Bills

Bill Summary:   Every five years, Congress tasks itself with renewing something informally called the “Farm Bill,” which defines policies and authorizes programs for the Department of Agriculture.  While originally dealing with agricultural price supports and crop production, the mission of the Department of Agriculture has expanded greatly. The authorization now includes federal welfare in the form of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), formerly “food stamps,” provided to more than 40 million Americans, as well as selected crop support welfare for some farmers.

From the Congressional Research Service Summary:  “This bill (commonly known as the farm bill) reauthorizes through FY2023 and modifies Department of Agriculture (USDA) programs that address: commodity support, conservation, trade and international food aid, nutrition assistance, farm credit, rural development, research and extension activities, forestry, horticulture, and crop insurance.”

According to Wikipedia (12-18): “Approximately 80% of the USDA’s $141 billion budget goes to the Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) program. The largest component of the FNS budget is the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (formerly known as the Food Stamp program), which is the cornerstone of USDA’s nutrition assistance.”

Analysis: See also our analysis of H.R. 2 as originally passed by the House (House Roll Call 284, 6-21-18) and the Senate replacement (Senate Vote 143, 6-28-18).  This subsequent House-Senate conference version was passed with bipartisan (i.e., Democrat) support.  Only three House Democrats opposed the measure, but a whopping 44 House Republicans, ignored by their GOP House leadership, voted no.

Farm Bill History

The original “Farm Bill” known as the Agricultural Adjustment Act (AAA) was a creature of the FDR administration.  David Eugene Conrad, author of The Forgotten Farmers stated: “The real authors of the farm bill, despite the pretext of the farm leaders’ conference, were [FDR’s Secretary of Agriculture Henry] Wallace, [Columbia University professor] Rexford Tugwell, and Mordecai Ezekiel…. Also consulted were George Peek [who became the program’s first administrator], Henry Morgenthau [soon FDR’s Secretary of the Treasury], General Hugh Johnson and [Wall Street financier] Bernard Baruch.”

After quitting his post in frustration, George Peek complained about the Insider architects of these farm policies: “they admired everything Russian…. To them Russia was the promised land and the sooner the United States became like Russia, the better for everyone.”

Several months prior to signing “reluctantly” the 1985 Farm Bill (officially, the “Food Security Act of 1985), President Reagan argued: “If spending more money on agriculture would solve the problem, we would have solved it by now.”

In the November, 1989 newsletter published by the free market Ludwig von Mises Institute, James Bovard argued:

“The key to understanding American agricultural policy is to realize that the vast majority of the 400 farm products produced in America receive no federal handouts. There is no fundamental difference between subsidized and unsubsidized crops — only a difference in campaign contributions to congressmen by different farm lobbies.”

Excerpts from Congressional Record (12-12-18) [Emphasis added]:

Rep. K. Michael Conaway (R-Texas), Chairman, House Committee on Agriculture: “The U.S. farm policy is no longer the old command and  control policies of the New Deal, but, rather, a market-oriented, risk  management approach that helps America’s farmers and ranchers survive  natural disasters and the predatory trade practices of foreign  countries like China.   Our Nation’s farmers and ranchers are the very best in the world, but  they cannot compete alone against a sea of high and rising foreign  subsidies, tariffs, and nontariff trade barriers, nor can they survive  alone in the face of record droughts, hurricanes, wildfires, and other  natural disasters. That is why we have a farm bill.”

Freedom First Society:   No, the reason we still have a farm bill is because a misinformed public does not force their representatives to roll back the unconstitutional interventions of the past.  By contrast these interventions are supported and desired by the big-government promoting Establishment.

Rep. Collin Peterson (D-Minnesota), Ranking (Democrat) Member of the House Agriculture Committee: “The conference report we  are considering today would reauthorize farm bill programs for 5 years….

“The bill continues a variety of commodity, conservation, trade,  nutrition, credit, rural development, research, energy, and specialty  crop programs.

“It also provides permanent mandatory funding for several of the programs that first got mandatory funding in the 2008 farm bill when I was last chairman. These include the Local Food and Farmers  Market Promotion Program, the Value-Added Producer Grant Program, the BFRDP, Organic Research, and the Section 2501 Outreach Program.”

