GOP chairman slams White House for ‘misleading’ attacks over opioids

A top GOP chairman is lashing out at the White House for what he calls a “misleading PR campaign” that accuses Republicans of neglecting the nation’s opioid crisis.

{mosads}Hal Rogers (R-Ky.), head of the powerful House Appropriations Committee, defended the GOP’s efforts at a Thursday hearing on a health spending bill that would devote an unprecedented $581 million to fighting opioid addiction.

GOP leaders in the House and Senate are days away from sending their much-touted opioid bill to the president’s desk. That measure, however, has drawn criticism from Democrats for its lack of new funding.

“I sincerely appreciate the time the president has dedicated to this issue in recent months. But for those of us who have been working on this issue for decades … we understand that adding response funding to our already out-of-control mandatory ledger is neither realistic nor responsible,” Rogers said.

“This committee and Congress at large are charged with ensuring that the initiatives we support are funded at sustainable levels,” he said.

The bill advanced Thursday by the appropriations health panel would provide $581 million to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration — up from $56 million the previous year. The proposed funding is $490 million above President Obama’s request.

It would also set aside $500 million for the first-ever state grant program to address the national epidemic, Rogers said.

The bill is headed to a full markup by the House Appropriations Committee on Thursday.

He added that last year’s spending bill included more than $8.1 billion in “enforcing, prevention, treatment, recovery and research” efforts — “despite the misleading PR campaign by the administration, which would have the American public believe that Congress has been sitting on its hands.”

Slamming the GOP for inaction, Democrats in Congress are refusing to sign off on the opioid bill that recently came out of a conference committee.

“What, are they too busy giving tax cuts to their wealthy friends and special interests that they cannot invest the money that is necessary to make this opioid legislation work?” House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) asked Thursday. 

White House spokesman Josh Earnest said Wednesday, “Republicans don’t take this seriously, and I don’t understand why.”  

Rogers, whose state has been ravaged by addiction to heroin and prescription painkillers, has long been one of the strongest national advocates for fighting overdoses.

In 2003, Rogers was so alarmed by a story about opioid-related deaths in his local newspaper that he started asking around to see if the reporter made a mistake. When he learned it was true, he launched a group that is now a leading voice on the issue: Unlawful Narcotics Investigations, Treatment and Education, nicknamed Operation UNITE.