is age discrimination. with the availability of information on the internet, you are not allowed to ask someone what their age is, but prospective employer can always look on the internet, find your age, and then you get the thanks , but no thanks excuse. guest: kathy, you bring up a good point. we see baby boomers that are retiring. but for those in the workforce trying to find a job, it can be difficult when employers are not giving you a chance. it is wrong if an employer is discriminating based on any of the protected classes. so how do we make sure for opportunities for our aging workforce? there is tremendous opportunity to start your own businesses and women make up some of the

fastest-growing entrepreneurs. black women make up the fastest demographic within that. you live going to take now to the white house first lady melania trump who is introducing the start of the white house opioid summit. live coverage. it is something i've often seen in my travels. to read some of the letter that i received from a woman named betsy hendrickson , a mother whorson lost her son to drugs. she wrote this letter to me just one month after her son passed away. mrs. henderson is here with us today. betty, please join me. [applause]

tromp, on september 22, 2017 h, opioids took the lie of my son billy. death, after my son's had to go to the metal examiner's office to claim his body. no mother should ever have to claim their child's body. i'm sure that you as a mother would have some understanding of the depths of despair that i experienced on the day. p, i am am asking for your help of claiming these lost souls before drugs take them from this earth. families give piece to wing that they told their

loved ones how much they are treasured. you for having the strength to reach out in the midst of your grief. and i knowtouched me it is now touched everyone in this room. just as you said, lies all take takeent now -- let us all a moment to now and celebrate your son's life. thank you very much. >> thank you. [applause] >> let's all keep betty and her minds today as you work through some of the issues. sadly, she is not alone in her grief and we need to change that. thank you for your hard work and commitment to these topic.

-- topics. i look forward to hearing the important action items that everyone will take away from today's summit. thank you all, god bless you, and god bless the united states of america. [applause] >> ladies and gentlemen, ms kellyanne conway. [applause] >> as you can see, the first lady joins our president and and the entire administration to their commitment of combating the opioid crisis.

26, 2017, on this very platform, the president and first lady delivered a joint policy address about this topic. the same day, the acting director of the health and human services -- acting secretary, he declared a public health emergency and the president deployed and directives and tired ministration to do their respective parts and helping to bend the curve on the numbers and grief and loss that is ro iling this nation. is purpose of today's summit so that we can go to the very top of each cabinet and andrtments represented here learn what front-line activities are happening and learn the plan and vision from each of those departments. i would like to welcome you again to the white house.

we have a lot of headliners and .ecision-makers among us i want to recognize with great distinction and gratitude, this courageous family members who have suffered loss and those individuals who currently are orher struggling and, recovering. hear you, and we support you. this president and his administration are focused on law enforcement, treatment and recovery, education and prevention. i believe now we are going to show you some video footage of a called "opioids, the crisis next door" that no demographic has been spared. we would like to dim the lights and show this and then start our

first panel today. thank you. >> i am a television personality and best-selling author here to talk about the opioid crisis and how it affected my family. my son was a social highschooler, grew up in new jersey outside of new york city. he liked to have fun. he was a normal kid. loved baseball. he went to the university of colorado. my wife and i are out to dinner, having a normal dinner. my wife was driving and my phone rang. man who wasng panicked. he said, call kayla now. she answered her phone and she was crying. this, is sheght to

alive? they said, no. the first week into his sophomore year, eric chase died of an opioid overdose. sy wife, who was in the driver seat, literally fell into the road. i had together up and we sat on the curb for an hour, talking, trying to figure out what happened. we never saw it coming. we never thought we would get that call. every parent does not want it. we got it. sorry. afterwards, your mind tries to figure out what happened. is it something we did? , what areled with people going to think? what are our neighbors going to

think? it sounds shallow, but that is some of the things that go through your mind. so i no support system, went to twitter and said, this happened. i was overwhelmed by the number of people opioids are affecting. since then, talk about the stories -- what i have done since then, is talk about the stories who are worried about a loved one. and its to talk about it helps to find resources for that help. one underlying issue parents need to understand and it is important. i have seen it. not my kids a jump. -- not my kid syndrome is a killer. you just don't know. it could be your kid. do us a favor.

do your family a favor. have the discussion with them and do it again and again and get involved in your kids'lives. keep an eye on what they are spending and where they are spending it. you can save someone. the crisis is terrible, heartbreaking. i never thought i would be spending so much time on this opioid crisis. in many ways, this is a natural thing for the fire departments out there, because we are the place to come to for help. january, 2015, we went to 20 overdose is a month to 75 overdose is a month. that occurred with the influx of synthetic opioids. we went to 884 overdose in the city of manchester. those are just opioids.

may 2016, we started a program. the first a i was promoted to chief, i opened up all my fire stations for anyone seeking help for substance abuse disorder, if 2:00 in the morning, during the day, we are always there. we welcome people. we treat people addicted with nonjudgmental, we will help you. we will get you into treatment. no one agency can do this themselves. is ae city of manchester, small piece of this. we have seen a 30% reduction in the overdose death rate. 64.ent from 90 overdoses to we know we are saving lives. i am a physician. i have a masters degree in public health. i am a united states surgeon

general. my brother philip is in prison due to crimes the committed to support his addiction. his illness has affected my entire family. as a trauma anesthesiologist, i have seen things that would make the average person cringe, but nothing has shaken me like seeing the parked wires when i first visited my brother. it was all the more agonizing because despite my knowledge and experience, i could not prevent or fix his illness. i am hopeful by sharing my story , it will help people understand the addictions and they -- that they are not alone. i am asking everyone to partner with me in this fight for a healthier country. for me and americans, stopping the opioid domestic -- epidemic, is personal. i encourage you to share your story so we can break the

stigma. [no dialogue] our first panel is on prevention treatment and recovery. welcome privilege to these secretaries. secretary a czar, if you would begin with opening comments. >> great. forks to the first lady those important and personal remarks ticket this off. that wonderful

video with those stories. it is important to have that message out there of not my kid, because this can impact not just anybody. -- impact just anybody. i want to thank president trump. my discussions with him is a constant point of focus of him to make sure we are devoting enough resources to the challenges ahead. byis a pleasure to be joined secretary david shulkin and secretary ben carson as we work together. i want to start off with an important statement. the aged just the administration, we know we need to treat addiction is a medical challenge, not as a moral failing. work across hhs's all three areas, prevention, treatment, and recovery. the president has directed hhs to the public health emergency

last fall and we declared an thisency in october 2017 brought a new level of focus and cooperation to our work across the federal government in its entirety. i want to give examples of what has happened and what we have accomplished. we know it is essential to prevent people from getting addicted to opioids in the first place. we have seen news on appropriate opioid prescribing. noticeably is down from 2010 to 2015, but it is three times what it was in 1999. one example of our work on this, december is part of a broader form initiative. ivanka -- opioid code odathon.

