Rob Portman

Mr. PORTMAN

Mr. PORTMAN. I ask unanimous consent that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table.

Mr. PORTMAN. Mr. President, I ask that the Chair lay before the Senate the message to accompany S. 2854. The Presiding Officer laid before the Senate the following message from the House of Representatives: Resolved, That the bill from the Senate (S. 2854) entitled ``An Act to reauthorize the Emmett Till Unsolved Civil Rights Crime Act of 2007.'', do pass with an amendment.

Mr. PORTMAN

Mr. PORTMAN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of H.R. 6302, which was received from the House.

Mr. PORTMAN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Johnson substitute amendment be agreed to; the bill, as amended, be considered read a third time and passed; the title amendment be agreed to; and the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table.

Mr. PORTMAN

Mr. PORTMAN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the bill be read a third time and passed and the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table.

Mr. PORTMAN

Mr. PORTMAN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of Calendar No. 696, S. 3346.

Mr. PORTMAN

Mr. PORTMAN. Mr. President, today I wish to talk about an issue that this Congress has focused on more in the last few months and to commend the Congress on that but also to continue to raise awareness of it and allow all of us the opportunity to figure out how we can do more--in our own way, in our own communities, in our own homes--to be able to address it. It is now to the point where we have somebody in our great country dying of an overdose every 12 minutes. One American is losing his or her life every 12 minutes. In my own State of Ohio, we have been particularly hard hit by this. We lose one Ohioan every few hours. The statistics are overwhelming. It is now the No. 1 cause of accidental death in our country. It has been the case in Ohio since 2007. But behind those statistics are faces, families, and communities. A 4-year-old boy recently came into his bedroom in Cleveland, OH, in the Old Brooklyn neighborhood, and he found his dad dead of an overdose--30 years old. That was just in the news this week. A few weeks ago, there were two men in Sandusky, OH, who were found unconscious in a parking lot. Somebody was there and recorded both their overdose and the first responders coming. The Sandusky first responders found them barely breathing and brought them back to life with this miracle drug called Narcan, or naloxone. These first responders saved their lives, as they saved 16,000 lives last year in Ohio. This year it will be an even larger number, as we find out after the year closes. But this video is not for the faint of heart. It is now out on the Internet. Some have probably seen it. It has gone viral. But it shows what these first responders and our communities are dealing with every single day. I have talked to firefighters around the State, and the Sandusky firefighters are no exception. They tell me that they have responded to more overdoses than they have fires over the past year--more overdoses than they have fires. These are firefighters who are, again, saving lives every day. When I was in Canton, OH, last week, I was told there had been twice as many overdose deaths this year already as last year. Again, the firefighters and other first responders tell me it is their No. 1 focus and concern. When I talk to county prosecutors and sheriffs around Ohio, they also tell me it is the No. 1 cause of crime in each of their counties in Ohio, whether it is a rural county, an urban county, or a suburban county. It is everywhere. It knows no ZIP Code. This problem is one that, unfortunately, has gripped our country like no other. I started off working on this issue over 20 years ago, when cocaine, marijuana, and, later, methamphetamines were an issue. Certainly, all those drugs are horrible. Our prevention efforts led to what was called the Drug Free Communities Act, which was passed to be able to help address this issue. Over 2,000 community coalitions have now been formed as a result of that. But this new wave of addiction, in my view, is worse. It is worse in terms of the number of overdoses and deaths. It is worse in terms of the impact on families, tearing them apart. It is worse than the crimes it creates, mostly with people creating more and more crime to be able to feed their habit. It is worse in terms of the ability to get people back on track, to help them with treatment and recovery. It is a very difficult addiction. The Congress, including this body, has taken action, and I appreciate that. Let me tell you why we need to take action. I talked about these two men in Sandusky, OH, who were found unconscious and had overdosed. This was something where someone video- recorded the first responders coming and saving their lives. When one of these men was revived, Michael Williams, this is what he said: I have a problem. If I could get help I would. I need it and I want it. I believe that if someone needs treatment for addiction and they are willing to get it, we ought to be able to provide it. That is why it is important that Congress be involved, that State legislatures be involved, that we be involved in our communities to ensure that when someone is ready to get that treatment, it is accessible. I have met with addicts and their families all over our State. I have probably met with several hundred