behalf of the people i work with, i want to thank olga and her team out at the house radio t.v. gallery. [applause] ladies and gentlemen, tonight, i have prepared my remarks in a way that will forever revolutionize the way that you hear speeches. it will be organizing a stream of bullet points. they tell me that that was a joke. they swore to me that was going to be a funny joke. i was not so sure, thank you for proving the right. [laughter] look, some of you may be wondering why i came here so soon after my dinner. never too early for a speaker to work on his next gig. because i have a bunch of left over joke to work instead. this might surprise you but after the smith dinner where i

spent about one third of the time ripping on the president, he gave me a call. the next morning early on, he actually really like the speech. he told me that he watched it on t.v. and thought it was great which i thought was really weird. the president watches t.v.? [laughter] so this dinner, the rtca dinner, the first dinner was 73 years ago. you know, you want to get the stories that they go on about the first night. it was incredible! [applause] look ãi should not rip like that because chuck and nancy are not here this evening. i regret that it is not possible. apparently it is been all night at the white house tonight. [laughter] look, i understand adam to be her as well. cannot blame a guy.that guy has a big job. you think those couple of

minutes on msnbc are going to do themselves? i will admit, i am looking around and i see that you are really well-dressed people. they told me that this thing was black-tie. i had to tell you, i thought that you were all about relaxing the dress code. that was something, wasn't it? those of you in the radio t.v. gallery. i saw the practice of speakers commenting on people's attire even when john baynor left. but, when i take a look at this i think about president trump and how he told us that we weren't going to stop winning and we get so tired of winning. we still have a limited progress to make on that front. unless of course, you are john baynor. speaking of getting just about have to tell you ãhalloween is coming this week. i was going to go with something new and i was going to be this new guy named anthony scaramucci.but i was

told i had to keep it clean and family-friendly. so that is off of the record by the way. anyway, what i am going to do this year i am going to go to halloween, i will be as eddie munster. i do not think any of you would understand this joke but -- i'm sorry i cannot stay for dinner. i am moving on. i have a lot to do and thursday morning is yoga for me. that really helps me get through the day. i do not want to steal my mantra but my mantra in yoga is, tax reform, tax reform, tax reform. nevertheless, i wanted to come by. the reason i wanted to come by is because i have seen your latest approval ratings. and i want to tell you, keep your heads up!

[laughter] all right? as low as they are, it could be a whole lot worse! they could be my approval ratings. [laughter] i am sure you do not want to take advice from a politician, someone that you covered. but luke, wherever you are, maybe take just a little more time. [laughter] by the way, on the way over here i was going through all of the presidents tweets. just kidding, i actually don't read those things! [laughter] but some of the things i just don't like talking about.some things i don't like talking about like aaron rodgers injury. do you know what? the president called me right after that as well. and he was very thoughtful. he offered to send me jared kushner to put in his place. the president offers a lot of ideas. we talk all the time. he calls me up with a lot of different ideas. let me give you an example.

he is a big reality t.v. guy. he keeps telling me that these jobs are like reality tv. speaker of the house is just like reality tv. you have got shark tank, man versus wild, swamp people, survival. and of course you have the biggest loser. that is the president's favorite. but i know this year there were some big issues with media access at the capital. so i want to get serious for a moment. like expansion stuck in the senate. i know you are thinking it was going to be an adult day care center over there or something like that. but sometimes these things just go a little too far. like, we believe in having open access but sometimes you just have to watch the limits. but last week, i am in my office talking with my staff. and there is chad outside washing my window. i think even have a photo of it. [laughter] dude, give me a

break! then i go down pennsylvania avenue to get a haircut and apparently -- moonlights as a barber! [laughter] i know things are a little rough as cnn but geez! so, this is the one that gets me. how the heck did nora and charlie and gail get into my yoga class? what is this? even hunting, it is the one thing i do to get away from things. one thing i do to get away from all of this. casey, it is just really not that safe. so, we all need to be proud in the capital that we set the standard for media access. and you want to tell you, i'm really natural serious note, we are proud. that we do set the tone and the temple for media access in the capital. and we need to strive to keep it that way. and as we do, there are a few

actual serious thoughts i would like to leave with you. one of the things you have heard me talk about for those of you on the capital feed is that we need to improve the political discourse. yes, there is room for improvement in this category. but too many of us in these jobs, we think we are all infallible.we think we always, always, always have it right. and i will tell you and i'm the first to admit we're not perfect. we do not always get it right. that has been well checked and reported. but even in this room, i think we can admit that the media sometimes gets it wrong from time to time. and there are times that we just disagree on what is right and what is fair. a little more humility from all of us from both of us, a little more listening could help as well. more than anything, we are here to challenge each other. that push and that pole, that makes the system stronger. this makes our system more resilient.

