Durbin: Senate Dems will back opioid bill

by TheHill.com - 07/12/16 3:33 PM ET

Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) on Tuesday said Democrats would support a deal combating the opioid epidemic and send the legislation to President Obama’s desk ahead of Congress’s seven-week recess.

Asked whether the caucus would support the House-passed measure, the Senate’s No. 2 Democrat told reporters, “yes, [but] making the point that it’s unfunded.”

{mosads}Last week, the House overwhelmingly passed the agreement in a 407-5 vote, though Democrats refused to sign off on the conference report.

But both Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and the White House have held off from saying they would oppose the legislation over the funding fight.

Reid on Tuesday called the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act conference report a “start” but also a “missed opportunity.”

“The reason for that is the Republicans refuse to allocate money for this legislation,” he said from the Senate floor. “In conference, Republicans again rejected our efforts to insert funding into the report. Authorizing legislation is a start, but without resources, it’s very, very meaningless.”

Republicans rejected two amendments during the conference that would have added $920 million to the drug prevention legislation.

The Senate is expected to vote on the conference report as early as Wednesday, when Republicans will need support from at least six Democrats to move forward with the legislation.

Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), noting that the Senate had overwhelmingly passed similar legislation, urged Democrats to support the opioid agreement.

“There’s no reason every senator shouldn’t support it now,” he said. “The sooner we send this bill to the president’s desk, the sooner we can help our communities begin to heal from the prescription opioid and heroin crisis.”