addicts or recovering addicts just in the last couple years alone as we have put together this legislation and tried to work on something that is actually evidence-based and will help. So many of them tell me they are ready. One grieving father told me his daughter had been in and out of treatment centers. Finally, after several years of trying to deal with her addiction, she acknowledged that she was ready. He personally took her to a treatment center in Ohio. They told him and told her that they would love to help, but they were fully booked. They didn't have a bed available. They would hope to have one within a couple of weeks. During those 14 days, he found his daughter in her bedroom having overdosed, and she died. Those stories are heart-wrenching, yet they are stories from every one of our States. So access to treatment is important and access to longer term recovery is important so people can get back on track to lead healthy, productive lives once again. It is also really important that we do a better job on prevention and education. Ultimately, to keep people out of the funnel of addiction is the most effective way to deal with this issue. We need to redouble our efforts there and to raise awareness, among other things, of the connection between prescription drugs and heroin and these other synthetic heroins, these opioids, because four out of five heroin addicts in your State--you are representing a State here in this body-- probably started with prescription drugs and then shifted over to heroin. There is an opportunity for us to do more about that by raising that awareness, because when people learn more about that connection, they are smarter about the danger that is inherent in taking these often- narcotic painkillers that are sometimes overprescribed. To raise awareness about this issue, I have come to the floor every week we have been in session since February. This is now our 29th speech about this issue--the opportunity to talk about it, to raise awareness about it. I will say again that over the course of those 29 weeks, a lot of things have happened by raising awareness. One is, this body passed legislation called the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act, otherwise known as CARA. We passed it in this Chamber after taking it through committee after 3 years of work-- conferences, bringing people in from around the country, experts. The legislation focuses on how to come up with a better way to do prevention, education, treatment, recovery, and to help our first responders with naloxone--this Narcan miracle drug--provide training, help get the prescription drugs off the shelves, drug take-back programs. All of this resulted in CARA passing this body by a vote of 92 to 2. That never happens around here. It was overwhelming bipartisan support for legislation that is needed. This past summer, late this summer, President Obama signed that legislation into law, and it is now being implemented. I commend the administration for moving as quickly as possible. There are a couple of programs that are already up and running. We have now provided, for instance, for nurse practitioners and physicians assistants to be able to help with regard to medication-assisted treatment. That is something that was urgent in my home State of Ohio and other places, the need to have more people able to help recovering addicts get back on track. That is happening right now. That is already being implemented. Other aspects of the legislation, including some of the prevention programs and the national awareness campaign on connecting prescription drugs to heroin, are still being put into effect. Today, I again urge the administration to move as quickly as possible and for the administration-elect, the new administration, to be prepared to step in to ensure that this legislation moves quickly. I think the legislation, CARA, is probably the most important anti- drug legislation we have passed in this body in at least two decades. It is evidence-based. It will improve prevention and treatment. It is the first time ever we have put long-term recovery into any legislation, which is incredibly important for success. We talked earlier about the difficulty of getting people out of the grip of addiction and having that longer term recovery aspect. Think of recovery housing and being supported by a supportive group rather than going back to the old neighbor or going back to a family who is suffering from this issue. That longer term recovery really helps to improve the rates of success. That is in our legislation. It also begins to remove this stigma of addiction. In some respects, I think that may be the most important part of the legislation. It acknowledges that addiction is a disease, and as a disease, it needs to be treated as such. When people come forward to be able to get treatment--and probably 8 out of 10 heroin addicts are not--you obviously see much better results for the person, for the family, and for the community. For example, think about Ashley from Dayton, OH. At just 32 years old, she died of a heroin overdose recently, leaving her three small children without a mom. After Ashley died, her mom went back and looked at her diary to see what she had said during her last several weeks. She found it, she read it, and what Ashley wrote in her diary will break your heart. It details her daily struggle with addiction. It talks about the pain and the suffering. Here is one passage: I am so ashamed. . . . I