this is a feature, not a bug. challenging one another does not mean that we have to give each other like this to impugn each other's motives. we do not have to be so obsessed with keeping score and both sides of this equation, this happens all the time. it does not have to be so adversarial. things don't have to be tranquil, i recognize that. a former historian tried to definitively trace the problems between politicians and the press. he said he stopped when he got the first congress. the point is this. this relationship, it is crucial. this relationship will indoor. the institutions will indoor. we have a very messy system. but this messy system of government is the best possible system and this messy system of government completely relies on a free and open press. [applause] our founders

understood this. and this too will indoor. our republic does not work without what you do. we need all of the scar tissue, you need all of this cynicism, which you have at a hot level these days, we all do share economy -- and we ought to make it just that. more common. we all need to make our vibrant public square something where disagreements are emphasized but not exploited. we need to make sure that our ideas are debated in full, free open debate but not just in the eagle chambers. we need to make sure the values we uphold and the values we passed down our strong enough to get us through every stormy moment. the invitation i want to give to you on behalf of us, i see

joni, i see colleagues, the invitation is, put the pen down and let's stop spinning. let's just stop playing gotcha and let's get to know each other just a little bit more. let's work at remembering each of us have important jobs to do. we have important roles to play. each of us are human beings. just that little acknowledgment i think can do a lot to help us improve the discourse that we have and the mutual respect that we really institutionally and personally actually have for each and every one of each other. [applause] yes, joe even you. that is basically what i want to say. we have a phenomenal country with beautiful principles and we are living examples of people carrying out those

principles. principles will indoor, we simply have to have the confidence in them, we have to believe one another and when we do this, we will make this country a better place and the system that is so crucial to our liberty, prosperity, will indoor. thank you for having me tonight! i really appreciate it. have a great evening! [applause] >> here we are at the 73rd annual radio and t.v. correspondents association congressional correspondents association dinner.heard remarks from paul ryan. as the evening got underway you can see now folks are finishing up their dinner. as we wait for the rest of the program to begin, we will bring a segment from this morning's washington journal talking about the opioid crisis.

will address what is an epidemic out there. we have seen the facts which are very disturbing. 64,000 drug overdose deaths last year. that was in 2016. and it was a 21 percent increase over the 2015 calendar year.it is equivalent to nearly gone and traffic deaths and surpassing the peak of the aids crisis of the 90s. a very disturbing situation. it really speaks to the need for sound policy. policy that goes beyond and makes us feel good or allowance

for outdated, unsubstantiated stereotypes and stigmas to guide us. quickly thumbs opioids, what policy does the united states currently is quaint >> remain very strong steps forward with the comprehensive addiction and recovery act. it allows for grants to go out into the communities and it allows for all source of activity, education. but one of the efforts that i worked very hard on i have to say along with another dr. who is a republican member of the house, we were able to include in the legislation, the increase of patients per dr. that can be seen. there had been a calf at 100 peewee raised it to 275. then further expanded the disciplines of service providers from strictly doctors

and nurse practitioners and physician's assistants. which really helped a great deal. i had legislation that will further expand upon that. >> the president is expected to declare the oakwood crisis a national emergency. what does that mean? >> it engages the national health public services act which allows for some restrictions to be undone and it allows for resources to be enhanced and really draw focus to this entire epidemic. it also would provide for i think, additional legislation that might come to bear. it is the undoing of restrictions. for instance, institutions for mental disease, do not reimburse states for medicaid if they are beyond 16 patient beds. this would allow for those beyond 16 to be utilized and for medicaid persons.

