Vietnamese forces launched a series of attacks on scores of towns and cities through South Vietnam. Another Vietnam veteran participating in this week's honor flight is SSG Michael A. Hudnall of Rainelle, WV, who joined the Army in 1969. Staff Sergeant Hudnall served in the 1st Air Cavalry stationed in Bien Hoa and earned two Purple Hearts, two Bronze Stars, and two Air Medals. Their dedication to our Nation knows no bounds, and I thank them for their service. I also wish to recognize Army SFC Paul W. Dorsey of Bluefield, WV, who joined the Army in 1978. Sergeant First Class Dorsey served the United States for 10 years in Germany, more than 3 of which he was stationed in Berlin prior to the Wall's collapse. Following his return home, Sergeant First Class Dorsey went on to serve an additional decade stateside and continues to give back to his community. He is a JROTC instructor at Montcalm High School in Mercer City and serves as vice president of the Always Free Honor Flight network. Thank you, Sergeant First Class Dorsey, for your lifelong commitment to the U.S. military and our veterans. The veterans participating in this week's honor flight range in age from 54 to 94 and have fought for our freedom in many historic events. This week, as we celebrate these incredible veterans and their answering our Nation's call of duty, we must remember that the men and women who have given so much to ensure America's safety deserve the utmost care and support upon their return home. We must continue to fight for a Department of Veterans Affairs that provides our veterans with the services they very much need and deserve. This week's honor flight and the continued support of our veterans would not be possible without the dedication of so many volunteers and caregivers. I wish to thank the JROTC cadets from Princeton, Montcalm, Bluefield, and Pikeview high schools, as well as the military spouses serving as the guardians on this year's honor flight. The care and love you provide for our veterans is invaluable and deeply appreciated. I also commend those in the Always Free Honor Flight network for their dedication to providing our veterans with such a unique and meaningful experience. My gratitude especially goes out to Dreama Denver, president of Always Free Honor Flight network and owner Little Buddy Radio of Princeton, WV, as well as Pam Coulbourne, the coordinator of these flights. Dreama and Pam launched the Always Free Honor Flight in 2012 and have been making the dreams of West Virginia's veterans a reality every year since. They, along with Sergeant First Class Dorsey and board member and official photographer Steve Coleman, have done a tremendous job of ensuring that our veterans receive the recognition they deserve. Dreama, Pam, and Steve have also dedicated themselves to the Denver Foundation, serving as incredible examples of how individuals can give back to their communities. Our Nation would not enjoy the freedom and liberty we do today without the commitment and sacrifice of the veterans who have served throughout our history. Their bravery and sacrifice know no bounds, and for this, we are forever grateful. With this week's Always Free Honor Flight, we celebrate and give thanks for these veterans and all they have done for our country. God bless our many servicemembers and veterans, the great State of West Virginia, and the United States of America.

Mr. MANCHIN

Mr. MANCHIN. Madam President, first of all, I thank my good friend from New Hampshire, Senator Shaheen, for putting in this most needed funding to fight this epidemic, and I thank Senator King from Maine as well. We are all fighting it. My State has been hit the hardest of all the States, and New Hampshire is right behind us as far as having more deaths from opioid drug abuse than any other State. If you put what we are asking for into perspective and look at what we have done over the years since the war on drugs began about four decades ago, we have spent $1 trillion in the United States, but we are fighting this war the wrong way. We have all looked at this as a horrific crime, and we have just kept putting people away. In that period of time, we spent $450 billion to lock up these people in Federal prisons and most of them were locked up for nonviolent crimes. We need to look at this. This is an illness, and to treat an illness, you have to have funding. We just talked about Zika, and we have done it for Ebola. I even checked what we have done with polio. Since we eradicated polio, we have saved this country $220 billion. Can you imagine what would have happened if we hadn't? We wanted to have it eradicated around the world by the year 2000. The savings is enormous, but the bottom line right now is productivity. I have the lowest workforce participation in the country right now in West Virginia. A lot of it is due to the addictions that people have. In 2014, we had 42,000 West Virginians--including 4,000 youth--who sought treatment for illegal drug use but failed to receive it. There was no place for them to go. They wanted to change their lives. They asked in every way possible to do that, but we have no treatment centers. This goes a long way to basically help treat an illness which is absolutely destroying America, not just in West Virginia, New Hampshire, and Maine, but I am talking about all 50 States. We have an epidemic we are dealing with today. Yet we are not dealing with it because we have no treatment, and that is because no one has put the priorities and values that we have in this country to eradicate this horrible scourge in our country. I ask all of my colleagues to please reconsider the funding that is needed to fight opioid abuse with proper treatment around the country. I thank the Presiding Officer and yield the floor.