am an addict. I will always be an addict. . . . I know I need help [but] I'm afraid to get it . . . because I know I'll need to go away for it. . . . I'll be away from my kids. CARA was designed to help women like Ashley. It not only helps erase the stigma of addiction and get women like her to come forward, acknowledge their illness, and get the help they need, but it allows women in recovery to bring their kids with them. You have family treatment centers and funding available for those kinds of treatment centers and for longer term recovery so we can keep families together. It authorizes $181 million in investments in opioid programs every year going forward, and it ensures that taxpayer dollars are spent more wisely and effectively by channeling them to programs that have been tested and that we know, based on evidence, actually work. Even with these new policies in place under CARA, we are going to have to fight every year for the funding as part of the appropriations process, and we are doing that today. In the most recent continuing resolution, which funds the government until tonight, we were able to get $37 million in short-term funding to be sure CARA was fully funded during that 4-month period of time. We will soon be voting on the next 4 months or so of a continuing resolution, and once again, we have fought the good fight on both sides of the aisle. We have asked the Appropriations Committee to include the funding for CARA. We have been successful in doing that. There is full funding in the continuing resolution that will be voted on shortly that provides for the implementation of this legislation. That is very important because if that funding had not been provided for this short term, it would have been difficult to get the programs up and going on prevention, treatment, recovery, and helping first responders with regard to Narcan training and supply. That is important. If we fully fund it and we support getting more people into treatment, we will save lives, there is no question about it. If we fully fund the prevention, we will save lives. In addition to that funding, under the 21st Century Cures Act, which was just passed by the House and Senate over the past few days, there is additional funding, and it is immediate funding that goes to the States. It allows the States to use their own programs that they have through block grants to help address this crisis we face. I strongly support that. I think this epidemic is such that we need to do both-- have the longer term, evidence-based programs in place year after year for the future, but also immediately give our States an infusion of funds to be able to help with their existing programs. I believe that legislation is critical to my home State of Ohio, and I know how it is going to be used; it will be used well. Our Department of Mental Health & Addiction Services needs it. That legislation was an authorization in the 21st Century Cures Act. It was 2 years of funding--$500 million next year, $500 million the next year--to fund dealing with this crisis immediately. That funding is now shifted into the continuing resolution. So for this year, under this appropriations bill we are about to vote on, we now have that additional funding of $500 million. So we had to do the authorization and then the appropriation, and that is part of the CR. That is something people should think about as they look at this continuing resolution. We know this funding will help because we know prevention keeps people out of this funnel of addiction the most effective way, and the treatment can work. I have met so many people across Ohio who have taken advantage of treatment, of a supportive environment that comes with recovery programs, and have been successful. There are so many stories of hope. One is the story of Rachel Motil from Columbus, OH. As a teenager, Rachel abused alcohol. She then turned to pills, and then once the pills were too expensive--as we said, all too common--she switched to heroin. She stole from her family, even selling her mother's arthritis medication. She stole jewelry from her boyfriend's parents. She wrote herself checks from her mom's checkbook. For those who are watching and listening who have members of their family who are suffering from this illness, you know what I am talking about. She received help, finally. Her help came from Netcare crisis services initially--detoxing and getting into treatment--and then Maryhaven Treatment Center. I visited Maryhaven in October. I had a chance to meet with some of the recovering addicts who were there and talk to them about what they had been through. Rachel is an example of a success story. She is now 2 years sober and studying finance at Columbus State Community College. She is a success. If we fully fund CARA and if we get this legislation in place with regard to these Cures appropriations, we will see more success stories like that. We will save lives across our country. For all those who are suffering from the disease of addiction--like Ashley from Dayton, Michael from Sandusky, or Rachel from Northland--let's do the right thing. Let's fight for them. Let's implement CARA quickly. Let's build on this commonsense law. Let's support additional funding now so we can help as many Americans as possible. By doing so, I believe we can begin to turn the tide on this addiction and not only save lives but help some of our constituents lead more productive and full lives. I yield back my time.