Freedom First Society:  How could America function without the help of a myriad of constantly expanding programs, such as the above, dreamed up by Representatives who use them to get reelected?  Answer:  America is being drained by this overhead burden.  See also what follows.

Rep. Frank Lucas (R-Oklahoma): “But what is a farm bill all about? Set the nuances of various  policies aside, it is to make sure that we have the safety net to enable us, in this country, to raise the food and fiber we need at an affordable, safe, and cost-effective rate to meet our needs and the  world’s needs.

“And what is the other part of the farm bill? It is making sure our fellow citizens who have difficulty in overcoming their challenges have  access to enough of those calories.   Plain and simple, that is what farm bills have been about since 1933, making sure we all eat cheap, well, and safe.

Rep. David Scott (D-Georgia): “Mr. Speaker, this is a great farm bill.  There is so much in it, so many great things. But in this farm bill is perhaps the absolute best example of bipartisanship at its best, to  have Democrats and Republicans working together to give $80 million to  African American, 1890s land grant colleges and universities.

“Mr. Speaker, God had His hand in this, to  pull Democrats and Republicans together, to give $80 million to badly needed African American land grant colleges and universities. Only God  could pull this together, and we thank God for this blessing and for touching the hearts and the souls and the spirits of all of my  colleagues who will vote for this historic bill.”

Rep. Austin Scott (R-Georgia): “I am very glad that two amendments that I offered were included in the final agreement, which will bring modernization and accountability  to broadband services and spur broadband infrastructure investment in rural America. Bridging the digital divide is something I have been  fighting for, for years now, and I look forward to seeing the growth in  network service and infrastructure development through the provisions  of this bill.

“In this conference report, we also found some common ground to make improvements to SNAP. I strongly urge my colleagues to support this  conference report.”

Rep. Marcia Fudge (D-Ohio):  “This agreement protects SNAP by rejecting proposals in the House farm  bill that would have severely weakened the program and taken food  assistance away from nearly 2 million people.   This agreement increases access to healthy foods in underserved  communities and takes steps to tackle food waste, which we know is a  major problem….

“This agreement provides beginning and minority farmers and ranchers additional tools and resources needed to own and operate successful  businesses.”

Rep. James Comer (R-Kentucky): “I am particularly glad to see industrial hemp [marijuana] de-scheduled from the  controlled substances list, a key provision I worked with Leader McConnell on to ensure unnecessary government restrictions are lifted  from this valuable agricultural commodity.”

Rep. Jim Costa (D-California): “Mr. Speaker, as a member of the farm conference committee, I am proud  to support this bipartisan farm bill….

“The vital SNAP benefits are maintained, and voluntary employment and training programs that I fought for are strengthened. The 10 pilot  projects in the 10 States, I find, will provide better ways for us to  get people on their feet who are in need.”

Freedom First Society:  Clearly collectivist arguments dominate the so-called debates in Congress.  Unfortunately, collectivism sells with too much of a public that is no longer schooled in the principles that made our country great and the wisdom of our Founding Fathers in crafting a limited federal government.   A major objective of Freedom First Society is to provide organizational leadership to recreate public understanding of both the burden of a massive federal government and the danger to our freedom of increasing dependence on a developing “national” government for the necessities of life.

Bill Summary:   Every five years, Congress tasks itself with renewing something informally called the “Farm Bill,” which defines policies and authorizes programs for the Department of Agriculture.  While originally dealing with agricultural price supports and crop production, the mission of the Department of Agriculture has expanded greatly. The authorization now includes federal welfare in the form of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), formerly “food stamps,” provided to more than 40 million Americans, as well as selected crop support welfare for some farmers.

From the Congressional Research Service Summary:  “This bill (commonly known as the farm bill) reauthorizes through FY2023 and modifies Department of Agriculture (USDA) programs that address: commodity support, conservation, trade and international food aid, nutrition assistance, farm credit, rural development, research and extension activities, forestry, horticulture, and crop insurance.”