it pours a lot of money is the system. i then also would champion in the declaration, the efforts that i have that i'm working on with a congressman that would take the counter legislation and expand upon it by adding disciplines like nurse anesthetist and midwives. and would make permanent 275 threshold. so there is certainty in the legislation and would allow for what is noted as medication assisted treatment to request you serve the state of new york, democrat from the state enhancer to talk about his work not only is taking a look at addiction issues with the opioid crisis of rocket if you like to ask a question, you can

call. what is the expected timeline between the president announcing this and when the resources you are talking about and other things can be put into place? >> i would hope there be a great sense of urgency. i would like to see an emergency response in that regard. we hope the president does declare that at his bipartisan commission. i think it is important for us to really address what is the golden standard with treatment where we are utilizing in accordance with clinicians and doctors in the field, the best treatments with methadone or naltrexone. methadone is severely regulated by others as we talked, we raised the threshold because the treatments i need to be

addressed. one and five individuals out there struggling with this get the treatment that they require. that is 60 percent of those entering into incarceration situations. they're bearing some sort of substance use disorder. it is telling us that we have to be much more vigilant here and when it comes to dealing with the arrests, we are not going to rest or incarcerate ourselves through this crisis. since 1980, through 2014, we nearly tripled, more than tripled the arrests and incarceration. that has cost us well over $1 trillion. it has not produced the results that we need for treatment. it is substantial here in terms of a solution. quickly start with calls. the first comes from

pennsylvania. this is no independent line. >> good morning. >> good morning congressman. i wonder if you are going to investigate and hold accountable. the members of the family and the wealth, the tremendous wealth of family i think it is the -- family that has a long history of developing and marketing connecting with perdue pharmaceutical, these opioids and before that even volume. they were geniuses at marketing and pushing the stuff. they have billions and billions of dollars as a family, not to mention the wealth of the pharmaceuticals. you can set up and be accountable, help to cure and remediate the suffering that is now, not to mention the dollars cost of the country that is now

taking a hold of things. >> that is a good point. i think there is an awful lot of work that will need to be done and is being done in terms of prescribing using opiates, disposing of them and certainly the development of these given opiates. we have seen an exponential rise in a, in addiction that has taken hold with the beginnings of opiates as that path down the very difficult illness. and i willóillness if you have got to treat addiction as an illness otherwise we will not conquer this growing epidemic. we are impacting on --

>> good morning. i was wondering, now all of a sudden we are hearing that this is an epidemic. what was going on over the last eight years under president obama? if you can be specific, what was he doing? what were you guys doing over the last eight years? because now all of a sudden it's like, we have this addiction but this crisis, a crisis does not happen overnight. this is occurring over the last 10 or 15 years. thank you. >> you're welcome. certainly, a lot of the gateway to this addiction began perhaps with worse injuries. simple procedures like a wisdom tooth being extracted. back pain, back surgery. before there was a real grasp on the issue, it was already running into an epidemic level. the legislation which i came, it was during the obama

administration. the president and his team very much saw the legislation for resource advocacy. this is an issue that has no political bounds. there are lives lost that are republican and democratic background. again, this is across the board a concern and we need to keep the vigilance going. it has been addressed beyond the current administration. certainly, just over several administrations and when it comes to an epidemic, we need to do everything we can with a bipartisan spirit. >> vinyl in west virginia. independent line. >> hi guys, thank you for taking my call. when did diseases become discriminatory? cancer does not discriminate, heart disease do not discriminate. but yet, drug addiction, alcoholism, they discriminate. the president never takes an opioid can never become

addicted. the president never takes a drink of alcohol can never become an alcoholic. it is a last out choice. if you choose not to do it, you do not become addicted. i have been there, done that. you get away from it. do it for yourself. that is the only way to get over it.>> thank you collar. >> i think there is a need for study on the brain. it is the least researched organ of the body. some of the efforts made to the 21st century cures act, grants that have been made available along with research dollars need to be funded to the fullest. i think that you suggest that there isn't an illness situation here whether brain is, with the research of the brain we are providing more and more opportunity to discover just how to address the illness of addiction. and like any illness, i think to simply say that it is a choice, that we have the power

or character or it is a flaw, is not addressing the issue with the appropriate science related to it. more and more there is indication that lobes of the brain either desire the opiates or others that inform us that we should not go there and need to reject the opiate use. so learning how to further develop that response via science and research, it will take us a long way towards conquering the disease of addiction. >> is reported that there is some possibility in regulating how opioids are prescribed in the first place. -- >> i think there is a need because without pointing a finger, there was dispensing of an prescribing of opiates that became a reliance anyway. and there was not a follow-through, just what

damage might occur there. and more and more now people are getting very deliberate about the opiate use. about not reaching to opiates and certainly, making certain that pain management is something that is addressed in different spheres now. that will take us away from the dependency on opioids for that pain management. >> to do that though is that a regulatory issue then? >> is think in some ways there might be opportunities to regulate the prescription of opiates. but it needs to be in on all of the above strategy. that we assist people who are working their hardest to conquer the on this. >> next up, this is rico in michigan. republican line. >> the company i work with -- it is industrial hemp

