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Virginia Congressional Delegation Weighs In On Opioid Emergency Declaration

Creative Commons

President Donald Trump recently declared the nation’s opioid crisis as a national health emergency. While Republicans are hailing the move, Democrats say it still falls short.

Many public health officials had waited months for the president’s emergency declaration so they cheered when it finally came in October. Virginia Republican Scott Taylor hails the designation. “It’s something that is very serious, and I’m glad that he is taking action on it.”  

But with more than 100 people dying a day from the epidemic, some Democrats are complaining that the President stopped short of declaring the crisis a national emergency, like a hurricane or a tornado. That designation would have allowed money to flow immediately to the crisis. Virginia Democrat Gerry Connolly says he doesn’t trust Donald Trump on the issue because his budget called for slashing the federal programs that deal with the issue. “Look, words are nice, but actions are far more compelling. This is a man who proposed to cut over $300 million in opioid program, and that’s where we need money," Connolly said. "And frankly if we had to absorb those kinds of cuts, I think he would destroy the ability of people who are suffering from this terrible plague to get any help at all.”

The president did call for devoting resources to a national campaign aimed at steering people away from drugs which reminded many people of Nancy Reagan’s DARE program that urged kids to just say no. Connolly says the administration is going backwards. “I think that a 'Just Say No' campaign is a PR campaign and shows enormous depth of ignorance about the nature of opioid crisis and how it’s affecting all of America, and we need a president who understands it and will rally us to action, and to show a little empathy, which this president seems almost singularly incapable of.”  

Northern Virginia Democrat Don Beyer says the administration needs to think more broadly about the national crisis. “I think is trying to rethink over federal programs to provide a greater work itself. Not saying: 'If you don’t get a job by today, we’re taking away your food stamps,' but rather to take away some of the cliffs and defunding in federal funding, and just a much stronger incentive to get people back in the workforce and back to work.”

Beyer says pulling people back into the workforce is key. “You know, we have more jobs advertised, more jobs available than any time in the history of the country. We talk a lot about the skills gap, the people that don’t have the right skills for the right jobs, but most employers are willing to overcome that, they’ll take a poorly trained NPR reporter and teach him how to be a pretty good mechanic or electrician, or whatever. But they have to be willing to come back and do the work.”  

As for the criticism that the President didn’t call for more spending on the crisis, Virginia Republican Rob Wittman says that’s not Donald Trump's job. “Listen, the President’s projection about this being a national health crisis is spot on. It’s up to Congress to determine, how do we devote resources that are in keeping with the magnitude of this problem. ”

The President is also coming under fire for tapping Alex Azar, a former Pharmaceutical executive, to lead the Department of Health and Human Services. But Wittman defends the choice and says people forget he also worked for the agency under President Bush. “I think he’s got a very significant and well-rounded background. I think he’ll come in looking at this in a proper perspective. I don’t think you gauge somebody by a single portion of their career, I think you gauge them by the totality of their career. I mean, if you look Alex Azar and see his experience, I think you come in and hit the ground.”

While the president has now used his bully pulpit to highlight the national opioid crisis, many lawmakers from the Commonwealth say the effort still needs more focus and more funding. And they’re promising to keep pressuring party leaders and the White House to provide states the resources and money they need.

This report, provided by Virginia Public Radio, was made possible with support from the Virginia Education Association.