the programmers spent the day coming up with new tools for prevention like apps that used to help providers set their own prescribing level to see if they are out of the norm and needed to focus on their own habits. we know treatment including evidence-based methods, like medication assistant treatment is essential. after the public health emergency declaration, we announced a streamlined process for states to get waivers that could support substance abuse treatment and we have approved five of these waivers so far. at the national governors' association, i berated the governors saying why have i only gotten five of the? i told him i would work with them. i want more. at the mga, we highlighted two forthcoming food in rugby

administration guidances that would expand and accelerate medication axis did -- medication assisted treatment. one would help formulations like the monthly shot approved last fall and one that will open up new ways of assessing medically assisted treatment effectiveness by looking at metrics besides achieving complete abstinence. year we are this issuing $500 million in grants stick -- to state governments which cover preventative treatment. these supports are a key piece of successful treatment, including medical treatment. to support that grant, we announced a method of assistance in november to use local expertise to provide technical assistance rather than a traditional one-size-fits-all approach. the goal is to emphasize truly

effective evidence-based policies. the president's budget proposes tobling these state grants $1 billion a year as part of a historic $13 billion package and proposed funding. that is just a small sample of the work the are doing and all that work wires that comfortably should and's -- contributions of partners on the front minds. that is why the president is holding this event, so we can share work with you. thank you for joining us. we and dollar partners across the federal government look forward to working with you as we attack the opioid crisis. [applause] >> secretary carson, thank you. you for leading out in

this endeavor. grateful for your leadership. the president and first lady and my fellow cabinet secretaries as well as the surgeon general for bringing this to the level of attention it should have. it is affecting every heart of our -- part of our society. i am grateful to all of you who have come here to show your interest and support for what is going on. everybody has influence. take this issue to where it needs to be. at the department of housing and urban development, the human cost of opioids is all too familiar to us. lands atrug addiction an intersection of health, housing, and economic

opportunity. it is dangerous to the we are beingso vigilant and our efforts to adjust this epidemic and all of its consequences. 2017, 76,000, approximately 25% of those served continuum care reported substance abuse issues. that is a lot. can --forward, we have convened senior leadership from all program offices working recommendively to awareness and treatment. we have convened all program offices to think through the strategic changes to rules and theance that will support efforts of law enforcement to tackle drug traffickers and

judges prevention and treatment for those struggling with addiction. we are studying local success stories across the country, identifying good models and data to be integrated into notices of funding of availability, that have proven to be effective and are promising in addressing substance abuse. that is a key factor when it , lookto making progress at the turn-of-the-century before this past one, the average age of death in america was under 50. the most recent turn-of-the-century, we're approaching 80. how did that happen? it is because the medical profession began to make its policies and recommendations based on evidence. it makes all the difference in the world. these conversations with public

officials, private foundations from san diego to new york, are ongoing. center envisions initiative will have community health and wellness as one of its core missions. the envision centers will work to improve access to health services, including judge treatment and prevention for those struggling with drug addiction, including opioids. it is important to note that the scourge of opioids in america is not a crisis of health. it is a crisis of hope. the envision's centers will leverage public-private partnerships to promote long-term economic educational and employment opportunities in our community. all things which bring hope. tools to will have the build a brighter future and

fewer of them will try to escape their current realities through drugs. this is a challenge that will take our combined resources and together to solve, but we can solve it and save thousands of lives in the process. i look forward to collaborations --h mike fellow agency heads with my fellow agency heads and all of you in the coming year. secretary and dr. carson, thank you. secretary david shulkin. thes i look around audience, there is amazing expertise and personal experience. one i go to an event, i have a goal of taking away a message or meeting someone that is going to help me. so thank you for being here.

i hope you will meet people in and room, learn something, take away something to contribute. the presidentk and first lady for giving us this opportunity. i have three points i wanted to share in the hope that you will take something away. the first is, i do believe we can make a difference, that we can help save lives. at the department of veteran affairs, we are the largest health -- health system in the country. we begin to see this problem in opioid addiction before other health systems. we started focusing on this in 2011 and in 2012 we launched the opioid safety initiative, the has put $300 million in prevention of treatment. since 2000 12, we have reduced the number of opioids used in the v.a. by 41%.

if you take a look at that figure, it has come through a 90% reduction in the start of new opioids. by looking at alternatives, instead of reaching for the prescription pad as dr. carson and i learned when we were in medical school, we have had a 90% reduction. there is hope and we can do better. second point is, as we begin to share best practices, we have a lot to learn from each other. kellyanne, thanks to her leadership and governor christie, we went around the country and visited places that were doing this well. the department of veteran affairs took an unusual step two months ago. all oursh publicly opioid prescribing rates for every be a medical center across

the country. we are the only health system across the country who does this. we did it to encourage others to follow the lead. to take a look at data, v.a..gov. you will see our prescribing rates. you will see the highest in the country at 20% of prescriptions to the lowest in the country at 3% where kellyanne and i went to visit. by sharing these practices, we know we can help each other learn and i encourage the country to help participate in the v.a. final point, i wanted to share the way we have gotten this 41% reduction and this 90% reduction of opioids, i learned if you have something important, you better develop an and him, because there is no initiative that v.a. that does not have an them. i made this one up. called,stopping. we have

towards pain management where opioids is at the end -- we have focused on integrated medicine and nonmedicinal aspects, as well as secretary a czar, talked about approved treatments that offer alternatives. ongoingn stop is for monitoring in usage. we use it to identify where there are problems, where there are bumps in height usage rates. where we can go and effectively intervene. the p is for practice guidelines. i am proud the department of veteran affairs, the cdc, have jointly published practice headlines available in the public domain.

the p four pain is for prescription monitoring. datarticipate in the state monitoring programs, which are , i goant so we as doctors to these state practitioner databases to the of other doctors have prescribed medication. the a four pain, the a is for academic detailing. pharmacists how to train our doctors. the eye is for informed consent. we have our patients sign informed consents before they use opioids. they have a shared responsibility in this. at the department of veteran affairs, we have distributed over 100,000 naloxone first responders and to veterans themselves. i hope you will pick up one of those and continue to share your experience and together i know we can make a difference.

thank you very much. >> thank you. i will take questions from the audience. the first comes from richmond, kentucky. hi. my name is carla. i am from kentucky. i am here because i lost my only son to the opioid epidemic. i would like to share this picture and i did that because i made a promise to him that i would fight. only for today not myself, but everyone has lost a child or loved one. my question is since this has happened with my son, i have had the opportunity to go out in my community, be part of the u.s. attorney's program, and going to the schools, because my son's

addiction started at a young age. is there a plan to put something like a preventative program in the schools nationwide's i have seen -- nationwide? these seen the effect, to kids, your first time may be the last time, it is a very effective. name?t was your son's brennan. have particular schools? here.nk you for being we are sorry for your loss. andfirst lady and president invested invos are

making sure we communicate and message of prevention education, particularly to our youth. the first lady is committed to the well-being of children. think to begin by educating each other, not just on the statistics, but the basics. i imagine most of america suffers from information under load when it comes to fentanyl, which took the lives of 20,000 americans last year. if 20,000 americans were dying from every single year, we would stop and turn our attention to that immediately. getting into schools making this a part of the curriculum, is a goal. i have had occasion with my colleagues in the white house and across the administration to all the work being done in the private sector and nonprofit

community and invite others to tell us what they are working on to see -- so we can see their best practices. a lot of folks have developed great ways of communicating. if we can tell the way that the president said on october 26, the last saturday of every able, is called takeback day. why not make every day takeback day? if we can work with the pharmacy, if we can work with the first responders. we do not have to wait for twice a year. of the private sector businesses are working on this. we have to get to youth, whether it is after schools, community messaging, and that is a big part. this is where the president is committed to education and prevented best prevention. prevention.

