Frank Pallone

Mr. PALLONE

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentleman from Michigan for yielding, and I am happy to support this amendment. The people of Flint have gone over 2 years without clean drinking water in their homes. They are still being exposed, still being harmed. I think it is a disgrace that we are still fighting about providing them with essential Federal aid. I want to commend my colleague Mr. Kildee and Democratic leaders in the House and the Senate who kept attention on the plight of this community and worked tirelessly for the opportunity to offer this amendment. I hope to see this amendment pass shortly, but our work will not be done. We will have to work to go to conference with the House and the Senate WRDA bills and ensure that the people of Flint receive the funds that they need. Safe drinking water is essential to every person in this country, and provisions to ensure safe drinking water should not be a partisan issue. So I urge my colleagues to join me in voting ``yes'' on this amendment.

Mr. PALLONE

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I urge support for this legislation. I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. I rise in support of H.R. 1877, the Mental Health First Aid Act of 2016. This important legislation would bolster our Nation's efforts to respond to individuals suffering from mental health disorders and crises. It would reauthorize a grant program to train individuals such as teachers, law enforcement, and veterans, who are likely to encounter people with mental illness. The training would provide tools to help those individuals detect mental illness and provide the initial response, including connecting individuals with mental illness to mental health treatment and service providers in their community. Mental illness can lead to harmful outcomes, and that includes things such as suicide, homelessness, and involvement with the criminal justice system. However, access to early intervention and treatment services can help an individual recover from their condition and lead a productive life. Despite the availability of evidence-based interventions, we know that there are long delays in individuals seeking treatment after the first onset of a mental health condition, and this legislation hopes to reverse that trend. Mental health awareness training will equip more individuals with the ability to identify the signs and symptoms of mental illness and connect people with mental health treatment and support services. This would help decrease the time from the first onset of mental illness to an individual obtaining the treatment and services that they need. I also encourage my colleagues to support this legislation; but I would like to reiterate that, just like with H.R. 2646, the Helping Families in Mental Health Crisis Act which awaits action in the Senate, this is a necessary step, rather than a solution, to improving the mental health system in this country. If we are truly serious about fixing our broken mental health system, we have to work together to expand access and make sustained investments. So again, I want to thank Representatives Matsui and Jenkins for their leadership on this issue. I urge my colleagues to support this important bipartisan bill. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. PALLONE

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I urge support for the legislation. I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Connecticut (Mr. Himes), the Democratic sponsor of the bill.

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. H.R. 3537, the Dangerous Synthetic Drug Control Act, is bipartisan legislation sponsored by Mr. Dent of Pennsylvania and also by Congressman Jim Himes of Connecticut. It is a targeted approach to addressing the latest threat from synthetic substances that is causing dangerous drug abuse across our communities, and I support its swift passage. Sadly, stories of adults and teenagers abusing synthetic substances to get high have become all too common and have resulted in individuals either harming themselves or others. These drugs are extremely unsafe and can cause convulsions, anxiety attacks, hallucinations, psychotic episodes, and, in some instances, death. The rise of synthetic drug use is an issue we have been dealing with for many years now in my home State of New Jersey. Frightening increases in overdoses and deaths throughout the State from so-called designer drugs led New Jersey to permanently ban synthetic marijuana in 2012. However, synthetic marijuana, commonly referred to as ``K2'' or ``Spice,'' is still being sold illegally in my State and others and sends many to the emergency room every week. Last year, according to data from the American Association of Poison Control Centers, New Jersey logged 142 emergency calls, the ninth-most in the Nation, for exposure to synthetic marijuana. Despite the devastating impact of these substances, they are, unfortunately, not illegal and, as a result, are too readily available. Under its current authority, the Drug Enforcement Agency, or DEA, has difficulty taking action against manufacturers of these substances. By swiftly engineering and reengineering these synthetic compounds, manufacturers have been able to avoid regulation under the Controlled Substances Act. H.R. 3537 would schedule a narrow list of 22 synthetic substances, including 11 used to create synthetic marijuana, and three derivatives of fentanyl--a synthetic opioid that is more powerful than morphine. This targeted legislation was developed with input from the DEA, the Department of Health and Human Services, the National Institute on Drug Abuse, and the Office of National Drug Control Policy to ensure that these substances with known abuse potential have no therapeutic value and, therefore, should be appropriately moved to schedule I. I believe that this legislation will enable the DEA to take needed enforcement actions against manufacturers of these dangerous substances. While the bill does not address the broader concerns that have been raised related to access to schedule I substances for research purposes, I am committed to continuing to work with my colleagues on the other side of the aisle, as well as the administration, and stakeholders to find ways we can streamline the registration process for legitimate research purposes. I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 3537. I thank, again, Congressman Himes, and I look forward to continue to work with my colleagues to reduce the availability of dangerous synthetic substances. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. PALLONE

