WASHINGTON, D.C. – After the Senate today passed a much-needed measure to combat the spread of the Zika virus, U.S. Senator Angus King (I-Maine) called on his colleagues to fund similar efforts against another pressing public health and safety crisis: America’s heroin and opioid epidemic. Senator King was joined on the Senate floor this evening by Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), as the two continued to advocate for their legislation that would dedicate $600 million in emergency funding to this critical fight against addiction.

               “We have just passed a bill to deal with the funding of an incipient epidemic, [the Zika Virus], an epidemic that has serious ramifications for our society and for our country. And it's right that we did that,” said Senator King in his remarks on the Senate floor. “I rise today, however, to point out the fact that we are in the midst not of an incipient epidemic, but a real epidemic that since lunch time today has killed 15 people in this country. Fifteen people have lost their lives since we've been discussing these matters in the middle of the day today. The epidemic I refer to, of course, is heroin and opiate drug abuse and addiction. This is a crisis that is upon us right now. A month or so ago we passed with great fanfare the comprehensive addiction bill and it was the right thing to do, it was a good bill, but it had no funding. Passing a bill like that with no funding is like sending the fire department to a fire with no water. We cannot deal with this problem until we have the capacity to provide treatment to the people who need it.”

While Senator King supported the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act (CARA) when it passed the Senate in March, he also criticized the Senate for rejecting an amendment that would have provided $600 million in emergency funding to support the immediate implementation of the legislation when signed into law – calling it a “missed opportunity.” Without the funding, the bill merely authorized spending in the fight against addiction; it did not actually appropriate funding towards the effort. As the Senate considers several funding bills, Senator King and Shaheen continue to push to add that emergency funding in the appropriations process.

In January, Senator King joined with Senator Shaheen in York to announce his support for the emergency funding legislation, which would dedicate the $600 million to law enforcement programs at the Department of Justice and treatment programs through the Department of Health and Human Services.

The funding legislation passed by the Senate today would dedicate $1.1 billion to combating the spread of the Zika Virus. Senator King supported the legislation, and has advocated for increased Zika funding. In late-April, he sent a letter to the Senate Appropriations Committee calling for increased funding to support local, state, and national efforts to fight the Virus. Senator King also emphasized in his letter that unless Congress deals with the Zika crisis head on by allocating additional funding, public health responders in Maine will continue to lose Public Health Emergency Preparedness (PHEP) funding, which is currently being reallocated by the Administration to fight Zika.

Senator King’s full floor remarks about Zika and opioid funding today can be viewed HERE.

###