i know the president's commission on combating the opioid crisis had 56 recommendations. the commission did great work. this is covered there as well. fromext question comes ryan hansen, from pasadena, california. hampton.e is ryan i am in sustained recovery from a substance use disorder. i felt it necessary to have a and importantly, heroin or opioids. i know how incredibly lucky i am to have made it out of this crisis alive, but i know recovery and access to recovery should never be about luck. of2015, when i got out

treatment for the last time, i was able to access stable recovery housing and support that came with that. if it were not for those 18 months of that stable housing, i probably would not be here. in the last two years, i lost weight over a dozen friends -- way over a dozen friends to accidental overdoses. the majority of them were not able to access the full continuum of care. my question to the panel would be, since we know that the first five years of someone's recovery is important, how can we support people do that continuum, specifically when it comes to stable, qualified, and ethical recovery housing and residences? >> thank you for that question. as i mentioned in my opening,

there is a true nexis between opioid abuse and housing. that is why it is incredibly reasonst and one of the , housing and urban development have coupled with the v.a. for the past program in various ways for making sure veterans have a secure place from which to recover. is far beyond that. it is all aspects of our society. we have continuum care programs. we have voted a significant amount of money to that issue of providing recovery necessary. it is critical people understand that people who are addicted to andids are not like them

then there is us. it can be any of us at any time. it is so easy to get addicted. it has nothing to do with social or economic class or anything else. we need to recognize that in our society now, it creates to the to the-- permeates extent that anybody you talk to, know somebody that has been affected. if you talk to manufacturers, they will tell you it is workcult to find people to who can pass a drug screening. that gives you some idea of the pervasiveness in our society and that is the reason we have agency, corporations working --h hhs, with recognizing

recognizing how this impacts. as you have stated, we understand providing the kind of place where they feel secure and stable is the first step. when you talk about recovering from opioids, you are not talking about a few weeks. you are talking about 18 months. it is a long-term commitment and as a society, we have to recognize until it becomes as easy to get treatment as it is to get drugs, we are not going to win the battle. the issue you raised ryan about that kind of support in the recovery period, that is why the president has doubled the treatment from 1 -- 5 billion to a billion. that is going to more than double, doubling in just that billion tont to $1

help these kinds of programs and we're putting at $75 million for naloxone funding so first responders can have adequate supplies at a good cost. we are working to create $150 million grant programs for rural treatment not just in pasadena, but also world parts of our havery where folks underserved areas from a treatment perspective, that we $.5provide more support and billion from community health centers. is beyond the 18 months, as i mentioned, i think of it it -- as a life long -- lifelong process. catherine has been an inspiration. be back towe will

the white house for a moment or two. the house is coming in briefly. no legislative business expected. the clerk: the speaker's room, washington, d.c., march 1, 2018. i hereby appoint the honorable andy harris to act as speaker pro tempore on this day. signed, paul d. ryan, speaker of the house of representatives. the speaker pro tempore: the prayer will be offered by the guest chaplain, reverend gene hemrick, st. joseph's catholic church in washington, d.c. the chaplain: lord, on the east side of our u.s. capitol stands a statue of peace. that is a divine quality of your love.

we pray that you inspire the creativity of our congress in pursuing peace in a world that is more hostile than nonviolent. may our congress embrace your wisdom for opening hearts in which reconciliation is preferred to strive -- strife. a time when lion and lamb will lie down together. amen. the speaker pro tempore: the chair has examined the journal of the last day's proceedings and announces to the house his approval thereof. pursuant to clause 1 of rule 1 the journal stands approved. the pledge of allegiance will be led by the gentleman from north carolina, mr. budd. mr. budd: i pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states of america and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. the speaker pro tempore: the

chair lays before the house the following communications. the clerk: the honorable the speaker, house of representatives, sir. pursuant to the permission granted in clause 2-h of rule 2 of the rules of the u.s. house of representatives, the clerk received the following message from the secretary of the senate on february 28, 2018, at 12:59 p.m. that the senate agreed to senate concurrent resolution 35, appointments -- joint selection committee on budget and appropriations process reform, joint select committee on solvency of multiemployer pension plans, and public interest declassification board. signed sincerely, karen l. haas. the honorable the speaker, house of representatives, sir. pursuant to the permission granted in clause 2-h of rule 2 of the rules of the u.s. house of representatives, the clerk received the following message from the secretary of the senate on march 1, 2018, at 10:59 a.m.

that the senate agreed to senate joint resolution 53. that the senate passed, without amendment, h.r. 535. that the senate passed with an amendment, h.r. 1625. that the senate agreed to, without amendment, house concurrent resolution 106. signed sincerely, karen l. haas. the speaker pro tempore: the chair lays before the house an enrolled bill. to lerk: h.r. 535, an act encourage visits between the united states and taiwan at all levels and for other purposes. the speaker pro tempore: the chair announces the speaker's reappointment pursuant to section 703 of the social security act 42 u.s. code 903 and the order of the house of january 3, 2017, of the following individual on the part of the house to the social security advisory board for a term of six years. the clerk: ms. nancy altman of

bethesda, maryland. the speaker pro tempore: the chair announces on behalf of the speaker and majority leader the senate, their joint appointment, pursuant to section 3044-2-b of the bipartisan budget act of 2018, and the order of the house of january 3, 2017, of the following member to the joint select committee on budget and appropriations process reform as co-chair. mr. womack of arkansas. the speaker pro tempore: the chair announces on behalf of the speaker and majority leader of the senate, their joint appointment pursuant to section 30422-b-3 of the bipartisan budget act of 2018, and the order of the house of january 3, 2017, of the following senator to the joint select committee on solvency, multiemployer pension plans as co-chair. the clerk: mr. hatch of utah. the eaker pro tempore:

chair lays before the house a communication. the clerk: the honorable the speaker, house of representatives, sir. pursuant to the section 30442-b-3 of the bipartisan dget act of 2018, public law 115-123, i am pleased to announce the joint appointment together with the minority leader of the senate of the honorable nita lowey of new york to serve as co-chair as the select committee on budget and process reform. thank you for your attention to this appointment. signed sincerely, nancy pelosi, democratic leader. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from north carolina seek recognition? mr. budd: mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent that the committee on oversight and government reform be discharged from further consideration of the house resolution 759 and i ask for its immediate consideration in the house. the speaker pro tempore: is there objection to consideration of the resolution?

without objection, the resolution is agreed to and the motion to reconsider is laid on the table. the clerk will also report the long title of the resolution. the clerk: house resolution 759, resolution expressing the condolences of the house of representatives on the death of the reverend billy graham. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from north carolina seek recognition? mr. budd: mr. speaker, i move the house now adjourn. the speaker pro tempore: the question is on the motion to adjourn. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. the ayes have it. the motion is adopted. pursuant to house resolution 759, the house stands adjourned until noon on monday, march 5, 2018, for the morning hour debate as a mark of respect to the memory of the late billy

on your screen is the health secretary. >> i am hopeful we will see a faster clip. we can handle those quite quickly. those waivers are easy to do. there is a statute and the president's budget has proposed changing the statute. as long as the statute is there, i have got to use my waiver authority. we will process them quickly. >> thank you for sharing your experience. i am sure you are aware we have better and they are set up to do exactly what you're talking about, to allow judges to thanstand that rather

sending people to prison for substance abuse and other mental health issues, get them right into treatment. we do this around the country with thousands of veterans and have an 80% reduction in one year recidivism back to prisons. i think it is exactly your experience. through the waiver process and the statute change, that will allow us to do it for more americans. thank you. >> ground, a woman i have come to know and rely upon. there you are. thank you for being here today. if you have a question? >> i do. therst want to tell you reason i'm here. it is because we lost our son, ryan, to a heroin overdose. a very public place, of a heroin overdose in a macy's bathroom.