According to Wikipedia (12-18): “Approximately 80% of the USDA’s $141 billion budget goes to the Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) program. The largest component of the FNS budget is the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (formerly known as the Food Stamp program), which is the cornerstone of USDA’s nutrition assistance.”

Analysis: See also our analysis of H.R. 2 as originally passed by the House (House Roll Call 284, 6-21-18) and the Senate replacement (Senate Vote 143, 6-28-18).  This subsequent House-Senate conference version was passed with bipartisan (i.e., Democrat) support.  Only three House Democrats opposed the measure, but a whopping 44 House Republicans, ignored by their GOP House leadership, voted no.

Farm Bill History

The original “Farm Bill” known as the Agricultural Adjustment Act (AAA) was a creature of the FDR administration.  David Eugene Conrad, author of The Forgotten Farmers stated: “The real authors of the farm bill, despite the pretext of the farm leaders’ conference, were [FDR’s Secretary of Agriculture Henry] Wallace, [Columbia University professor] Rexford Tugwell, and Mordecai Ezekiel…. Also consulted were George Peek [who became the program’s first administrator], Henry Morgenthau [soon FDR’s Secretary of the Treasury], General Hugh Johnson and [Wall Street financier] Bernard Baruch.”

After quitting his post in frustration, George Peek complained about the Insider architects of these farm policies: “they admired everything Russian…. To them Russia was the promised land and the sooner the United States became like Russia, the better for everyone.”

Several months prior to signing “reluctantly” the 1985 Farm Bill (officially, the “Food Security Act of 1985), President Reagan argued: “If spending more money on agriculture would solve the problem, we would have solved it by now.”

In the November, 1989 newsletter published by the free market Ludwig von Mises Institute, James Bovard argued:

“The key to understanding American agricultural policy is to realize that the vast majority of the 400 farm products produced in America receive no federal handouts. There is no fundamental difference between subsidized and unsubsidized crops — only a difference in campaign contributions to congressmen by different farm lobbies.”

Excerpts from Congressional Record (12-12-18) [Emphasis added]:

Rep. K. Michael Conaway (R-Texas), Chairman, House Committee on Agriculture: “The U.S. farm policy is no longer the old command and  control policies of the New Deal, but, rather, a market-oriented, risk  management approach that helps America’s farmers and ranchers survive  natural disasters and the predatory trade practices of foreign  countries like China.   Our Nation’s farmers and ranchers are the very best in the world, but  they cannot compete alone against a sea of high and rising foreign  subsidies, tariffs, and nontariff trade barriers, nor can they survive  alone in the face of record droughts, hurricanes, wildfires, and other  natural disasters. That is why we have a farm bill.”

Freedom First Society:   No, the reason we still have a farm bill is because a misinformed public does not force their representatives to roll back the unconstitutional interventions of the past.  By contrast these interventions are supported and desired by the big-government promoting Establishment.

Rep. Collin Peterson (D-Minnesota), Ranking (Democrat) Member of the House Agriculture Committee: “The conference report we  are considering today would reauthorize farm bill programs for 5 years….

“The bill continues a variety of commodity, conservation, trade,  nutrition, credit, rural development, research, energy, and specialty  crop programs.

“It also provides permanent mandatory funding for several of the programs that first got mandatory funding in the 2008 farm bill when I was last chairman. These include the Local Food and Farmers  Market Promotion Program, the Value-Added Producer Grant Program, the BFRDP, Organic Research, and the Section 2501 Outreach Program.”

Freedom First Society:  How could America function without the help of a myriad of constantly expanding programs, such as the above, dreamed up by Representatives who use them to get reelected?  Answer:  America is being drained by this overhead burden.  See also what follows.

Rep. Frank Lucas (R-Oklahoma): “But what is a farm bill all about? Set the nuances of various  policies aside, it is to make sure that we have the safety net to enable us, in this country, to raise the food and fiber we need at an affordable, safe, and cost-effective rate to meet our needs and the  world’s needs.

“And what is the other part of the farm bill? It is making sure our fellow citizens who have difficulty in overcoming their challenges have  access to enough of those calories.   Plain and simple, that is what farm bills have been about since 1933, making sure we all eat cheap, well, and safe.