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to congratulate the people of Armenia on their 25th anniversary of independence. I include in the Record a letter to the President of the Republic of Armenia from the leaders of the Congressional Caucus on Armenian Issues in celebration of this occasion. September 21, 2016. His Excellency Serzh Sargsyan, President of the Republic of Armenia. Dear President Sargsyan: As Members of Congress and leaders of the Congressional Caucus on Armenian Issues, we congratulate you and the people of the Republic of Armenia on 25 years of independence from the Soviet Union. On this day, 25 years ago, nearly every Armenian eligible to vote pledged to build a free and proud nation, based on the principles of democracy and a market economy. In the past quarter century, despite the ongoing blockade of Armenia by two of its four neighbors, the Republic of Armenia has continued to strengthen its democratic institutions, empower civil society, and engage in economic diversification. Armenia has joined the international community as a member of numerous international organizations including the World Bank, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, and the World Trade Organization. As a critical regional ally, Armenia is also a strong partner and supporter of U.S.-led peace-keeping missions cooperating on a number of regional and security challenges as a participant in NATO's Partnership for Peace program. The Republic of Armenia has also consistently championed the right to self-determination of its neighbors in the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, a right that Artsakh continues to fight for in its steadfast pursuit of regional security and stability despite a tenuous cease fire. The Congressional Caucus on Armenian Issues stands in solidarity with the peace-loving and resilient people of Armenia. We welcome future opportunities to work closely with the leadership of the Republic of Armenia to bolster the bilateral U.S.-Armenia relationship. We join our colleagues in Congress, along with the Armenian people and the Armenian-American community across the United States in celebrating 25 years of Armenia's independence. Please accept our best wishes and continued commitment to a strong United States-Armenia partnership. Sincerely, Frank Pallone, Jr. Robert J. Dold. Jackie Speier. David G. Valadao. Adam B. Schiff. David A. Trott.

Mr. PALLONE

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in recognition of the NJ Run for the Fallen, scheduled for September 21-25, 2016. The NJ Run for the Fallen honors fallen service members from New Jersey and their families. It is my honor to recognize this tribute and to extend my appreciation to its organizers, participants and all of our military members and their families for their service and sacrifice. While the NJ Run for the Fallen honors all fallen military men and women, it specifically remembers those from New Jersey killed in recent military conflicts. Each mile of the run represents and memorializes a service member with a Hero Marker, where family members, loved ones, veterans and other supporters will be gathered. The runners will stop for a presentation and salute of the individual's memory. The 2016 run team consists of more than 20 active duty service members from across the state and from all branches of the military. They will travel nearly 200 miles from Cape May to Holmdel over four days, ending at the New Jersey Vietnam Veterans' Memorial. Mr. Speaker, I sincerely hope that my colleagues will join me in recognizing the NJ Run for the Fallen and thanking the organizers, participants and supporters for their efforts to honor our military heroes and their families. This tribute is an important reminder of the sacrifices our service members and their families. I am truly grateful for their duty, selflessness and patriotism and thank all of our military members and veterans for their service.