the detectivesn came to tell us what it happened, we said we didn't want this to happen, to one more person. why we are here. these individuals had the courage to speak up and that gives me hope. i'm grateful for what you are on the epidemic. ryan was on the white list for two programs when he died. to me walking down sitting, and i saw him in his bedroom, he looked at me and said mom, i am trying. he met someone at the mall unexpectedly and he had not been using. is my concern. we started an organization to raise awareness about addiction and overdose and also to

advocate for recovery. that because i said to ryan, another day of hope, if people do not have opportunity -- opportunity, -- that is what the whole thing is about for me. is about people and saving lives so we do not have other parents to go through this and do not lose another son or daughter. i get a little passionate. but i think it is so important. this leads me to my question. of the $6 billion budgeted for academic -- epidemic, can you tell me about prevention and treatment? the reason is i think we need to get ahead of it. i went to a training session about how to talk to kids about

drugs. i checked each one off. i had done it, i had done it. something was not right. i think we need to look at withs differently prevention and put a face on it wherever, whether it is in church, he actually helped with the sound system at church. and he had a scholarship. that is what i wanted to know. what will be dedicated to treatment and prevention because that is just critical to me. thank you. >> that is an important question. i cannot give you percentages but i can tell you a few weeks ago, i was in kentucky. they have hoped centers for the purpose of treating people who

have been addicted. these are public-private partnerships. through the agencies, a lot of be used in to conjunction with state and local and that is where the impetus comes, not necessarily but people inrat the neighborhood who are right there with boots on the ground. much philanthropy in the country. what the government provides is probably a minority of funding and attention. it will really come locally and something that really needs to be encouraged.

>> it is response. some of it is longer-term treatment. our funding to the national institutes of health to develop the next-generation generation on opioid pain treatment. through alternative therapy, in addition to studying alternative therapies to do with pain. that is something else. longer-term prevention, the rest is what you think the traditional prevention treatment -- i spoke, one third of treatments in america have medical assistance their pp or that is unacceptable. it is proven and evidence-based. we know this one works.

to build up more treatment facilities. >> we have two more questions. dr. -- of maryland. >> there we go peers thank you. i want to think the president and the administration panel for participants. thanks for putting something like this together. i have 14 integrated medical clinics which incorporate medicine, physical therapy, and treatment for pain. they required them to use these.

90% of the consumption of opioids comes from this country. we 5% of the world population. world have of the been using these alternative therapies to combat pain before the prescription is written. to let it sink in, over 90% of produced were consumed by the united states of america. we have five experts. there is a chiropractor, a therapist, he is cheated three times a day until he is practicing. we videotape what he is doing so we know he is ok. he gets to play ball when he gets to play ball in preinjury status.

gets in and get sent home for rest. where does the breakdown occur? there are scientifically proven and use professional sports, not good enough for the average person. we are creating a society of chronic pain patients. they go home with that first script and are not treated right away, it is a reoccurring condition the future, the risk goes higher every time the upset occurs. way up screen -- way upstream and prevention, we need to stop that script from ever getting written. we touched on it but i have one , a free clinic in maryland. i reducedears time, the script writing by 7% for opioids in the clinic. to tommyu have got what happened. .0%, he write a paper

the answer was well you are here. if itit be that easy that is available, you will not have the process take place? my question was all of that emotion, is how do we instill the proper referral and insurance reimbursement of these known evidence-based alternative treatments and i am at your disposal so feel free to call me when needed. >> doctor, that is the exact issue i was mentioning a second ago. suit of health around alternative pain management to build evidence-based reimbursement. it is a fair point that we need ways payingt siloed for a drug, paying for a device, paying for a procedure.

in a very concrete way, that it isn't always adapted and adaptable to nontraditional forms of treatment. we need to look at that and do so working with the fda. that is part of our focus. i think about what you're trying to do with four different approaches. you have to have providers in that have access to them and you have to pay the providers for alternative and integrative therapies. there are two other things we have learned and one is we encourage team-based approaches to caring. that is what you are doing. we have teams of nurses and doctors and pharmacists and social workers.

all of whom can suggest alternative approaches. finally, we are doubling down on teaching the patient, the veteran, self-care, letting them know how they took care of themselves and what alternatives should they be thinking about rather than just listening so they are an active participant. i think we can see more f -- more of what you experience. >> our last question is for great debt from greg delaney of ohio. hi, greg. here is an honor to be with you folks. much like my sister and brother, i am in long-term recovery myself. 10 years in july. it is wonderful to be with others. i nearly lost my life to addiction. and yet, while i was coming through recovery, it was the

work of a pastor that made the difference for me. ist i want to talk about since that time of intervention, we had a wonderful opportunity in ohio to mobilize the church and state community to be a part of the solution in this particular crisis. we have had wonderful relationships with our attorney general and we have expanded the attorney general in west virginia and probably have done 55 forms to help them find their lame. their lamem found but to navigate funding has been intensely difficult because of the faith-based nature. my question on behalf of all of , how can we eliminate some perceived and real barriers for those doing great work? thank you. >> i'm glad you brought that up.

the faith-based community is one of the real foundations of american values. and have taken on the responsibility of helping those or who, as thes book of james says, the fatherless and the widows, people who need our help the most. who areludes those evicted, which affect their behavior and puts them in a very vulnerable position. we have grown our faith-based component. that is been the case with several other agencies. the president and the white house has made a very to make sureffort

we protect religious freedom while at the same time respecting everybody's beliefs. that is really the key. think you will find the effort we are putting forth will nicely encompass the faith-based community. race each have faith offices and our job is to remove barriers to faith based providers of services who may be against,discriminated so at hhs, i would like to know if there are things we can do. thank you. >> thank you. please join me in thanking them. thank you very much.

[applause] ladies and gentleman, i would like to call to the states the acting director who would like to make a few remarks. [applause] you, kellyanne. i greatly appreciate the trust the president has placed in me to work with you all in the issue. i have not had the opportunity to meet with many of you yet but i look forward to doing that in the coming months and years. this is one of the president's's greatest priorities and it is an honor to be with you today. i also want to recognize 12 police chiefs from across the country who came to hear the methods and share the story with us. like so many of us, law

enforcement's are not immune to this epidemic. [applause] >> i wanted to tell you a little bit about myself. career as a state prosecutor were i spent the vast majority of my time prosecuting jug cases. i just didn't spend my time inside a courtroom. myas out on the streets with colleagues, the law enforcement officers out there, to actually understand what they are going through. i seem -- i have seen how this tears families apart. i went on to a private sector in a large corporation and was the global sector of compliance and ofecame involved in aware and importance of a strong employee assistance program because of this becomes an economic issue as well. house, i got the opportunity to work behind the scenes with kellyanne as the

leader of the effort and to work with many of my colleagues on the stage today. since i started last week, i had the opportunity to meet with tony luke, who runs a chain of cheesesteak restaurants in philly. congratulations. tragically, he lost this as well as on -- last year. a woman is raising her granddaughter as her own daughter fights the challenge. when i met with the first lady of north dakota and shared her she mentioned in north dakota, i think it is one a familyven either has member, friend, or a neighbor impacted by this. for the first time publicly, i

want to tell you i am that one in seven. i have a family member touched by this and last year in the rehab center with a family member, i was holding the person's hand and trying to be that support system so it is a great honor for me to take it on. this is a professional and personal challenge for me, the president, and every member of this administration. the last thing i want to close ofh is sadly at the office drug control policy, we have a collection of prayer cards from the funerals of some of the young people. .astor, you talked about that you had a collection of the prayer cards and one i keep on reads god of love, graciously ease our burdens from this epidemic. , our anxieties and strengthen our faith. withk forward to working

you all on the great epidemic. thank you, everyone. [applause] >> thank you. obviously, the president made in choice. andill take a brief break bring up our law enforcement panel in about five minutes. thank you. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute,

which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] @[captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2017] [indistinct conversations]