Rep. David Scott (D-Georgia): “Mr. Speaker, this is a great farm bill.  There is so much in it, so many great things. But in this farm bill is perhaps the absolute best example of bipartisanship at its best, to  have Democrats and Republicans working together to give $80 million to  African American, 1890s land grant colleges and universities.

“Mr. Speaker, God had His hand in this, to  pull Democrats and Republicans together, to give $80 million to badly needed African American land grant colleges and universities. Only God  could pull this together, and we thank God for this blessing and for touching the hearts and the souls and the spirits of all of my  colleagues who will vote for this historic bill.”

Rep. Austin Scott (R-Georgia): “I am very glad that two amendments that I offered were included in the final agreement, which will bring modernization and accountability  to broadband services and spur broadband infrastructure investment in rural America. Bridging the digital divide is something I have been  fighting for, for years now, and I look forward to seeing the growth in  network service and infrastructure development through the provisions  of this bill.

“In this conference report, we also found some common ground to make improvements to SNAP. I strongly urge my colleagues to support this  conference report.”

Rep. Marcia Fudge (D-Ohio):  “This agreement protects SNAP by rejecting proposals in the House farm  bill that would have severely weakened the program and taken food  assistance away from nearly 2 million people.   This agreement increases access to healthy foods in underserved  communities and takes steps to tackle food waste, which we know is a  major problem….

“This agreement provides beginning and minority farmers and ranchers additional tools and resources needed to own and operate successful  businesses.”

Rep. James Comer (R-Kentucky): “I am particularly glad to see industrial hemp [marijuana] de-scheduled from the  controlled substances list, a key provision I worked with Leader McConnell on to ensure unnecessary government restrictions are lifted  from this valuable agricultural commodity.”

Rep. Jim Costa (D-California): “Mr. Speaker, as a member of the farm conference committee, I am proud  to support this bipartisan farm bill….

“The vital SNAP benefits are maintained, and voluntary employment and training programs that I fought for are strengthened. The 10 pilot  projects in the 10 States, I find, will provide better ways for us to  get people on their feet who are in need.”

Freedom First Society:  Clearly collectivist arguments dominate the so-called debates in Congress.  Unfortunately, collectivism sells with too much of a public that is no longer schooled in the principles that made our country great and the wisdom of our Founding Fathers in crafting a limited federal government.   A major objective of Freedom First Society is to provide organizational leadership to recreate public understanding of both the burden of a massive federal government and the danger to our freedom of increasing dependence on a developing “national” government for the necessities of life.

Bill Summary: H.R. 7187 amends the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968 to reauthorize the National Flood Insurance Program through December 7, 2018, extending its expiration from November 30, 2018.

Freedom First Society Analysis: For an explanation of the origins of the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), please see our analysis of the vote on the seventh short-term extension in July (House Roll Call 373, 7-25-18).

With H.R. 7187, House Republican leaders sought consensus with the Democrats rather than responding to fiscal objections within their own party.  Such actions demonstrate that the GOP leadership is also beholden to the Establishment’s big government agenda.

Congressional Record (11-29-18):

[Freedom First Society:  Below are comments from some committee leaders and representatives who voted Nay]

Rep. Sean Duffy (R-Wisconsin) (author of the 21st Century Flood Reform Act, which the House passed over a year ago without action from the Senate]: “There are a lot of things we could talk about today in regard to  flood insurance:   We could talk about the fact that repetitive loss properties make up  2 percent of all the policies but account for 25 percent of all of the  claims.  We could talk about the fact that the NFIP is $30 billion in debt,  and that is after last year when we forgave $16 billion in debt. Again,  we forgave $16 billion. We are still $25 billion in debt and actually  racked up $10 billion of new debt in this program over the last year.   I have got to tell you I am frustrated. We passed a bipartisan bill  in this Chamber. We actively and aggressively negotiated it. This is a  big issue for families back home, for constituents of our Members. We  have listened to them. We heard them. We modified, we tweaked a bill,  and we passed it — and the Senate won’t take it up….