Mr. MANCHIN

Mr. MANCHIN. Mr. President, I rise today to once again share the devastating story of the nationwide opiate epidemic that America currently faces, which is pain pills. It is a crisis I have been dealing with since my days as Governor of the great State of West Virginia, and each and every one of us as Senators representing our great States are dealing with it also. It is ravaging my State. West Virginia has been hit harder than most States in our country. The drug overdose deaths have soared by more than 700 percent since 1999. Just last year, we lost 600 West Virginians alone to opiate abuse. That is prescription drug abuse. Let me explain what we are dealing with. We are dealing with a product that is manufactured legally by pharmaceutical companies, a product that is approved by the Food and Drug Administration--the Federal Government--a product that is distributed and prescribed by our doctors--the most trusted people we have in our lives. It goes on and on. Basically, people don't understand and have not understood for the last two decades the devastating effect that it has. But our State is not unique. This is happening everywhere, and 51 Americans die every day. Every day, 51 Americans die. You have to think about that. Every 30 minutes or less, someone is dying because of an overdose from a prescription drug to which they became addicted. Since 1999, we have lost almost 200,000 Americans to prescription opioid abuse. We need a serious culture change in America to get to the root of the problem. We need to change the approval of all these new, more potent painkillers coming on the market. The scope of the problem is this: In the United States of America, we have less than 5 percent of the world population. Seven billion people live on this beautiful planet Earth of ours. We have approximately 330 million people. How in the world can we explain how 5 percent of the population consumes 80 percent of all the addictive opioids produced in the world? Our country is the most addicted country on Earth. There is not another one like us. We allow pharmaceuticals to advertise their products on television. We are the only ones who allow drugs that are addictive and have the ability to destroy lives to be advertised, and so naturally people are asking for them. They want to go out and buy something because the market is so slick. How we approach this is totally wrong. There needs to be an overhaul of our culture. My office continues to get flooded with letters. Today I will read a letter from my State of West Virginia and the Presiding Officer's State of Georgia. We are encouraging people to continue to share their experiences. The reason I am encouraging people to share their letters is because for far too long this has been a silent killer. There is not a person watching this or a person in this Chamber who doesn't know somebody in their immediate family or extended family who has been affected by drug abuse. Most of the time, it is legal prescription drug abuse. We have an epidemic on our hands. We talk about Ebola, Zika, and all the other things that are of concern to us, but not one of those is killing 51 Americans every day, and people are still silent about it. Well, people are breaking their silence and sending these letters to me. I will read them every week so I can put a personal touch on this epidemic we face. I don't want people to be ashamed. We have all had it happen to us. It could be your father, mother, brother, sister, aunt, uncle, cousins, or children. We basically have to look at addiction as an illness. For far too long, we have looked at addiction as a crime. We put people in jail because they have committed a crime. Most of them are charged with grand larceny because they had to steal to support their habit and as a result end up with a felony on their record. When they get out of jail, they are no better. They are still addicted, and now they have a felony and can't get a job. We have taken them out of the productive part of our society. Our society is losing a whole generation of productive, unbelievable, beautiful people. This is Debbie's story. Debbie is from West Virginia. She said: My daughter started using drugs off and on around the age of 13. It really escalated after her second child was born, her ``husband'' being from Baltimore, MD with access to lots of different kinds of drugs. She told me that after the birth of her baby the doctor prescribed percocet after a vaginal birth. She started off snorting and then injecting them. Her drug abuse spiraled out of control to using meth, on to heroin and cocaine, and who knows what else. Then she started buying Suboxone illegally, supposedly to get off the other drugs. Suboxone is supposed to help you get off your addiction, but it is also an opioid. When she had her third child, CPS stepped in, but then they walked away 90 days later. She took off to Baltimore, MD, putting her two youngest children in danger, leaving her oldest behind with us. However, we finally got her to bring the children back to us, but she wasn't willing to stay with her children. The drugs were more important. We now have temporary guardianship and she is finally taking steps in recovery. I don't understand why these doctors hand out opioid drugs like it's candy. I can tell Debbie why they do it. They don't have the