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>> the white house is hosting this summit on the opioid dutch opioid epidemic. fromard earlier from me --

interested departments. summit should resume in a few minutes. it was kicked off by first lady melania trump, the president at midday announcing that the administration will post care -- will have terrace on steel. --tarriffs on steel and aluminum. president trump is expected to attend tomorrow the funeral of reverend billy graham in charlotte, north carolina. we will have coverage of that on c-span, it is expected to start at noon, eastern. [indistinct conversations]

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opioid epidemic summit has already heard from ben carson, david shulkin, and alex a czar. --azaar. we are also going to hear from jeff sessions, and kristen nielsen in the next portion of the summit, live here at the white house. posted by white house advisor kellyanne conway. we should be underway shortly. the white house at the -- the

president at the white house today, meeting with steel and aluminum executives, declaring his intention to have a tariff.

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>> the opioid epidemic summit at the white house started this afternoon with several cabinet

secretaries, david shulkin, ben carson, and alex azaar, the next panel, we should be hearing from attorney general jeff sessions, homeland security secretary carson nielsen -- kirsten nielsen. the president was meeting with steel and illuminative -- aluminum executives, announcing the associated press saying that he summoned the executives, telling them that next week there would be a steel, and on aluminum as well. we will cover that meeting with the executives later in our schedule. also the associated press said the president was to attend the billy graham funeral tomorrow in charlotte, north carolina.

will haveastern, we live coverage of that, here on c-span. kellyanne: welcome back, this is our second panel with jeff sessions, tristan nielsen, and the deputy secretary of state mr. sullivan. the focus of this panel is interdiction and law enforcement. which is involved in the drug supply and demand effort. further do, i would like to recognize attorney general sessions to begin. thank you. you can stand if you'd like, it is up to you.

jeff: thank you all, it is so good to be with you. we are at a point where we are going to make some progress in america. i'm convinced. we know the prices for illegal drugs are down. the availability is up. and appeared he is up. and the addiction is up. and the death is up. , particularly with the combinations we are seeing, is extraordinary. involved in the early 80's, as an attorney working on these issues. we never saw anything like the .eath that we are seeing today it is totally unprecedented in the history of this country, it cannot continue. it will not continue. the president has made it clear that we are going to be resolute in the administration. to theoing to respond

declaration of emergency. we are going to make a diffe rence. i can sense it already and some of the policies already. we announced the largest medical takedown in the history of our country. we had over 120 professional nurses, and doctors, who had -- , that werei believe involved -- involved in illegal prescription drugs. we know as 80% of addiction say .tart with prescription drugs it is an extraordinary number, and we will continue to research it. i have no doubt it is an extraordinary -- extreme air lehigh amount. later, aad, a week shutdown of alpha-beta.

that hadark website 220,000 sites where people could order directly through the mail, illegal drugs. small, compact, and such a little bit is so powerful that they were able to ship these kind of drugs in the mail. to fbi doubled three sources identify earlier, we are not itng to let those sites that big in the future. we're going to continue to work on that. creatingve -- we are the opioid fraud abuse and its -- and detection network, which is a data .nalytics system which works with computers and the drug enforcement administration so we can easily determine what positions

pharmacies, and other distributors, are moving prescription drugs. merryf the march toward outliers, giving us indication where fraud and abuse is occurring, so we can move quickly on that. it has not been done before. packages are being set up right now for investigators, and cases are being made. i did not think too much about it, -- one of them said when i -- i did not think much about it, but when i see that there are six professional positions in pittsburgh, and everyone of them were on this list. it made me a believer. and a lot more that he did not know about. specialists. the attorneys to hotspot around the country to focus on that. --two indicted to

chinese nationals on drug-related charges. these drugs come times direct -- come directly through the mail to our communities. there is a unique program called that is the fbi's program with the dea to identify through the darknet and actually purchase undercover, drugs in that way to target those groups. we also have the prescription intervention and litigation task force. we have us several to file civil lawsuits, and we believe we can to stop aunction pharmacy from prescribing drugs, because they have to comply with the law,. we could then continue with a criminal investigation as need be. we've also found litigation that could be filed today, announcing

multi-ention to try district litigation efforts around the country. thank you. ok, good. say,l just end there to this is what we are doing. believe that if we do these things effectively, we can reduce the amount of, addiction, and distraction that these drugs are causing today. it is unacceptable in this country. we will do our part, kellyanne, i know -- i have to say kellyanne's leadership is going to be so important. we do want prevention, we need to educate people, the president has used the phrase just don't

start. if you do not start like he never started, you do not get a dig did. we want to -- addicted. we want to encourage people to communicate well. kellyanne. thank you. kellyanne: thank you. [applause] i was there on tuesday when you had the press conference with the state attorneys general, and the acting director of the dea. i was really struck by the bipartisan approach that the attorney general's had towards the prescription intervention litigation announcement. jsten.onto secretary kir aspects of law enforcement, go into waging this battle. hear therious to

progress before, and the vision for the future. thank you. good afternoon everyone, i appreciate the opportunity to join you today. i am sure you have heard before, and you will continue to hear for the rest of the day, how we much chris -- must pursue this partnership. from the department of homeland security, we also have ice and ccp here. they do this every day, to protect our borders and interiors from all threats. which recently, unfortunately, includes opioids. when the president declared the opioid crisis as it public health emergency, he sent a very strong statement. we will continue to fight with all of the tools we have at our disposal. partnersction with our in the department of state and

others. in october, we had assessed the current threats, and determine where we might have gaps. this is allowed us to leverage our investigation and intelligence efforts whichdhs i. cvp but we have multiple agents throughout the department. so leveraging our investigative and intelligence efforts. we have had great success on that front, particularly with our friends in mexico and we continue to look for new partners. fentanyl continues as the attorney general mentioned to come in packages of all sorts of sizes and in the hands of .co's

we look at it within our borders and we look at stopping it across our borders. to prevent entry, we work with the oj and state and our law enforcement counterparts in mexico, and central america, and flow, butrevent the also to share the information. the share of information has two purposes. one, stop the drugs before they other is to help us as partners dismantle the tcos themselves that are the force behind the epidemic. this information sharing helps us to stop the flow, facilitate and management -- responsibilities across all partners. i wanted to use one example. we have border enforcement security task forces which has one of those good acroynms,