non-psychoactive dvd products. we are getting testimonials from people all over the country of how much more effective it is for pain relief than opioids. and there has also been extensive research on how cbd's are helping people that are addicted to opioids get off of the opioids so i think instead of spending billions of dollars on pharmaceutical companies putting our products to get people up opioids, we should have more studies and research using industrial hemp, cbd products. >> i am certain there will be research done with various efforts to address pain management and we have seen the negatives that have been out there. we know that we have an epidemic that needs to be addressed and i believe that there will be work on how to respond to pain and how to

manage the pain and how to avoid the addiction to opiates which is a severe epidemic in our society today. >> we have a representative joining us, the next call from did maryland democrats.go ahead. >> yes, are you a god-fearing man? >> go to your question please. >> are you a god-fearing man? >> yes, i am! >> let me ask you this. how can they give me a medicine for 20 years for crohn's disease and then, color is scheduled to drug or whatever. it really wasn't opioid the whole time. and then, pretend like it never happened. and slowly take the chemical out of it and then put you back

on pain medicine. so obviously, they have done this to more than one person. i am no i am not the only one. and who is to say, i mean for steroids in the food, they put all kinds of other chemicals in our food. who is to say that they ain't got opioids in all of our food? >> thank you. >> obviously, that is why there are regulations, that's why there is research. that's why there is preventative programming to make certain we are going forward in the best interest of consumers out there. so many of these situations are instructive. and if there are mistakes, it is coming upon us as policymakers and budget -- to do our best to address in a positive for an the outcomes out there. >> with her the surgeon general

say that when it comes the opioid crisis, it has to be on a grassroots level. what does that mean to you, what does it look like an related to the areas in new york that might be dealing with this? >> i would think that there is public education we are talking about. perhaps prevention.there is no one who has pushed harder for prevention programs and myself. i have led the efforts to funding and substance abuse prevention and treatment block grants that has a tremendous track record. we have $1.86 billion over the last several years. had we kept pace with inflation, we would have seen more -- i think in measure 29 percent reduction in the buying power for the grants. that is not responding well enough to a crisis.and we see the result.

70 percent. our now drug-free when it comes to opioids. 83 percent are working positively, bringing away from alcoholism and alcohol abuse. we see with these block grants do as we should be strong in our efforts to find them. cutting these programs, cutting research is not the answer. i am a big fan of community. drug-free grants that go towards different communities so they can respond in a more personalized way in their community. what works best in a given neighborhood.we have seen success in programs in my district with a drug-free community program, with the drug-free coalition. these are programs that have spoken very strongly for education, prevention and are

working well. it is in all of the above strategy. >> we have -- from key west, florida. democrat line. >> yes, i am thinking instructed the hospitals here in key west where i live, they prescribe it very easily. i had to constantly be telling them no, i do not want that. give me motrin, 800. i had an injury on my leg and they were here, strong medicine. my 16 year old fell off his bike and had scratches. they wanted to prescribed medicine that was addicted to my son and i had to say no, he can handle whatever pain from the scratches. it is just very easily given to people here in the hospital. my area care for anything something that is. we need to start looking at the hospitals, the dr. that prescribed it very easily. it is just, it should not be

done like that. i've never seen anything like that except hearing key west. >> i think we realize with the epidemic declaration, obviously, making certain that you're getting recertified and that there are these courses that you are trained much more actively about the dangers of opiates and the requirements of the courses. i think it is very important. and a number of issues that can be addressed. we mentioned the institution for mental disease. making naloxone more available for those that can turn that around in situations of emergency. with near-death situations. turning around with the reach to naloxone. these are things that should be in the catalog of activities that would accompany an epidemic declaration. an emergency declaration and, legislation that we are trying

to advance in the halls of congress. >> we are about to see a declaration from the president. what does it mean that we do not have the head of -- >> i think again, filling vacancies is very important. we are fighting an epidemic. we need professionals and clinicians to be fully equipped. >> and the c-span table -- we are going to give away another really important award. if you guys could just slowly get to where you need to be. let's talk about this award, it recognizes extraordinary careers and photojournalism. selflessness, mentorship and commitment to quality. the award remembers jerry thompson known for