training. They don't understand the effects these drugs are having on people. They are basically told whatever the manufacturer or salesperson has told them. If the drug is a 30-day prescription, they give you 30. If it is 60, they will give you the maximum of 60. Her letter continues: I have another daughter that was in a car accident and broke her leg. She had to have surgery and the doctor prescribed her 80 percocet all at one time. Can you believe that? Already battling one child with addiction I VERY closely monitored her medication. Not all people are strong willed. This has to stop. These are dangerous drugs and they lead to more dangerous drugs! These drugs are killing our children, pulling our families apart! Why are doctors prescribing so many at a time? Why do we have Suboxone, another addictive drug to treat addiction? Methadone is another one, methadone clinics. They are the same thing. Why isn't Suboxone an in care monitored drug so it can't be sold on the streets? Why don't we have free treatment centers in every county to help with addiction so our children aren't dying? I am going to talk about the treatment centers--or lack of treatment centers--and what we can and what we should be doing as a country. My daughter is 24 years old with a lifetime of fighting addiction. My mom and sister had to bury their sons because of addiction. I DON'T want to bury my daughter!!! That was Debbie's story from West Virginia. This is Winnie's story from Augusta, GA. My name is Winnie Garrett. She wanted me to use her full name because she is not ashamed and she wants to fight this addiction and she needs help. I have been living in Augusta, GA, for 15 years with my husband, son, and daughter. My daughter Erin is 21 and a heroin addict. She started opiates when she was 16. She met a guy who was shooting pills and heroin, so in September of 2014 she started shooting too. She had a great job, an apartment, and was a highly functioning addict. In May she asked if her boyfriend and she could come and move into our house so they could save money and get an apartment together. In July, her boyfriend attempted suicide and was hospitalized and then sent to rehab. Erin's heroin use skyrocketed at that time. In September, we caught Erin and her friends in our house about to shoot up together, but we intervened. Erin agreed that she needed help and she started methadone at a methadone clinic. So we have methadone and Suboxone. In October of 2015, one of her ``friends'' that was in our house back in September overdosed and died at her grandmother's house. Erin started to abuse opioids again. In December, she lost her job. By Christmas she had no new job and no money to pay for methadone. She was going downhill fast. On January 2, 2016, she called me and asked me to come and get her. Her friends had left her alone, she had no phone, and she was sick. My husband and I found her and told her she must go to the hospital as we were not prepared to help her go through withdrawal. We just didn't have the ability or the knowledge to do it. She fought with us and didn't want to go. As we drove closer to the hospital and stopped for a light, she jumped out of our moving vehicle and proceeded to walk away from us. We had to walk her into the hospital and commit her. After the hospital went through her belongings, she was civilly committed for a minimum of 72 hours. Erin went through withdrawal and was clean for about 2 weeks but wouldn't consider going to a rehab place because she wouldn't want to leave her ``friends.'' She has relapsed, and I have tried to talk to her, but she is not ready for rehab. It breaks my heart to see my baby girl now. It has affected our entire family. Her brother wants nothing to do with her and her father and I can only pray that God will look after her and keep her safe from harm. She is living on the streets and at anyone's house who will take her in for a day or two. My daughter graduated from Fine Arts Magnet School and was accepted to Savannah College of Art and Design. Erin is smart, beautiful and very capable when she is clean. I don't recognize my little girl on drugs. Something must be done. Thank you for listening. Three or four years ago, these people probably wouldn't have written these letters to us. They are desperate and need help. They are willing to put their names to it. They want to put a face on this epidemic. They really do. Let me tell you the problem. We do not have--Georgia and West Virginia--treatment centers. When people are begging for help, there is no place to send them. We have day courts and drug courts, but there is really no treatment center. They end up with a felony on their record. I am not talking about those who have a violent or sexual crime; I am basically talking about grand larceny. They end up getting a felony. If we do get them clean, they can't get a job with that felony. There are some things we have to do. Let me tell you what we can do. The first thing we can do is address the treatment centers. Think about this: We have a fee on cigarettes. We know cigarettes are dangerous. They have proved that cigarettes are addictive and dangerous to your health, and you pay a tax when you buy cigarettes. Most of those States use those taxes for their health clinics. We know alcohol is dangerous. We shouldn't drink alcohol, but we partake in it, and