mr. latta, for five minutes. mr. latta: thank you very much, mr. chairman. thank you very much to our panel for being here today, as you-all know about every member in this committee represents a district that's having a real epidemic on their own. unfortunately in ohio we all know what's happening there. we're behind florida and pennsylvania. we saw in 2015, 3,050 pass away. n 2016, that number went up to 4,050. in the 4,050. in the fiscal year ending june 30 of last year, it was 5,232 people. it's affecting lives across this country. it's destroying too many families. so many babies are being born with complication was addiction issues that -- they are losing their parents. it's truly a epidemic in this country. with my legislation that i have introduced it's important, my belief, one of the things that i have run across my district and talked with professionals out there, law enforcement, it's very difficult for individuals out there to find, especially from smaller areas like -- that i repr

mr. latta's subcommittee -- looking more at how the utilization is on the social media sites, and as ahey are being utilized news source, to be certain that what you are not spreading is misinformation on this. i don't know all the answers, when outletseciate and in and talk with us express their concerns, and express the need to find some sort of best practices. as i was talking with a broadcaster recently who said many times, if industry will drop their guard between one another and will sit down and discuss what they -- and will sit down and discuss, what they will find is they together can work and establish some best actresses and end some of the spreading of misinformation. tony: to your point of having news directors, that promise the question, do you see companies like facebook and youtube to be neutral when it comes to dealing with politics? some folks have talked about net neutrality applying to tech platforms. you see these companies as neutral arbiters? representative blackburn: they prioritize what they want to push forward first. of course, you have seen that with the search

mr. latta's subcommittee, looking at how the utilization is on the social media sites and how they are being utilized as a news source to be certain that what you're not spreading is misinformation on this. i don't know all the answers, i'm not sure anyone does. but i do appreciate when outlets come in and talk with us and express their concerns and express the need to find some sort of best practices. and i was talking with a broadcaster recently who said, you know, many times if industry will drop their guard between one another and will sit down and discuss what they will find is that they can together as a group work together and establish some best practices and end some of the spreading of misinformation. >> to your point about having news directors of sorts at some of these major online platforms, i guess that then prompts the question do you see companies like facebook and youtube to be neutral when it comes to dealing with politics? some folks like your colleagues like senator cruz have talked about net neutrality applying to platforms. do you see these companies as neutral arbiters

mr. latta: well, thank you very much, mr. speaker. i thank the gentleman for yielding. mr. speaker, i rise today in support of my legislation, h.r. 4227, the vehicular terrorism prevention act. this bipartisan legislation requires the secretary of homeland security to assess the activities the department's undertaking to combat the threat of vehicular terrorism and submit a strategy to congress on its findings and recommendations. over the past several years, i have been alarmed with the increased frequency that terrorists in europe and around the world have used vehicles, oftentimes rental advance and kill people. with the october attack in new york city showing that tuesday extremist groups will not hesitate to carry out the same attack on american soil, it's critical the department of homeland security is doing their due diligence regarding this threat. mr. speaker, this legislation will specifically require d.h.s. to assess the activities the department's undertaking to support emergency response providers and the private sector to prevent, mitigate, and respond to the