Mr. PALLONE

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I strongly support this bipartisan legislation, H.R. 670, the Special Needs Trust Fairness and Medicaid Improvement Act. This legislation, which I have championed for multiple Congresses with my Republican colleague, Representative Glenn Thompson, would allow individuals with disabilities to set up special needs trusts for themselves without a court petition. I thank Representative Thompson of Pennsylvania for his continued leadership on this issue. A special needs trust is a special kind of trust that is designed to provide support for certain expenses for disabled individuals to supplement Medicaid benefits. Currently, these types of trusts generally must be established by parents, grandparents, legal guardians, or a court on behalf of the disabled individual. People can only set up a special needs trust for themselves after petitioning a court. Oftentimes, this process can take several months and can incur significant legal fees during the process. This is just not right. Individuals with disabilities can and should have the ability to set up a special needs trust for themselves, and this legislation fixes that basic inequity. This is a commonsense but very meaningful fix in the lives of those living with a disability. I would like to also note that H.R. 670 was amended in the Energy and Commerce Committee by adding an additional provision to require States to extend tobacco cessation coverage to pregnant women through the first year postpartum. This is also good policy. Tobacco cessation is absolutely critical to both saving dollars and saving lives, and particularly so for pregnant and postpartum women. When we invest in helping people to quit smoking, the benefit is not only clear to the health of our communities, but also to our economy. My own home State of New Jersey is currently piloting a project in our Medicaid program specifically aimed at cutting costs and improving birth outcomes through targeted, evidence-based efforts to help pregnant women to quit smoking. In addition, these policies are fully offset by clarifying that the Federal match for hair growth and cosmetic products is available when those products are medically necessary, which is the current policy of most States already. The remaining savings are put in a Medicaid improvement fund as a downpayment on more positive improvements to the Medicaid program in the future. So I am very proud, Mr. Speaker, that we were able to work together on these policies. This is an example of the type of work that we should do more often in the Medicaid program: working together to pass policies that remove barriers for beneficiaries, strengthen benefits, and support the long-term health of the program overall. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 670. I hope that the Senate will consider this new version so it can swiftly become law. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. PALLONE

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to congratulate Rev. David N. Harrington of Good Hope Baptist Church in Asbury Park, New Jersey on his 20th pastoral anniversary. Rev. Harrington continues to provide outstanding spiritual leadership to the greater Asbury Park community. Rev. Harrington received his Masters of Divinity Degree from New Brunswick Theological Seminary. Installed as Pastor of Good Hope Baptist Church on September 15, 1996, Rev. Harrington's background has helped him lead his congregation. Prior to his service to Good Hope Baptist Church, Rev. Harrington was an Associate Minister for three years at St. Paul Baptist Church and was also a member of the Trustee Board. A basketball player at Delaware State University, Rev. Harrington was also President of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes. In addition to his service to Good Hope Baptist Church, Rev. Harrington is an active member of his community. As a member of the pastoral staff at Jersey Shore University Medical Center and the Drug Prevention Coordinator for the Long Branch Housing Authority, Rev. Harrington continues to offer guidance and support to the greater community. Currently residing in Neptune, New Jersey, Rev. Harrington and his wife Cecelia are blessed with two children, a daughter, Ivy and a son, Seth. Rev. Harrington is a graduate of Middletown High School South and earned his undergraduate degree in Business Administration from Delaware State University. Mr. Speaker, once again, please join me in celebrating the 20th Pastoral Anniversary of Rev. David N. Harrington. His leadership, service and dedication to the church and community are truly deserving of this body's recognition.

Mr. PALLONE

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, it is my honor to commemorate the life of former New Jersey State Senator Joseph Palaia, who passed away on August 20, 2016 after a life filled with numerous professional and personal accomplishments. Senator Palaia was a dedicated public servant. An Ocean Township resident, Senator Palaia began his political career as a township councilman and mayor, first elected to the council in 1967. After 12 years of service to the Ocean Township community, Senator Palaia moved on to serve as a Freeholder in Monmouth County. In 1982 and 1989 he was elected to the New Jersey State Assembly and Senate, respectively, representing residents of Monmouth County on the state level. An advocate for gun control and improved health and educational services for children with disabilities, Senator Palaia was a prominent member of the legislative body until his retirement in 2008. A graduate of Rider University (then Rider College), Senator Palaia worked as a teacher and principal of the Wanamassa Elementary School in Ocean Township for 33 years prior to his government service. His passion for education and his commitment to the community and public service have been widely recognized through elections to the Rider College Hall of Fame, the Neptune High School Hall of Fame and the dedication of an Ocean Township park in his name. Senator Palaia is remembered by his loving family, including his daughter, daughter-in-law, grandsons, sister and many other relatives and friends. Mr. Speaker, I sincerely hope that my colleagues will join me in honoring Senator Palaia for his leadership and dedication to his community and state.

Mr. PALLONE

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, there is no disputing it, Zika represents a serious threat to global health and security. It is irresponsible and dangerous that Republicans plan to leave Washington for a 7-week recess without providing the resources to combat this threat. The Zika virus is spreading explosively throughout the Americas, with active local transmission in 31 countries and territories. More than 3,600 Americans, including more than 600 pregnant women in 45 States, D.C., and three U.S. territories, have already been diagnosed with the Zika virus, and more transmission is expected. Mr. Speaker, it is not a matter of if we will have local transmission of the Zika virus in the Continental United States, it is a question of when. Despite that risk, Republicans refuse to provide the resources to address this public health crisis. Instead, they have insisted on saddling potential funding with irrelevant and damaging partisan riders. Make no mistake about it, without swift action, we are gambling with the health of our Nation. The time is now for Congress to work in a bipartisan fashion and provide the necessary funds to protect individuals across this Nation.