bets. ice -- icevp and has bets and 58 locations across the united states. it represents over 100 law-enforcement agencies. also has officers at hundreds of points of entry and only check of billions of dollars of cargo, they are particularly focused on fentanyl. afterizures of fentanyl radically increased in the last two years. 2017. 1485 pounds in in extraordinarily small quantities is lethal. ront this explosion,

they have expanded the use of caninesand all cvp working that now have the ability to detect drugs and fentanyl. while we do not see a significant amount of the opioids being trafficked, other narcotics are increasing. that deprives funds from the tc os. sale, we are also committed to not only preventing the source that also preventing the movement and into our country. the attorney general mentioned the dark web. we support his efforts. they also contribute to the ice homelanddoes

security investigations. dhs has a broad mission but we do work to bring everything we have. the dark net, i would just add one comment -- it is anonymous. it makes it difficult to track who is doing what in terms of buying and selling. with our partners, we are doing just that. we also work to support the apprehension and prosecution. we work closely with our law enforcement. what i would say in closing date is the sheer magnitude of this t means we have to partner. many times, today in other forums, there is not one entity that has all of the authorities, capabilities, and capacity to fight this alone, so we greatly appreciate everybody in this room. we cannot do it without you. the president and vice president for their continued

leadership and kellyanne for all of the work you have been doing. kellyanne: thank you very much. [applause] really terrific to have the state department involved in this effort and today, i am happy to present to you for his remarks, the deputy secretary of state sullivan. >> thank you, kellyanne, it is an honor. thank you for your leadership and the general sessions and secretary nielsen, you might wonder why the state department is here. this is the whole of government effort. the president has made this a top priority for his administration. the state department is involved because the problem we confront is not merely domestic. ghe opioids that are killin american citizens are produced overseas, they are trafficked by criminal organizations that operate transnationally.

and thee departments networks of criminal activity they perpetuate -- the networks of criminal activity of trafficking drugs, addressing the opioid crisis is a whole of government effort. role iste department's r to support all of the work that the department of justice and the other cabinet departments are doing to address this problem. and to enlist the support of our es and partners and neighbors in mexico. this is our highest of drug control priority. the bulk of the state department's counter narcotics

harvested ins mexico is over 90% of the u.s. supply of heroin. the tco's that smuggle it are the targets the dhs and the department of justice are working to stop. we are strengthening cooperation illegalico to interdict transports, find and punish criminals involved, and cut off their sources of funding. in december of last year, secretary tillerson and i along with general sessions and secretary nielsen continued the strategic dialogue we have with mexico on disrupting transnational criminal organizations. we are working with our mexican counterparts to find ways to disrupt the revenue streams with are responsible of trafficking heroin and other illicit drugs. we working with mexico to

eradicate poppy rocks, enhanced border security, and bring drug traffickers do justice. over 100 of mexico's most wanted targets, have been arrested, killed, extradited. we support mexico's efforts to drugand destroy it -- labs. since 2008, the united states has donated and supported training of more than 500 canines who are assigned to mexican and federal state law enforcement agencies. we sponsored training for canines and handling teams to detect weapons, cash, and drugs. specificudes fentanyl

detection training with cooperation with our neighbor to the north, canada. last fall, the human commission on narcotic drugs put to international controls in the primary ingredients used to produce fentanyl. this action was taken at the request of the united states and such measures are producing results. seeno this change, dea has a decline in the presence of these chemicals in the drug market. in two weeks, the u.n. commission will address controls on five other synthetic opioids including the deadly opioid, car fentanyl. the state department is also building departments. these efforts allow for law anyrcement to more predict packages that may contain fentanyl.

china is a growing area of focus. energized by president trump's visit to china last november, the united states and china have forged a relationship. as a result of our cooperation, china has established a mastic restrictions on the production and sale of 143 -- established dramatic restrictions on the production and sale of 143 substances. seeing ately, we are new trend of rogue chinese chemists who are manufacturing illicit opioids, selling them online to drug traffickers, and shipping them in small quantities. i secretary nielsen mentioned, the amount of fentanyl necessary for a lethal dose is extremely small. we are talking about small quantities.

in response, we are working closely with china to improve coordination and screening of mail packages. we are in an aggressive timetable to get all packages coming from china tagged. with going to continue china and other sources. collaboration is the only way we can tackle a problem that has no regard for international borders. the state department will continue to aggressively pursue this fight against opioids in partnerships with all other nations. thank you. [applause] kellyanne: thank you, deputy secretary cello and. for it wery sullivan very much appreciate all of the efforts the state department, by secretary tillerson and you and your team.

we are going to open up for questions. first, new york city, dr. jeanette. hi. good afternoon, every wind. it is great to be here to discuss a critical issue. i am a family and emergency medicine doctor. i've witnessed firsthand with my patients how devastating it horrific it is -- not just for the user, but for their families . it can have a detrimental impact on families and tear families apart. i will never forget, resuscitating a young teenage boy found unconscious by his friend. the worst part is having to tell his family, having to tell his mom. it was heart-wrenching.

i hope and pray that i will never have to do that again. you, kellyanne, and all of you and president trump are elevating this issue -- i thin you, kellyanne, and all of you and president trump for elevating this issue. what advice do you have for health care providers on the front line facing this crisis? kellyanne: any of you are welcome to answer that. there is a nexus between a law enforcement and how -- health care providers. in some jurisdictions, a fire truck is more likely to respond. >> yes. one of the ways for many decades that we have analyzed how serious the drug problem is is emergency room admissions. i do not think we have every seen -- we have ever seen the

admissions like what we have recently seen. that connection is important. i would say to you that most of us know somebody who is also enffered in that way, be hospitalized, homeless, and lost their jobs or families and the grassroots communication of the danger of these drugs is the long-term solution we can have. i really do believe that. i think it worked previously against the cocaine epidemic and believe it will work now. when you can speak out to your community about a disaster of young lives being lost, that would be an -- important. in new hampshire, 9000 high school students, 50 mothers stood before them holding large photographs of their children who died of drug overdose.

it was a powerful thing to see and i hope we will all be touched by it. just add, we always ask for your partnership because it is through the information that you provide that we can really get after the supply chain. we need to understand where it from,ing, where comes and to is affecting. we thank you for everything you do. i will say that secretary tillerson wants shared with me and a few others that he believes patients should be told more. but they do not need to take all of the pain medication. part of the prescribing is pain management. i know you heard that earlier, but it tells you how much everyone is thinking of inter -- how intertwined the issue is.

the next question comes from princeton, west virginia. t, last week, the usda issued some guidance on opioids in rural america and i think your question has something to do with that as well. >> it certainly does. thank you so much. i have a couple of prepared remarks to preclude. my name is greg and i am a commissioner in west virginia. active in primary prevention strategies through local community-based coalitions and last 17 you -- for the last 17 years. i want to give you a quick snapshot of what it is like to live in rural america. we started this in 1998 with oxycontin. it was designated hillbilly heroin. we saw this coming but it also society as a

whole. in the last 19 years, the social service system we have seen has become overloaded. toloyment rates have risen record levels and i can tell you from 2005 to 2012, the amount of opioids that came to my community with over 16 million. in a county of 61,000. west virginia has declared a state of emergency for hepatitis c and seven counties including mine are at risk for hiv outbreak. that is due to 20 counties out of the thousand 60 -- this is 220 counties out of 3060 united states. hours. one every 10 if you're looking at it from an incarceration perspective, it in mercer county, our jail bail is $1.7 million -- jail bill is

