Frank Pallone

Mr. PALLONE

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, the chairman of our committee knows I have great respect for him, but the bottom line is that this bill does not consider individual circumstances. It is not just people that are selling drugs. Look, I totally agree that if someone is selling fentanyl, it is a totally different situation from someone who is arrested for possessing it. The fact of the matter is this bill covers both those who possess it, using it for themselves, and those who are selling it--maybe those who have a huge ring of selling it. My point is that when there are mandatory minimums, all those people come under the same rubric. The legislation, because it now makes permanent fentanyl on the schedule I, the mandatory minimums apply, and the harsh penalties do not consider individual circumstances. I don't want to keep repeating, but I will, about how the legislation has no resources for prevention or treatment and just simply locks people up. The point is that there are going to be families and communities, because of the minimum mandatory sentencing and the inability of the judge to look at the individual circumstances, that we are going to repeat the same mistakes that were made for many years responding to other drugs. Right now we know that people of color have been disproportionately incarcerated and sentenced to mandatory minimum sentences. The trend of racial disparity also can be seen in prosecutions for offenses involving fentanyl and fentanyl analogues. The Sentencing Commission data from fiscal years 2021 to 2023 provides strong evidence that these prosecutions disproportionately target people of color. I would like to get beyond the point here when we debate these bills of saying that mandatory sentencing is a good thing, regardless of whether they are charged with possession or selling or how much they are selling, but that is not what this bill does. They get locked up. There are no individual circumstances considered. We know the consequences of that for people in many cases who, in my opinion, if I was the judge, would not impose these harsh mandatory penalties. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

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

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I listened to what the chairman of our Health Subcommittee said, and I am not arguing with him that we have to look at the fentanyl crisis in many ways, particularly at the border, and prevent it from coming into the country from China and other places that flood this country with it. Yet, my point is that what we are hearing from the Trump administration and from the Secretary of HHS, Robert Kennedy, Jr., is that we are going to defund substance use disorder programs, mental health programs, and treatment. The fact of the matter is that about 58 percent of the people in prison right now have a substance use disorder. People with these disorders have challenges in getting appropriate treatment, and incarceration often exacerbates their symptoms. By having these mandatory penalties and putting more people in prison, who are, in many cases, only there because of mandatory sentences for possession of fentanyl and analogues, it only exacerbates their condition. It leads to individuals staying incarcerated longer, and they don't get treatment. In the congressional justification for the Trump administration for a healthy America, the HHS agency proposes to cut various substance use and mental health programs that are helping State and local health departments combat the opioid crisis. For fiscal year 2026, the Department of Health and Human Services proposes to zero out State opioid response grants, the Community Mental Health Services Block Grant, first responder training, youth prevention and recovery programs, and many, many more. I talked about this recently. The bottom line is that if you zero out all of these programs--I think it is over $1 billion that has already been frozen--you are going to have no opportunity locally to actually help people with treatment and education. All you are going to do now is just throw them in prison, which only exacerbates the problem. In the President's budget, they propose to cut SAMHSA programs that assist with harm reduction strategies to help those in need, as well as programs to help prevent Americans from using controlled substances. The President's budget also calls for reducing opioid overdose prevention and surveillance by $29 million. I think that every dollar that is cut for prevention, treatment, and education is a life that is left unprotected. Terminating these critical programs and offices just puts millions of lives battling substance abuse in jeopardy. Mr. Speaker, I wish my colleagues would spend time on these issues of protecting public health and coming up with solutions instead of retreading a bill that prioritizes this criminal justice approach, which I think doesn't work. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

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

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Colorado (Mr. Neguse), who is our assistant minority leader.

