kuster: thank you, mr. guinta and thank you for your leadership and to all the parties pab pants in this bipartisan special order to put a face on this epidemic. i rise as co-chair of the bipartisan task force to combat the heroin epidemic to join my colleagues on both sides of the aisle who have spoken to highlight the impact that this devastating impact has had in our home state of new hampshire and all across the country. just a few months ago, our fask force held a similar special order to focus on the human aspects of this crisis and how it is affecting families and friends and colleagues in communities all across our district. well, the crew -- while the crisis is continuing, the good news is we are making important progress toward a solution here in congress. i'm appreciative of the important work that the senate undertook in passing the comprehensive addiction and recovery act and i want to thank democratic and republican leadership as well of the relevant committees for their hard work in recent we

kuster and mr. guinta for the good work they've done in calling attention this evening to this crisis that now threatens to overwhelm rehabilitation centers across the country. what i want to specifically cite in my comments for the next few minutes, a very human story. her name is bethany. and she wrote to me on january 18 of this year. dear congressman neal, i am writing to you regarding the heroin prescription pill crisis our state and nation is currently entrenched in. i am a physician assistant who graduated wake forest baptist medical school in 2003. i have worked in various outpatient clinics as well as bay state medical center in springfield, massachusetts, and others. i have treated overdose patients, been alongside physicians who have pronounced patients deceased from an overdose, as well as having referred patients to crisis support teams, outpatient treatment and rehabs. after all of this, i never expected that i would become addicted to prescription painkillers after a series of surgeri

kuster: mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute and to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. ms. kuster: i rise today to highlight the crucial importance of addressing the heroin epidemic that is sweeping across this nation. i have been holding a series of regional briefings in my home state of new hampshire to hear firsthand from communities working to fight this crisis. i've heard from far too many families who have lost loved ones to this epidemic because no treatment options were available. in the fall of 2014, a high school french teacher in one of my towns, beloved by her students, died of an overdose in part because she could not get access to the treatment she needed. and my good friend, chris, lost her stepdaughter, amber to addiction when no treatment beds were available. this is simply unacceptable. we need to take action now to fight back against this epidemic and arm our communities with the resources to help indivi

kuster of new hampshire. the chair: pursuant to house resolution 720, the gentlewoman from new hampshire, ms. kuster, and a member opposed, each will control five minutes. the chair recognizes the gentlelady from new hampshire. ms. kuster: thank you, mr. chair. the underlying bill before us authorizes creation of an interagency task force to combat the opiate epidemic, and i want to commend the gentlelady from indiana and our colleague from massachusetts, mr. kennedy, for their hard work on this issue. a small step -- this important legislation will make it easier to tackle this crisis in a holistic way that addresses all angles of the crisis, including law enforcement, education and prevention, and most importantly treatment and lifelong recovery. i thank congressman brooks and congressman kennedy for their great work on this bill as well as the leadership of the chair and ranking member. in fact, a similar provision of this legislation was included in the stop abuse act that i introduced with my colleague,

kuster from our great state of new hampshire. ms. kuster: thank you very much, mr. guinta and thank you for your leadership and to everyone who participated tonight. the idea behind a special order to put a face on this terrible heroin epidemic and addiction generally is to create compassion and empathy both among our colleagues but for those of you who may be watching at home, we need a societal change in the way we approach substance use disorder. we need to understand that this is a disease, i say at home frequently, every time you hear the word addict, think of the word diabetic. we don't say to someone, we can't treat you because you've just eaten cake. essentially we say that's a really hard disease for you to live with and we want to help you. and that's the message that we want to convey tonight, to families in new hampshire and all across this country. we want to be a part of the solution. and that's going to include prevention, education, treatment, access to treatment and expanding access to treatment and then lifelong recovery. we know that the brain cha

kuster. the chair: the gentlelady is recognized. ms. kuster: thank you, ranking member kaptur. i rise today to speak about the importance of the funding of office of public participation within the federal energy regulatory commission known to us as the ferc and has never been acted despite prior authorization. with the expansion of natural gas infrastructure in the northeast and across the country, it makes sense that we finally fund the office of public participation to better incorporate the voices of average citizens in ferc proceedings and provide robust outreach efforts to communities and individuals that are impacted by energy projects. considering the broad authority that the ferc has over domestic energy markets and its control over the approval of energy infrastructure projects, average citizens simply do not have a sufficient public interest presence on the national level. with 27 states offering an existing consumer advocacy office, it is imperative that a similar national office