Mr. PALLONE

Mr. PALLONE. Madam Speaker, when will the Republicans' war on women end? First, Republicans passed a bill to allow a woman's boss to decide whether she has access to contraceptives. Next, Republicans passed legislation to prevent a woman from choosing the medical provider that best meets her needs. Today, Republicans are bringing another bill to the House floor to limit a woman's right to make the best decision for herself and her family. This bill is not about protecting the conscience rights of healthcare entities to not provide or to participate in abortions. Providers already have those protections under current law. Instead, this bill expands and makes permanent policies that attempt to limit a woman's access to her constitutionally protected right to safe and legal abortions. This bill allows the moral beliefs of an employer's to limit a woman's access to healthcare services. A woman, not her employer, should make decisions about her health. Her healthcare choices are none of her boss's business. I urge my colleagues to stand up for women's health by opposing this harmful legislation.

Mr. PALLONE

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I want to stress that President Obama recently announced additional actions to expand access to treatment, strengthen prescription drug monitoring, enable safe disposal of unneeded drugs, and accelerate research on pain and opioid misuse and overdose. The President, I think, has made it clear that addressing this epidemic is a priority for his administration. While Federal agencies have been using their authority to take every available action they can, Congress needs to provide additional funding to make lifesaving treatment available to everyone who needs it. The President has called for $1.1 billion in new funding to help Americans who want treatment wherever they live. Every day that passes without congressional action to provide these additional resources is a missed opportunity to get treatment to those who want it, help prevent overdoses, and support communities across the country impacted by this epidemic. Recovery from opioid and other substance use disorders is possible, and many Americans are able to recover because they get the treatment and care they need. But too many still are not able to get treatment. That is why the President has called on Congress to provide the resources needed to ensure that every American with an opioid use disorder who wants treatment can get it and start on the road to recovery. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Conyers), the dean of the House and the ranking member of the Judiciary Committee.

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, as I said before, this conference report does include important and proven programs to address prevention, treatment, and recovery with regard to opioid abuse, and I did want to mention a few. There is authorization to create a grant program for eligible entities to promote the prescribing of opioid reversal drugs, naloxone, in conjunction with opiates for patients at an elevated risk of overdose. There is a program to reauthorize SAMHSA grants for the funding of residential treatment programs for pregnant and postpartum women with substance use disorders. There is a demonstration grant program to States to streamline State requirements and procedures in order to assist veterans who have completed military emergency medical technician training to meet requirements for becoming an emergency medical technician in the State. There is also a State grant program to increase the implementation of standing orders for opioid overdose reversal medication, again, naloxone. As I have said before, there are a number of very important programs here that authorize grants to States to deal with the prevention, treatment, and recovery from opioids. But, again, these programs will not be effective without some significant funding provided pursuant to those authorizations. So I want to stress, again, as Democrats, we support this bill because it does have authorization for many programs that will help with opioid addiction, but we need to hold the Republicans' feet to the fire to make sure that this funding is actually provided. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, my Republican colleagues argue that we will pass this authorization bill today, and then sometime down the line we will provide funding through the regular appropriations process. But the problem is that that response does not match the urgency of the crisis. To understand why, let's just take a quick look at the 2016 appropriations process. While the fiscal year 2016 began on October 1, 2015, the omnibus fiscal year 2016 appropriations act did not become law until December 18, 2015. If, as expected, the fiscal year 2017 process is similar, it will be at least 6 months before we can provide funding through the fiscal year 2017 appropriations process; and that is 6 months in which more people will die from potentially preventable overdose deaths and more individuals and families in need of treatment options will be unable to access them. There is also no guarantee that additional funds will be made available through the appropriations process. The fiscal austerity policies of my Republican colleagues also make this option untenable. Due to the sequestration caps demanded by the Republicans, an increase in spending for one program can only occur with the cutting of funding for another program. While the Republicans will say they introduced a Labor/HHS bill with $500 million in funding for a comprehensive State grant program for substance abuse treatment, what they don't say is that to provide that funding, we will have to agree to cut funding for other critical programs. The Republican Labor/HHS appropriations bill proposes eliminating funding for ObamaCare, title X family planning services, education programs, and employment training and development programs. Not only are these cuts objectionable, we don't have to make such choices. We have bipartisan pay-fors available to offset the direct appropriations of funding now, and we cannot afford to wait. So this is truly an urgent crisis, and we should treat it as such by providing critical funding immediately. Failure to act will unacceptably lead to more deaths, and our communities cannot afford to wait any longer. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Pelosi), our Democratic leader.