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, we had this bill in the House back in February, and then it went to the Senate. Essentially, what came back today for final approval or final passage is the same bill. As was mentioned by my Republican colleagues, if it passes today, it goes straight to the President's desk. At the time in February, when we were discussing this bill, I had pointed out that President Trump had just pushed a scheme, really, straight out of Project 2025 to choke off virtually all Federal funding, including halting over $8.6 billion in grant funding for the Federal programs to combat the opioid crisis. At the time, congressional Republicans just stood by silently as it happened. Trump halted over $6.5 billion in funding for the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, SAMHSA, which supports treatment programs and prevention efforts. He also halted nearly $1.5 billion in funding for the National Institutes of Health drug abuse and addiction research programs, which conduct and support research on substance abuse and addiction, basically to better understand the causes of addiction and identify treatments and interventions that reduce overdoses. Trump also halted all federally funded programs that provide critical opioid-related services, including federally qualified health centers, which serve a high proportion of patients disproportionately impacted by the opioid crisis. The Department of Health and Human Services also eliminated the workforce training programs, including the Integrated Substance Use Disorder Training Program, which trains professionals to provide opioid use disorder prevention, treatment, and recovery services. Mr. Speaker, we went to court over a lot of these things, and many of them were overturned. Yet, I don't want anyone to think that the President is giving up. He is going to continue his efforts to illegally cut these programs, and I mentioned some of them before. Again, House Republicans are doing nothing to halt any of this. In addition to that, I have to say that the big, ugly bill passed a couple of weeks ago by the Republicans, I think, altogether, between Medicaid, the ACA, and Medicare, because of sequestration, cuts, I don't know, I would say $1.7 trillion or so. Understand that Medicaid is the single largest payer for behavioral health services in the United States and covers nearly 40 percent of all individuals with opioid use disorder. Medicaid covers a full array of services and support for people with behavioral health needs, including services and supports that typically are not covered by other health programs. This is an assault on every effort for prevention and treatment of opioid disorders, whether it is cutting Medicaid, eliminating SAMHSA's programs, or cutting the money that goes back to States and towns to help people with treatment. Mr. Speaker, again, this bill is a distraction because it gives the impression that if you lock somebody up with a mandatory penalty, even if it is just for possession, and throw away the key, that is going to solve your problem. It is not. Everything that the President is doing and the Republicans are doing to support him completely eliminates or significantly cuts back on the treatment and the education that are going to be much more important in terms of trying to save people's lives. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time. Mr. Speaker, as I mentioned before, the bill before us today is the Senate companion to H.R. 27, which we voted on here in the House on February 6 of this year. The two bills are identical, other than a couple of minor punctuation differences. This bill would go to the President's desk, and he said he would sign it. However, since that vote in February here in the House, the Trump administration has seriously threatened our Nation's ability to confront the ongoing opioid overdose crisis by attempting to dismantle the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, SAMHSA, as I mentioned, firing hundreds of workers, including senior key officials, and rescinding over $1 billion from State and local behavioral health programs. Mr. Speaker, I continue to oppose this bill because it is a permanent extension of fentanyl-related substances as schedule I drugs instead of the temporary one that we agreed on for 2 years in the end of the year 2024 appropriations package. The temporary option would have left the door open for an off-ramp to substances found to have potential medical applications. This bill would also exacerbate inequities in our criminal justice system because drugs placed on schedule I include mandatory minimum sentencing. Furthermore, S. 331 also does not provide additional resources, as I have mentioned, for prevention, treatment, recovery, or harm reduction. For all these reasons, Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to vote ``no'' on the legislation, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mr. PALLONE