they charge a tax. We have no way of funding or supporting the treatment centers. We are looking at and working on this almost every day. I am going to propose to my colleagues that one penny per milligram of every opioid produced by manufacturers be used to go to a treatment fee. It strictly cannot be used for anything except for treatment centers throughout the United States of America so we can help the people who need help. We should also consider how to get people back to having a productive lifestyle. Let's say they go through an approved treatment center for 1 year and then go into a mentoring program. Not only do they become clean, but they are mentoring and helping other people become clean. They don't have a violent or sexual crime against them, but they have a crime of larceny. Should that person not be considered--basically from their good standing of finishing a 1-year rehabilitation program, which they passed with flying colors and are clean and have committed another year of their lives to giving back and helping other people through mentoring--to have that felony basically expunged from their record so they can get back into the workforce? If not, we are losing a whole generation of quality workers. These are all bright, smart people who can do something and contribute back to the economy. I will be coming down here every week, and I will make sure the people of America know they are not alone. We hear you and we are going to do something. I thank the Presiding Officer for listening. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. MANCHIN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded. The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Perdue. Without objection, it is so ordered. Prescription Drug Abuse

Mr. MANCHIN

Mr. MANCHIN. Madam President, I am rising to share Jessie's story. Jessie's story is the story of Jessie Grubb from Charleston, WV, who passed away. She was only 30 years old. After years of struggling with heroin addiction, she had been doing well. Her parents and family members and all her close friends were very proud of the progress she was making. She had been sober since August, but last month she had surgery for an infection. The infection was related to a running injury, and she died a day after leaving the hospital. Jessie's story with addiction is known to many. Her father David Grubb was a colleague of mine--a State senator, and a very good State senator, I might add. We worked together in the legislature. He shared their family's struggle with addiction with President Obama. I was very pleased President Obama came to a State where he probably has the least popularity but which has the greatest challenge with opioid addiction-- West Virginia. He came there and he heard the struggles. He saw it firsthand, and I think it moved him and made him more committed to fighting this drug abuse that is going on in America. As I said, David Grubb shared his family's story with President Obama when he came to West Virginia last October and, like I said, it has made a difference. In West Virginia, not unlike Iowa, we have been hit very hard. As a matter of fact, West Virginia has been hit the hardest by opioid addiction. It is an epidemic. When we think about an epidemic, pandemics--we talk about Ebola and the Zika virus and all the things we hear about, but we haven't heard a whole lot about opioid addiction. It has been a silent killer. It is one where we are all ashamed if it happens to us or our family. We don't talk much about it. We think we can handle it within our own structure. Yet it is an epidemic. I say there is not a person in our country who doesn't know someone in their immediate or extended family who hasn't been affected. That is an epidemic, and it is something we have to cure. Drug overdose in my little State of West Virginia has increased by more than 700 percent between 1999 and 2013. Last year alone, over 600 lives were lost to prescription drug abuse--overdose. Now that is legal. These are products produced by legal manufacturing companies, pharmaceuticals. These are products approved by the Food and Drug Administration, a watchdog responsible for making sure our food and all of our drugs are safe. So this is something that is legal and that our doctors prescribe. Our most trusted people in America--our doctors--are prescribing something they think will help us. Yet it is something that is killing Americans everywhere. So this is Jessie's story and her family's pain, which is all too familiar and all too common in West Virginia and throughout the Nation. As I said, we lost 627 West Virginians last year, and 61,000 West Virginians used prescription pain medications for nonmedical purposes in 2014--nonmedical purposes. This includes 6,000 teenagers. Our State is not unique. Every day in the country, 51 Americans are dying--51 Americans die every day from opioid abuse. Since 1999, we have lost almost 200,000 Americans to prescription opioid abuse. Think about that: 200,000 in a little over a decade. That is unheard of. In any other category we would be doing something monumental. Jessie's story deeply impacted the President, and I spoke with him about her death and the pain her family is going through. When the President came to Charleston, Jessie was in a rehab facility in Michigan for the fourth time--for the fourth