Mr. PORTMAN

Mr. PORTMAN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, and the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate.

Mr. PORTMAN. Mr. President, I appreciate the fact that the Senate has just adopted a resolution honoring John Glenn. In fact, if you look at this resolution, at the end of it, it indicates that the adjournment today will be an adjournment in further respect to the memory of the late John Glenn. I appreciate the fact that the Senate has done that as well. I spoke on the floor yesterday regarding my friend John Glenn, and my colleague Sherrod Brown and I have introduced this resolution. Senator Brown also spoke with regard to John Glenn's incredible life history. This is a true icon whom we have lost, sadly, this week at the age of 95. He was a true hero in so many respects. Long before he was an astronaut, he was a hero as a marine aviator. He actually flew 59 combat missions in World War II. He also flew combat missions in the Korean war and was highly decorated. After that, he was a test pilot. In fact, he broke the transcontinental speed record as a test pilot before becoming an astronaut. As an astronaut, we all know the story of Friendship 7, a capsule about the size of two or three of these desks. You can see it at the Air and Space Museum. He somehow was able to get inside of this capsule and orbit the Earth at a time when the United States was in a space race with the Soviet Union, and his splashing down in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of the Caribbean was considered to be a major change in terms of the U.S. positioning on space and our ability to show that yes, U.S. technology and innovation could work. He then came to the U.S. Congress to speak to a joint session of Congress. Imagine that. At age 40, you have an astronaut speaking to a joint session--something normally reserved for heads of state. He then was successful in business and decided that he actually would want to try his hand in politics. After his military service, he decided to try public service and of course became a Senator from the State of Ohio. I had the honor, and I am humbled, to be in the seat he once held. A couple of weeks ago, I called Senator Glenn to ask him to walk down this aisle with me on January 3 of next year in just a few weeks while I was being sworn in for the second time in his seat. I will say he was not just reelected, he was reelected with resounding numbers. At the end of the day, he ended up being the longest serving U.S. Senator ever in the history of our State. After this amazing career in the military, as an astronaut, and then serving in the Senate, he ended up being the longest representative ever from the Buckeye State. What an amazing guy. After he left, he went to the Ohio State University and asked if they would like to start a leadership institute to encourage public service called the Glenn Institute, and it later became the Glenn School. I actually taught there. Before running for the U.S. Senate, I taught four courses there; I co-taught with a wonderful professor there at the Glenn School. I also joined the board of advisors at John Glenn's request, and I am still on that board. In fact, we had a meeting in October, only about 6 weeks ago, where John Glenn presided. He chaired the meeting, as he always does. He was in good humor. He was energetic. He was energized about a new project--a leadership institute for young legislators to help encourage even more people to not just get into public service but to gain the skills to be better public servants. That is what really excited him. I had the privilege of getting to know him through the work we did also in the U.S. Senate and in the House of Representatives. I was in the House, he was in the Senate. One of the passions he had was to ensure that we had good government in this country, and that included not having the Federal Government send unfunded mandates down to the State and local governments. So I was the House author on the Republican side, he was the Senate author on the Democratic side, and that legislation was passed to curb unfunded mandates and went to the desk of President Clinton for signature. I got to be in the Rose Garden with Senator Glenn for that signing ceremony. What an honor to be with him. He was a guy who was willing to take on tasks like that, even when, perhaps, it wasn't as popular in his party as it was in ours. So I stand here today as someone who has benefited from the model of service that he has shown our country. I will say, too, that my wife Jane and I benefited from the model Annie Glenn and John Glenn have shown. I believe they were married for 76 years, and they knew each other when they were children. Never was Annie Glenn far from his side--an incredible woman in her own right, a brave and courageous woman who overcame some obstacles in her life that became very public. Her stuttering, and her ability to get over that disability, gave hope to so many people. Young people particularly all over the country continue to look to Annie Glenn as a great hero. But Annie Glen was not just at his side; they were partners in everything, and she was the indispensable partner. Our condolences today from the entire U.S. Senate to Annie Glenn, to the Glenn family, whom he loved so dearly, and to our State of Ohio, which has lost a true icon, a true American hero. Tom Wolfe wrote a book called ``The Right Stuff.'' John Glenn was one of those Friendship astronauts who were part of the right stuff. Today, as we adjourn, we pay tribute to John Glenn, who had the right stuff and who showed us how someone, as a public servant, can make a difference and encourage others to do the same.

Mr. PORTMAN

Mr. PORTMAN. Mr. President, we have our work cut out for us this morning. I start by asking unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the consideration of Calendar No. 710, S. Con. Res. 57.

Mr. PORTMAN

Mr. PORTMAN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of Calendar No. 436, H.R. 710.

Mr. PORTMAN

Mr. PORTMAN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of Calendar No. 718, S. 2852.

Mr. PORTMAN

Mr. PORTMAN. Mr. President, I ask that the Chair lay before the Senate the message from the House to accompany S. 1635. The Presiding Officer laid before the Senate the following message from the House of Representatives: Resolved, That the bill from the Senate (S. 1635) entitled ``An Act to authorize the Department of State for fiscal year 2016, and for other purposes.'', do pass with an amendment.

Mr. PORTMAN. Mr. President, I move to concur in the House amendment, and I ask unanimous consent that the motion be agreed to and the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table.

Mr. PORTMAN

Mr. PORTMAN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of H.R. 4680, which was received from the House.

Mr. PORTMAN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the bill be considered read a third time and passed and the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table.

Mr. PORTMAN

Mr. PORTMAN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the bill be considered read a third time and passed and the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table.

Mr. PORTMAN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of H.R. 875, which was received from the House.

Mr. PORTMAN

Mr. PORTMAN. Mr. President, if there is no further business to come before the Senate, I ask unanimous consent that it stand adjourned under the provisions of S. Res. 640, as a further mark of respect to the late John Glenn, former Senator from the State of Ohio.

Mr. PORTMAN

Mr. PORTMAN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of Calendar No. 695, S. 3084.

Mr. PORTMAN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the committee-reported substitute amendment be withdrawn, the Gardner substitute amendment be agreed to, the bill, as amended, be considered read a third time and passed, and the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table.

Mr. PORTMAN

Mr. PORTMAN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the resolution be agreed to and the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate.

Mr. PORTMAN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the consideration of S. Res. 642, submitted earlier today.

Mr. PORTMAN

Mr. PORTMAN. I ask unanimous consent that the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, and the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate.

Mr. PORTMAN

Mr. PORTMAN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the committee-reported amendment be withdrawn; that the Barrasso substitute amendment be agreed to; that the bill, as amended, be read a third time and passed; and that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table.