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Chair, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Chair, I rise in opposition to H.R. 2483, legislation that reauthorizes the SUPPORT for Patients and Communities Act. Last Congress, this bill passed with strong bipartisan support right here on the House floor under suspension of the rules. Today it is coming up under a rule because a lot has changed since last year. There is a new administration, and the Trump administration is attacking mental health and substance use response efforts on every front. Republicans want to move forward with this legislation at the same time that they are silently watching as the Trump administration dismantles SAMHSA, the very agency that is responsible for carrying out the programs that the SUPPORT for Patients and Communities Act reauthorizes. Thanks to our efforts in recent years, significant improvements have been made in combating the opioid overdose epidemic that has devastated families in every community throughout our Nation, but those improvements are now threatened as the Trump administration guts the very programs and funding that have helped us turn the corner. In the past few months, the Trump administration has completely eroded the mental health and substance use treatment landscape as we know it. It has fired hundreds of workers at SAMHSA, including key senior officials, such as the director of the center focused on mental health. The department continues to refuse to respond to my repeated requests about how many SAMHSA employees have been terminated and how many additional firings are planned. The Trump administration has eliminated entire offices that are responsible for collecting data on mental health and substance use and helping people locate treatment services. These actions will only make it harder for people who are seeking treatment to find care. The Trump administration is also eliminating SAMHSA altogether without congressional reauthorization. It will be combined with other agencies that the Trump administration doesn't care about under the banner of a larger make America healthy again office. These critical programs to treat mental health and substance abuse will be deprioritized or eliminated in favor of Secretary Kennedy's pet projects, like destroying Americans' access to vaccines. Congress has received zero--zero--information from the administration about how this new office will work and how the work of SAMHSA to address the mental health and substance use treatments needs of our communities will be prioritized. The Trump administration is also rescinding more than $1 billion in essential funding that States rely on through block grants. It has also proposed eliminating dozens of different mental health and substance use programs, including eight programs reauthorized by the SUPPORT for Patients and Communities Reauthorization Act of 2025. This includes programs to train first responders who respond to opioid overdose calls, provide residential treatment to pregnant and postpartum women, and support people on long-term recovery. If Republicans really support these programs, my colleagues should be opposing the President's budget, which lays out plans to cut the very programs Republican Members claim to care about. In fact, the Trump administration budget goes further and proposes eliminating nearly all of the SUPPORT for Patients and Communities Reauthorization Act of 2025 programs as my colleagues on the other side of the aisle propose to eliminate all of the so-called programs of regional and national significance. This is the umbrella under which nearly all of the SUPPORT for Patients and Communities Reauthorization Act of 2025 programs reside. My colleagues have also proposed gutting the mental health block grant, the substance abuse block grant, the State opioid response grants, and consolidating them into one program with a deep funding cut. I will be clear, Mr. Chair. This is not a budget proposal in the traditional sense. This is a roadmap for what the Trump administration plans to do unless the Federal courts prevent them from proceeding. Their expansive and limitless view of the President's authority knows no bounds. If DOGE wants to cut entire agencies, eliminate programs, and impound funds, they will do it regardless of the law. The Trump administration is making clear that funding treatment and prevention for mental health and substance abuse issues is not a priority. Unfortunately, Republican majorities of both the House and the Senate silently sit by and watch all of the destruction and illegal actions. House Republicans have not conducted any oversight of this administration. Let us not forget also, Mr. Chair, that last month, House Republicans passed the biggest cut to Medicaid in history as part of their scheme to fund giant tax breaks for billionaires. As the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office just announced this morning, the GOP tax scam now cuts 16 million people, up from 13.5 million people, from their healthcare, all to give tax breaks to their billionaire friends. Medicaid covers 40 percent of all Americans with opioid use disorder. Gutting the program will leave millions of Americans without access to lifesaving care. We can't just go back to business as usual after that devastation was supported and passed by my Republican colleagues. All of these actions completely undermine the efforts we have made to address substance use disorders in communities across the country. They will have disastrous and deadly consequences on the millions of Americans impacted by substance use disorder. Yet, House Republicans are here on the floor today pretending that we are conducting business as usual here in Washington. If that were the case, I would join them in supporting the legislation, just as I did last Congress. Yet, this administration is not conducting business as usual, and Republicans are doing absolutely nothing to fight back. Therefore, Mr. Chair, I can't support this bill while our mental health and substance use treatment infrastructure is being gutted by the Trump administration. There needs to be a functioning agency to implement the programs in this bill. There needs to be actual funding for the agency to carry out these programs. Neither will exist under what Trump has done or is proposing. If Republicans were really interested in continuing to combat the opioid overdose crisis, they would finally join us in opposing the illegal actions of the Trump administration rather than hiding behind this legislation today. Mr. Chair, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Chairman, I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Tonko), the ranking member of the Environment Subcommittee.

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Chair, I yield an additional 1 minute to the gentleman from New York.

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Chairman, I have a great deal of respect for the chairman of the Health Subcommittee, but he goes on to talk about how the Republicans are supporting these programs, and it is simply not true. Mr. Chair, I have in front of me the ``Fiscal Year 2026 Budget in Brief'' that came from the Department of Health and Human Services. On page 35 to 36 of the document, it says: ``The budget eliminates the following programs to align investments with the administration's priorities. . . . '' It lists the following programs. First responder training--there are so many. I don't want to read them all. The chairman mentions helping first responders. That first responder training program is eliminated under the budget, right? A pregnant and postpartum women program; building communities of recovery; treatment, recovery, and workforce support; comprehensive opioid recovery centers; and youth prevention and recovery initiatives are all eliminated. I understand that the President is trying to prevent fentanyl from coming in from across the border. I, obviously, support that. The chairman from Georgia said we still need treatment and education. Of course, we do, but that is not what is going on here. The budget eliminates these programs, so my Republican colleagues can't just come here on the floor and say that they support all this and then authorize the very programs that are being eliminated, so there is no funding and no staff to carry them out. It is not fair. They are giving the impression to the public that they are doing something that they are not. Mr. Chair, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Chair, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from Oregon (Ms. Dexter).