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Kind).

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. After much thought, I have decided to support the conference report on S. 524. It is not perfect and does not nearly do enough from a funding perspective, but it makes some important steps that would allow us to begin to address the opioid addiction crisis that is impacting our Nation. The American people are desperate for relief from the opioid epidemic currently devastating our country, and they are depending on this Congress to act. By now, we have all heard the stories: young people taken from their families in their prime; babies born suffering from the cruel effects of opioid withdrawal; and parents who have lost the ability to care for their families as they battle their addiction. To treat this epidemic as anything less than a national crisis would be a terrible mistake. And even though we have already lost far too many lives to overdoses, we still have an opportunity to save many more. This conference report includes many important policies that have bipartisan agreement. For example, we will now allow patients and doctors to choose to partially fill their opioids so that excess medicines are not dispensed unnecessarily. This will reduce the number of unused pills in circulation, which will reduce the risk of misuse, diversion, and overdose. The conference report also allows nurse practitioners and physician assistants to treat individuals with opioid use disorders with buprenorphine. This final report also includes important and proven programs to address prevention, treatment, and recovery; but just changing policies alone won't be enough. This legislation takes only a small step at a time when the American people need us to run. Mr. Speaker, how can we truly help the American people without giving them the resources to fight this epidemic? We cannot wait while lives continue to be destroyed by opiate addiction and while treatment options remain out of reach. Congressional Democrats, Mr. Speaker, have long advocated for more funding in this package and have even proposed bipartisan policies to offset the cost, but Republicans have stubbornly refused to commit essential funding as part of this overall bill. Time and again they have rejected efforts to make a real difference by going beyond the important policy changes in this bill and actually supporting significant funding to properly take on this growing national epidemic today. Instead, Republicans have committed to increasing funding through the appropriations process, and we will certainly make sure that they live up to the repeated promises they have made in this regard. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume to close. Again, Mr. Speaker, I will say that, after thoughtful consideration, I not only support the conference report, but I would urge my colleagues on the Democratic side to support the conference report. While I continue to believe that we cannot turn the tide on this epidemic without dedicated additional resources for States, the underlying policies included in this bill are important steps forward. As you know, Democratic conferees, along with the Democratic leadership, have worked tirelessly these past few weeks to try to include money for States to help treat our communities who are suffering. Republicans still, so far, refuse to commit the essential funding as part of this overall bill, but they have committed to increasing funding through the appropriations process, and I will continue to fight to ensure that they stand by that commitment. The American people are desperate for relief. We must answer their call and continue our efforts in Washington, and one way to do that, certainly, is to pass this conference report. I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. I just want to again point out that the effort here is not only bipartisan, but we are also working with the administration to try to address this epidemic. And one of the things that we were trying to do with the legislation, but it became unnecessary because of the President's executive action, was with regard to bup. This is a painkiller, if you will, that is used as an alternative to the addictive painkillers that cause the opiate problem. And until recently, under the law, a physician could only have up to 100 patients to whom he was administering bup, but now, in the last week or so, the President announced that that cap has been lifted to 275. Now, in the legislation, we do expand the types of providers who can treat opioid dependence using bup, but, at the same time, it was necessary, I believe, to raise that cap because there is a waiting list--a rather extensive waiting list--for people who would like to take advantage of bup. So I just wanted to say that that is one of the most important things that actually was done by the President. And it is very important for us to work together not only in terms of what we authorize, but also providing the funding for many of these programs, both what we are now authorizing pursuant to grants in this legislation, as well as what the administration is doing through agency action. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, may I inquire as to the time remaining on each side.

Mr. PALLONE

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to bring up H.R. 1217, the bipartisan expanded background checks legislation, to honor the memory of Jamar Small; Tamara, or Tammy, Wilson-Seidle; and both Cristina LoBrutto and Bryan Breen. These are Cristina and Bryan. They are four victims of gun violence from my district who never received a moment of action on the House floor.