one of the difficult things is after the civil war, actually like immediately after the civil war, kuster starts to do things that create messes for himself and this is part over the wheel -- the fun of writing about him, is that -- i like to compare him to walter white of breaking bad. sometimes you like him, other times you realize he is doing horrible things but he is creating disasters he has to get out of and that's custer's life, and more and more so after the civil war. a lot of people loved him so when he got himself deeper and deeper in the hole and became more and more morally ambiguous and sometimes reprehensible, especially with issues of race. the struggle for the writer, why people did like him. some people hated him personally, but some people always loved him. and so that dual nature he had is very hard to keep in mind. there's a very -- whole books written about the aftermath of the little big horn. just want to say there was a real scramble to try to lay blame, and a lot of the whole image of custer as being reckless started after the war, sheridan and grant led the way

i rise in support of my amendment that i introduced with my colleague, congresswoman kuster. this amendment would add prevention and recovery programs to the list of allowable uses in this legislation. while the opioid misuse and overdose epidemic is taking a terrible toll on our nation, with proper treatment and recovery, support systems, individuals can and do recover. today, 23 million americans are in recovery from substance use disorders and are contributing to our society and to our economy. in my home state of new hampshire, over 430 people died of opioid overdose just last year. this number unfortunately is expected to rise in 2016. by allowing prevention and recovery programs to receive this important grant money, individuals who need the long-term recovery support have a better chance of surviving and thriving as they beat their addiction. beyond the work that we are doing here in congress, i'd like to thank all of those heroes that are helping our communities to address this widening crisis. specifically in new hampshire, people like my friend, melissa cruz, is amo

kuster: thank you, mr. speaker. today i rise to discuss bipartisan efforts to improve the work our nation does to care for our veterans. next week we will be honoring those who gave their lives for this country on memorial day. we will commemorate the lives and the sacrifices of those who died while wearing the uniform of the united states of america. we will rightly recognize their courage and commitment, but we must also ensure we continue to recognize the same courage and dedication found in our veterans and active duty personnel and the challenges that many of them face as they transition into civilian life. the improving transition programs for all veterans act will allow congress, the v.a. and the department of labor and defense to better understand these challenges. the study created by this bill will allow us to understand what is working, what is not working and how veterans can best be placed in a position to succeed once they transition to civilian life. it will allow us to better understand the challenge

kuster: thank you, mr. speaker. today i rise to recognize and celebrate gene connelly, the principal of concord high school, my alma mater, in concord, new hampshire, who will be retiring from his position at the end of this school year. over the past 14 years, principal connelly has served at the helm of conquord high school leading the school to -- concord high school leading the school to championships and academic heights. if it wasn't for his diagnosis of a.l.s. in july, 2014, there is no doubt that principal connelly would continue to serve the students of concord high. i have the privilege of meeting with principal connelly -- i had the privilege of meeting with principal connelly last week in d.c. when he came to congress to support a.l.s. patients. it's a testament to his unparalleled leadership and courage that even in the face of extreme adversity, principal connelly is spending his time advocating for legislation that will benefit a.l.s. patients in the future. he has changed the lives of generations of

kuster. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman is recognized. ms. kuster: thank you, mr. speaker, and i thank the gentleman from colorado for yielding. i also thank the representative from georgia, the chairman, for your words. in new hampshire, actually right now we have a four times greater chance of dying from a heroin or opioid overdose than a car accident, as you've pointed out in national statistics. this morning i rise to say that i am proud of what the house has been able to accomplish this week in a bipartisan way, working to address this critical challenge of substance use disorder that's devastating communities in my home state of new hampshire and all across the country. last year i had the honor to co-found with my colleague from new hampshire, mr. guinta, the bipartisan task force to combat the heroin epidemic, to address the critical problem that heroin and opioid addiction are bringing to every corner of my district and most parts of the country. the membership of the task force now includes 83 members, about half republicans and democrats who are dedicate

let's get in forums ann kuster: like this and fix the problem but at the same time get a message going out there that treatment works and it doesn't have to be that way. so i think -- >> well, my time is up. i'm sorry, we'll have to come back on another round. i would just say i saw the other night on television this invictus that's going on this week with the sports. >> yes. >> so powerful, the hidden wounds of war. and this is part of what we're going through in the addiction community, anonymity has been such a big part of this. >> yes. >> which is important for treatment. >> yes. >> but for those on the other side to come out and start to tell their story is so to powerful. >> so powerful. >> so thank you. >> thank you. >> thank you very much. dr. benishek, you're recognized. >> thank you, mr. chairman. i, too, would like to thank you all for being here this morning. i just want to follow up on something with dr. mccarthy that's been bugging me since i've been around here. i don't know, i mean, is it emblematic of what's going on? is it a sign of the sincerity of the v.a., but i ha