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Chair, I yield 1 minute to the ranking member of the Agriculture Committee, the gentlewoman from Minnesota (Ms. Craig).

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Chair, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Chair, I want to talk about not only the SUPPORT for Patients and Communities Reauthorization Act of 2025 but the ineffectiveness of what is going on today with this reauthorized bill, but also the Medicaid cuts, which also affect people who are impacted by behavioral or mental health problems. I put up the budget before. This is the President's budget. This is the Health and Human Services Department's budget. Again, I don't understand how my Republican colleagues can come here and say they are reauthorizing this program and ask what we are complaining about. The programs that I had mentioned that are cut in the President's budget, I am not going to go through them again, but I mentioned the first responder training, the comprehensive opioid recovery centers, and the youth prevention and recovery initiatives. All these programs are reauthorized by the bill before us today, but in the budget, the President eliminates the programs--no funding, no staff, no nothing. How do they say that they are doing anything when the Trump administration is publicly laying out its plans to eliminate the very programs that they are reauthorizing? My colleagues on the other side are applauding their efforts to pass this bill even though it is meaningless. How do they support a bill when the programs it reauthorizes are set to be eliminated by the President of the United States and their own party? The same thing is true with regard to the Medicaid cuts. I hear my colleague, who I respect, the chairman of our Energy and Commerce Committee, keep saying that the Medicaid cuts in the budget bill that they passed a couple of weeks ago affect only the able-bodied, that it doesn't affect people with substance use disorders or those struggling with mental illness because they are exempt from the work requirements or the paperwork, if you will, that is in this bill, which CBO says is going to result in 16 million people losing their health insurance. This morning, CBO revised their analysis of the Republican budget bill. They had said it was 13.5 million, but now, because of the changes before the bill went from the Energy and Commerce Committee to the floor, it is now 16 million people who will lose their health insurance, primarily because of all this red tape. Taking health coverage from 16 million Americans is entirely unacceptable, and there is no amount of rationalizing that Republicans can do to make it any better. They said they have exemptions from this paperwork. Those exemptions have never worked. We have the example from the State of Georgia, which admitted that there were 300,000 to 400,000 people under expanded Medicaid that were eligible for Medicaid under the State program, but only 4,500 of those 300,000 to 400,000 qualified because of the paperwork. It doesn't matter what you say. Eliminating these people is simply unacceptable, and it just means they are going to go without health insurance. Then the costs are going to go up for everybody else because now the hospitals and the nursing homes that take them are not going to get paid and then all your private insurance and other insurance bills are going to go up. Your premiums are going to go up. Your deductibles are going to go up. Mr. Chair, I will use, if I can, two examples from organizations that represent people with disabilities and know that the Republicans are taking away their health coverage, regardless of what they say about the red tape. This is from a coalition of 425 disability and aging organizations. They say: We strongly oppose Medicaid cuts in any form. Whether it is done by imposing work requirements, repealing the eligibility and enrollment rule, or further eliminating the way States fund their share of Medicaid costs, these proposals all lead to the same result: People with disabilities and older adults will lose care and support that keep them healthy and independent. That is the bottom line. No rationalizing away what is happening here. This is from the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. I could give you so many examples. I don't want to use up all the time. The Cystic Fibrosis Foundation says: While people with chronic illnesses like cystic fibrosis may be exempt from work requirements, we know exemptions for people with disabilities and caregivers do not work. Exemptions may not happen automatically and can require complex paperwork and regular recertification even for those with chronic lifelong conditions. The bottom line is, it doesn't matter what you say. It doesn't matter how you do it; 16 million Americans are going to lose their health insurance under this legislation, and no amount of rationalizing on your part is going to change that. Mr. Chair, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Chair, I yield myself 1 minute. Mr. Chair, I appreciate what the gentleman from California is saying. The bottom line is, if these programs are successful under the SUPPORT for Patients and Communities Act, and I agree they have been, the numbers in terms of people dying, people who are severely impacted by opioid use and overdoses, clearly they have gone down because of the SUPPORT for Patients and Communities Act programs, but that is the very reason why the Republicans should speak out against the administration that is rescinding a billion dollars in grants that are going for these treatment centers. It is why they should speak out against the budget on the part of President Trump that I have cited several times today that eliminates these programs. It is why they should speak out against these cuts in the staff for these programs. It is the very fact that the programs have been successful is why the administration should prioritize the programs. The Republican leadership on our committee and in the House should say: What you are proposing, what you are doing, President Trump, is not acceptable because it is going to reverse this. It is going to reverse the trend where opioid use and overdose goes down. It is going to reverse it if we don't have these programs. That is why they are successful. To just say we are going to reauthorize the SUPPORT for Patients and Communities Act, which is meaningless because they are eliminating the programs, that is not the answer. The answer is for all of you to get up, go down to the White House, join us and say: What you are doing, President Trump, is not acceptable. It is going to reverse the progress that we have made. Mr. Chair, I reserve the balance of my time.