time. Before her life was taken over by addiction in 2009, Jessie's future was very bright. She was truly an unbelievable young lady. She was the beloved daughter of David and Kate Grubb, the beloved sister to her four sisters, and a beloved friend to family and to many others. Jessie was an excellent student and scored in the 99th percentile on every one of her tests. She was a cheerleader at Roosevelt Junior High School and was an avid runner. At the time of her death, she was looking forward to running in her first marathon. The only trouble she had ever gotten into in school was when she protested the Iraq war. Needless to say, she was a natural born leader. She truly was. She was one of those girls who was captivating. After graduating from Capital High School, she was thrilled and looking forward to her bright future at the University of North Carolina, Asheville. She was sexually assaulted during her first semester, which caused her to withdraw from school and return home to Charleston. That traumatic event caused Jessie to turn to heroin to escape her pain. Over the next 7 years, Jessie would battle her addiction. She would overdose four times and go into rehab four times, but up until her death, she had been sober for 6 months and was focused on making a life for herself in Michigan, and one her parents were very proud of. All of Jessie's hard work was ruined because of a careless mistake-- one mistake. Jessie's death is particularly heartbreaking because it was 100 percent preventable--100 percent. Her parents traveled to Michigan for Jessie's surgery and told her doctors and hospital personnel that she was a recovering addict. Jessie was having hip surgery that was caused by all her running, and they were treating her for an infection. However, after her surgery, the discharging doctor who said he didn't know she was a recovering addict sent her home with a prescription for 50--50--OxyContin pills. She should never have been given one--not one--for opioid medication. We must ensure this never happens again. Jessie passed away that night and think about how preventable this was. Because of a lot of the privacy laws, we can't tell. That doctor didn't know. Did someone mess up? We don't know. If you are allergic to penicillin or something, it is on your chart. They know all the way through if you are allergic to anything, but if you are an addict and you are allergic to opioids, because they will kill you, they can't reveal that. So, Madam President, I will be asking for your help, as always, and I know you will be compassionate about this. Next week I will be introducing Jessie's Law to make sure this type of careless mistake never happens to another daughter, a son, a nephew, a niece, anyone in America. The bottom line is, we need to go at this problem from every angle and with the help of everyone--family assistance, counseling programs, drug courts, consumer and medical education, law enforcement support, State and Federal legislation. We need to throw everything we have at this. With continued support and tireless work from everyone, we can beat this epidemic once and for all. Jessie's death is heartbreaking to anybody who knew her or the family or their contribution to society every day. This is a tremendous family who gives so much back. We all know someone who has been impacted. We do, every one of us. Every one of our young interns here know. Our pages know. They see it in their schools. Everybody sees what is going on, but we have to speak up. This is a fight we have to win. This opioid epidemic is claiming a generation and taking them away from us. I am committed to this more than I have been committed to anything. If I have one purpose of being in the Senate, it is to bring to light these young people whose lives have been changed, whose families' lives have been changed all over West Virginia, all over America. There has been silence for far too long, and we are not going to keep silent any longer. People are sending me letters from Iowa, letters from my State of West Virginia, and they are saying: Please use my name. Put a face and a name to a tragedy. They want us to know in Congress that something has to be done. We don't need all these drugs on the market. We don't need the pharmaceutical companies putting out more and more powerful opioids. We don't need a business plan that is destroying people's lives. I think this is something we agree on. This is something that will unite us like nothing else in Congress. It is not a Democratic or a Republican epidemic. It is not a disease that is killing Democrats and Republicans. It is killing Americans, and we are Americans. So I am hopeful, and I have been very pleased with all of the support we are getting from both sides, Democrats and Republicans, coming together on this issue. We have important legislation coming forward. I believe this is going to allow us for the first time to make a monumental change. I thank VA Secretary Bob McDonald. He is trying very hard to change the culture of the VA, of treating pain with alternatives. There is so much more we need to do. I will be getting into that later. I thank the Presiding Officer for the great job she does for the great State of Iowa. Madam President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. MANCHIN. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.