$1.7 million. in ruralunds communities and look at primary prevention and treatment strategies and unnecessarily focus on higher population levels. this leads to my question. with the ongoing exponential problems associated with opioids merica, is the administration willing to send additional resources to fix these areas first, where they are the greatest? >> we are. i appreciate your comments because it is extraordinary how much impacted our rural areas are. you see in no place worse than west virginia. so theyhas reorganized , team that section

will be focused on kentucky, tennessee, and west virginia. we have the highest problems there. the dea also has six special teams they deployed, and four of those six go to rural areas. we have a designated every united states attorney's office andecialist on opioid cases they are supposed to coordinate our efforts. i know they will be identifying the rural areas as the hotspots. it is remarkable to me how the opioids have impacted our rural areas and some of the information and data that you just shared from west virginia is shocking. new data analytics situation and the numbers would

have identified some of the problems you have had in west virginia many years before it ever reach the epidemic level it did. add, we recognize that this does not know any specific geographic boundaries. so the department of homeland security will identify where the risk is and put the resources there. equal sos all areas working with united states post office, working with dea, d oj, is working to get at that part of the flow. thank you, kevin from hamilton, new jersey. while we are talking about maps and identifying spikes in need, sir? >> thank you very much. happy st. patrick's month to

everybody. i would like to thank the president, first lady, and everybody who has never said it no to the parents. my name is kevin and my wife marianne and i volunteer for a small mom-and-pop nonprofit in new jersey. all volunteers and we do not have any federal grants or state grants. my question is -- i forgot. delhi and my wife said the only way i could retire if -- is with you on the opioid epidemic, so since you are both the jersey girls, i figured you could work it out with her? [laughter] kellyanne: you got it. >> thank you very much. i am a professional. i'm just a dad that buried his son. when we lost him to

the east room of the white house. with all due respect, i have traded all -- i would have traded all of this for five more minutes with him. city of angels, although it is small nonprofits, we think we do on the leading edge of the curve and what i mean by that is, we started sending volunteers into hospitals and into emergency rooms and into police departments back in 2008. now they call them recovery coaches and hope and angel programs. question centers around od ,ap, another leading edge thing and we found this down to baltimore-dc. it is an app for your phone where police responders

responding to an overdose can sign on and send information and the od would be tracked in real time. this would also go to help identify spikes. we are hoping that if there is a possibility, this could be done as a national model and introduced as such. i'm going to close by saying, i look at your chair -- your empty 5394 from today, march 1 to april 1 easter sunday -- that is how many chairs will be empty at easter tables because we are losing 170 people to overdoses every day. i will close by saying, thank you very much secretaries. you want to know me for what i

have learned over the last 10 years, you do not want to be me for what eric and these other parent of gone through. thank you. [applause] . kellyanne: think you for sharing your story and making a difference for others. for sharing your story and making a difference for others. we will keep you in our prayers. attorney general, you talked about data analytics and talking about data sharing to tracking overdose spikes. anything you want to talk about? program started early last year and a lot of our places are looking at that around the country with three or more counties were in the initial raw jet. it is proving successful and being adopted.

-- thehe additional country with three or more counties in the initial adop tion. byn if it reduces a problem 1%, to present, are 5%, will help us to be more effective over time. -- and neww hampshire when i was there for the first time, you would think supplypowerful fentanyl starts killing people, people would flee from it. the dea tells us that some people come and they want more of the more powerfuld rug -- drug. this earlier notification can spikes of extremely

dangerous levels of fentanyl. kellyanne: thank you very much. another father who has been able to take that resolve and action forward -- we saw him on tape earlier is my old friend, eric along with his wife adrian. they have a story to tell. eric, you have a question about interdiction that you would like to pose. er -- eric: first of all, i would like to say thank you to president trump, first lady, kellyanne, the secretary, and the generals. thank you so much. law enforcement, they are on the front line and they have been amazing. some of the things they see, you would not wish on anyone. and finally, thanks to the

parents that came here. .e do not sign up for this it has been very difficult. my question was on the fentanyl and the illegal chinese fentanyl and i think you guys are on top of it. my son died of an accidental overdose money bought a pill on give us. he thought it was a xanax -- it was purchased from someone on campus and it was laced with fentanyl and he died in his sleep. 8, onsed on september september 9 we flew out to see a doctor and we are about to go to the coroner. my phone rang and it was president trump and he said, you're in my thoughts and prayers. a few weeks later, it was

thanksgiving. first holiday after his passing and we are talking and about to sit down with a small group of people, six or so of our family members, and there is the empty chair. i know it is going to happen, we are going to fall apart. as the turkeys on the table we are walking over to the table and it is president trump saying , this is very difficult, this is the first holiday without your son, if you need anything let me know. and i said, mr. president, can i talk to you about this crisis that is killing our young people. he said, absolutely. that is i began talking to him and kellyanne about the opioid crisis. i'm getting involved as a father. website, issue, no

just don't want anyone else to feel the depths of despair that you feel and you lose a child. familiessenting the who are here who have lost loved ones. [applause] >> it is you. it is not made. general sessions, -- it is not me. general sessions, thank you. general nielsen -- secretary nielsen, thank you. ivan, thank you very much for what you are doing. lean on china as hard as you can. my question was answered but thank you all so much. [applause] >> first of all, please accept my condolences to everyone in this room who has lost someone. we only need to work together to

prevent families from feeling pain but it doesn't -- does not alleviate the pain you feel so thank you. >> when it comes to border security, it is not and it should not be a political football. it i -- is real. the threat is real. i hope that we can all work together on bipartisan legislation that will give the men and women of dhs the tools they need to secure our borders. itonly to each other to give a good shot of trying to stop the drug from getting into our country. thank you for raising that. >> i would just add on china, we work very closely with the chinese government. listed prescribed 143

chemicals that are banned under chinese law. we are working to identify other chemicals and analogs of the opiates that also need to be addressed. there are three aspects of it. one is identifying the substances that need to be declared illegal and controlled. then working with law enforcement in other countries lawhey -- their enforcement with the support from us can go after the drug labs, go after the transnational criminal organizations. finally, one thing that may be is the use of mail. we have really got to focus on that. the amount of substance that is

dangerous that can be sent by mail is very small. we have got to work on tracking, detection, and so forth. working with international postal authorities so a lot for us to work on. it is a priority for us for secretary tillerson and for the president. thank you. kellyanne: thank you mr. deputy secretary. although it from anchorage, alaska, j butler. -- jay butler. good afternoon. >> thank you. i have the privilege of being the chief medical officer for the great state of alaska so i'm here to tell you that no part of or country is too remote immune of the threat of the epidemic. i also have the privilege of under nine departments of

state government to work together under this response. i would like to thank the president and all of you for being here today. i say six departments, maybe more. i want to thank you for the support we received from the federal government in terms of funding because working together and with adequate funding, we can make a difference. the good news is, we are ready seeing progress. in alaska, we are seeing declines in overdose deaths related to prescription opioids. the bad news, that progress is being obliterated by the influx o o fentanyl. huge increases related to fentanyl and are most remote villages. , andnyl is powerful, cheap easily transported. we feel like much of the transport was in the 50 states and certainly within our state is related to transport on

commercial air carriers. my question is how can we improve the screening for illicit drugs fentanyl and methamphetamine which we are seeing more of on commercial air carriers, particularly in checked baggage, carry on, and ships packages? and even more, how can we help assure that law enforcement and drug dogs have access to areas controlled by the commercial carriers. thank you. >> thank you. thank you for that question. we are celebrating 15 years of the creation of the department of homeland security which is both a happy day and a sad day. sad because we have to have a department of homeland security but we talked a lot about an expanding mission and part of this is in respect to drugs. in aviation, we think of bombs, passengers, but

drugs are more top of mind. cbp is our role but premier components with identifying out only high-risk passengers but those parcels that might contain drugs. dogs are very important asset. we love our dogs. they do incredible work. they put themselves in danger each day and they are unprotected. if they smell of -- of they sniff a small amount of fentanyl , they will die. we protect our officers but the targeting becomes very important. that is where i echo the attorney general and the secretaries element -- and comments.sullivan's we cannot possibly go through everyone's piece of luggage. the last thing i would mention is technology.