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

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Chair, may I inquire as to the time remaining.

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Chair, I yield myself the balance of my time. Mr. Chair, I want everyone to understand my opposition to this bill. While the SUPPORT for Patients and Communities Act was first passed in 2018 with bipartisan support, the idea was to address the opioid crisis by authorizing programs that aimed to prevent substance use disorder and increase access to treatment and recovery, but the Trump administration has unlawfully gutted the agency responsible for carrying out these programs that the SUPPORT for Patients and Communities Reauthorization Act of 2025 reauthorizes. Congressional Republicans are trying to have it both ways. You really can't. They are trying to have it both ways. They are saying we are going to reauthorize the SUPPORT for Patients and Communities Act, but then they silently stand by as the Trump administration dismantles the very program under SAMHSA or the very agency, SAMHSA, that actually implements the SUPPORT for Patients and Communities Reauthorization Act of 2025. The Trump administration is moving forward with its unauthorized and illegal plans to eliminate SAMHSA altogether and combine mental health and substance use programs under this unrelated agency called the new Administration for a Healthy America. Believe me, Secretary Kennedy has not explained in any way what this new administration will do or how it will continue any of the programs under SAMHSA. What has the administration done? First, they fired hundreds of workers at SAMHSA, including key senior officials such as the directors of centers focused on mental health and substance use treatment. They have eliminated entire offices authorized by this statute, including the National Mental Health and Substance Use Policy Lab and the Center for Behavioral Health Statistics and Quality, which has been opposed by dozens of leading mental health and substance use groups that don't want these agencies eliminated because they actually play a major role in helping people with mental and behavioral health problems. The Trump administration has rescinded over a billion dollars from State and local behavioral health programs under mental health and substance use block grants. This is the money that goes back to the States, the counties, and the towns to open up the centers, particularly for young people. That is where this all happens. It happens at the local level where people are treated, where the education programs take place. That billion dollars is gone. I am sure it is in the courts and the courts may say you can't do it, hopefully, but they have rescinded it. Lastly, the Trump administration has disregarded the will of Congress by preparing to eliminate 40 different mental health and substance use programs. I am not going to go through them again. I listed them. They are all in the President's budget. It is terrible. It is things like the centers for youth, the centers for first responders, who are the ones who go and see people that overdose and try to make sure they don't die. Again, all of this is happening, and the House Republicans say: Oh, don't worry about that because we are going to reauthorize the SUPPORT for Patients and Communities Act, and this is 2 weeks after the biggest cut to Medicaid in history with their GOP tax scam. My only point is very simple, Mr. Chair, and that is this: The Energy and Commerce Committee is an authorizing committee. Sure, you can get up here and say we are going to authorize this program because we care about all the programs under the SUPPORT for Patients and Communities Reauthorization Act of 2025, but it is meaningless. It makes no sense for us to authorize or reauthorize a program, whether it is substance use abuse or whatever it is, and give the impression to the public that somehow we are accomplishing something by authorizing or reauthorizing a program where there is going to be no agency to carry it out, no money, no staff. I just think it is just not fair. It is trying to give the impression that you are doing something when, in fact, you are not. I feel obligated to expose that and to say, no, we are not going to vote for this hollow bill that actually does nothing because it gives the impression that we are doing something that we are not. Mr. Chair, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Chair, I claim the time in opposition.

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Chair, I have no statement to make with regard to the legislation. I will yield back after the gentleman closes. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Chair, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Chair, I claim the time in opposition.

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Chair, I have no statement to make at this time. I will yield back after the gentlewoman closes. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Chair, I yield back the balance of my time.