we continue to look at technology at our ports of entry make sure airports to we can get down to a level where dic -- interdict you in small amounts of drugs. thank you. >> thank you mr. butler. thank you for being here. attorney general sessions, we heard a comment earlier from west virginia that you touched upon but i was wondering if you would not mind telling us a little bit about the department of justice may be able to do to crack down on the pill mills and fraudulent prescriptions knowing there are tens of millions of americans who suffer from chronic pain and needles medications. we're talking about the pill mills and fraudulent prescriptions like in west virginia. ag sessions: yes. definitely being looked at.

we as a nation are an outlier. me more pain medications by prescription than any other country in the world by far. ,hat is resulting in addiction substantial percentage of addicts started with pain pills. drug enforcement administration -- i am sending a directive request today to look at their regulatory capabilities that we can perhaps reduce the number of drugs being prescribed in america. about prescription drugs in particular. we want the death rates down and we would like to see the amount of drugs prescribed down. if we are an outlier and we weigh above those rights limits and we have medicare, medicaid,

and private insurance paying for these drugs to make people sick, it makes no sense whatsoever. it is killing people. we have got to tighten that up. nowre above the right level and we are taking a number of steps. the dea can fully license for someone identified as an -- forr prescriber someone they identify as an evenper prescriber before a criminal case is made. we cannot wait a year for a criminal case to be made and they continue to prescribe drugs . we can do that through civil lawsuits and we are looking to civilly join with our state and some of the litigation they are filing and we are looking to see if there are additional civil litigation of the department of justice can take independently of the state lawsuits. kellyanne: thank you very much.

,eputy secretary sullivan secretary of homeland security mrs. nielsen, and attorney general jeff sessions, please join me in thanking them for this panel. [applause] >> thank you very much. the first panel was about treatment and prevention and recovery. education. this panel on law-enforcement interdiction, this is a president who is committed to all three fronts. of course treatment and recovery. every great movement has wonderful people who are marshaling their efforts on the ground. after vick administration of cabinet members and sub cabinet agains -- i want a say with great distinction and

gratitude from each and every one of us, the biggest stars of the show today are those families and those who are affected who have the courage to come here. we pray for you and do we thank you very much for coming forward helping us him as crisis next door. every great movement as a leader. our leader is the president of the united states and it gives me great honor and pleasure to introduce you to him right now. the president of the united states, donald j. trump. [applause] pres. trump: well, thank you very much, kellyanne. it is an honor to be with you. i just said i was going to stop over and say hello to some of the great families and some someds that have had

incredible difficulty. i know what you are going through. melania is here someplace, where is our first lady? hello, darling. she feels so strongly about it, kellyanne feel so strongly about it, and i do. great friend from new york city, steve, stand up. difficulty.big steve, come up. he has been one of my great friends over the years. tremendously successful man -- would you want to discuss this because we are all among friends? it is a tough thing to discuss, right? i was there when he was going through something with a very special boy, right? go ahead. >> i remember the hug you gave

when i feltworld -- all was lost. i listen to eric's story. i love my son in 2011 and he did not buy drugs on the darknet, he bought drugs on the internet. websites owned by three of the largest u.s. corporations in the country today. it is not just the darknet. he was a great kid. he detoxed the first night with me. she was myhat special child so when i lost essm, i always felt hopel before you are elected. i have never lobby to my friend about anything. but if my son new york going to take up this battle, he must be upstairs applauding every single day. i'm so grateful. thank you. [applause]

pres. trump: steve went through something where you got everything was perfect. he thought everything was fine and his boy was recovered for it all of a sudden out of nowhere, he got some very bad news. i fully understand what you are going through. the administration is going to be rolling out policy over the next three weeks and it will be very, very strong. i've also spoken with jeff about bringing a lawsuit against some of these opioid companies. what they are doing and the way they distribution -- the distribution, people go to the hospital with a broken arm, and they come out addicted to painkillers. they do not even know what happened. they go in for something minor and they come out and they are in serious shape. -- we going to very much have been involved more than any

administration by five. it is a problem that is growing. are similar but different problem in the sense that we are pushers and we have drug dealers that kill hundreds and hundreds of people. most of them do not even go to jail. if you shoot one person, they give you life, the death penalty , the people can kill 2000, 3000 people and nothing happens. we need strength with respect to the pushers and drug dealers. if we do not do that, you are never going to solve the problem. if you want to be weak and you want to talk about blue-ribbon committees -- that is not the answer. the answer is you have to have strength and toughness for drug dealers, drug pushers -- they are doing damage. they are really doing damage. some countries have a very, very tough penalty. the ultimate penalty.

they have much less of a drug problem. are going to have to be very strong on penalties. hopefully we can do some litigation against the opioid companies. i think it is very important because they live states are doing it. if the states are doing it, why is not the federal government doing it. [applause] pres. trump: so that will happen. that will happen. in the meantime, i want to pay my respects to everybody. some of you have gone through a lot. many of you in this room have gone through a lot. more than anyone can imagine. you are with you 100%, we are fighting for you, and we are going to win. thank you very much. thank you, everybody. thank you. [applause]

>> thank you all for coming.

>> president trump expected to attend the funeral of the reverend billy graham who passed away last week at the age of 99. at a tentl be held outside of the billy graham library in charlotte, north carolina. we will have live coverage here on c-span. the supremeht, court case janice versus american federation of state county minutes of full employees -- the case was argued monday

and supreme court releases the audio from the oral argument friday. it deals with the issue of whether government employees were not members of a union have to pay fees to compensate the .nion for collective bargaining that supreme court argument friday night at 8:00 eastern. skew and,on c-span political magazine contributing editor joshua talks about his book "building the great insider lyndon johnson's white house." and administration within the space of 4.5 years, five years, built all of these programs and after they passed congress -- how did they build medicare and medicaid from the ground up in one year and how did they create the first programs like head start or food stamps, the

traditional programs for children, and how did they do this while desegregating a third of the country? hospitals, nursing homes, schools, and also fighting a war of vietnam. >> q and a, sunday night at 8:00 eastern on c-span. transportation secretary elaine chao testified before the senate environment and public works committee about the president's infrastructure plan. >> good morning. today we will discuss the need to modernize our nation's infrastructure and president trump pots plan for rebuilding infrastructure.