“I have come to the opinion that there are very powerful players in this Chamber and in  the Chamber next door that don’t want anything done with flood insurance.  It is a sick and broken program that goes deeper and deeper in debt, that incentivizes people to build in dangerous places. And they say: No, no, no. We don’t want any reform. Let’s march on with a program that doesn’t work.”

Rep. Dennis Ross (R-Florida): “Mr. Speaker, I thank the chairman and the subcommittee  chairman, Mr. Duffy, for his efforts, too, in trying to provide  significant reforms. I support their efforts in opposing this additional reauthorization of the National Flood Insurance Program.  We have done this eight times in just over the year, and what have we gotten in return? Some would say nothing. I would say, no, it has been worse than nothing. You see, we forgave $16 billion in debt and got no  reforms in response to that.  Now the NFIP is $20 billion in debt again, yet we look at: Oh, but it is just $20 billion.  In over 13 years, the interest on that is $5 billion. When are we going to stop this insanity?    “More disturbing, however, Mr. Speaker, is this House’s failure to  stand up to even the most modest technical reforms that would benefit the program.   During my time in this body, I have been proud to champion one such  bill, the Private Flood Insurance Market Development Act. To me, it defies logic that this coequal Chamber would pass a bill unanimously through the authorizing committee of this Congress and then unanimously through the whole House in the last Congress and, yet, abandon its opportunities every time thereafter.   My legislation is simple. It is a technical correction that will facilitate the growth of a private market alternative to the drowning  national program that we have today. It is bipartisan. It is desperately needed.    “Yet, here we are again with a clean reauthorization that makes no progress and no promises that tomorrow will be any different. That, Mr.  Speaker, is a shame. It is a shame that we have once again folded in  the face of unjustified inaction.   When does it end? When do we say enough is enough?

“Mr. Speaker, I do not want to shut down the NFIP. We don’t need to.  All we need to do is for the Senate to accept just one of the many eminently reasonable pieces of legislation that the House has passed, to be included alongside the short-term extension. Even the simplest  reform would indicate that the Senate is serious about coming to the  table to negotiate a long-term reauthorization.   Anything would be better than the hollow promises this clean  extension puts before us today.   Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to vote ‘no’ on this legislation.”  [Emphasis added.]

Rep. Roger Williams (R-Texas) (vice chairman on the Monetary Policy and Trade Subcommittee of the Financial Services Committee): “Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong opposition to the  reauthorization of the National Flood Insurance Program.   Mr. Speaker, for 20 years, Congress has been putting off making  meaningful reforms to this problematic program. Taxpayers continue to  pay the price for our failure to act. With every year that passes, the  NFIP goes further and further into debt. The unsustainability of this program has even caused Congress to  cancel $16 billion in NFIP debt last year.  “Without meaningful reform like what this body approved when we passed  the 21st Century Flood Reform Act, what protections do taxpayers have? Mr. Speaker, the reauthorization before us today is not reform. By simply changing the date of the NFIP expiration, this body is tacitly stating that reform can’t be done. Enough is enough. We can’t continue to pass our problems along to those in the future. The time to fix this problem is now. I will oppose  extensions of the NFIP as long as this body continues to ignore  meaningful reforms.   Mr. Speaker, I invite all my colleagues to join me in voting ‘no’ on this legislation.”

Rep. J. Hill (R-Arkansas) (the Financial Services Committee majority whip): “What we are here for today is because the Senate has not taken one  step to constructive reform of the National Flood Insurance Program.  That is why we are here…. “So it is very hard for me, Mr. Speaker, to support a 7-day  reauthorization status quo for the eighth time. It is just very hard to do that because it is not right….  “So, it is with a lot of regret, Mr. Speaker, I cannot support the  reauthorization of this program for 7 days. We need the Senate to wake up and take action.

Rep. Ted Budd (R-North Carolina):  “Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to yet another short-term extension  of the National Flood Insurance Program, or the NFIP. This is our  eighth one — our eighth one since fiscal year 2017 began.  I think we owe it to the taxpayers and I owe it to the residents of  North Carolina’s 13th District to fight for reform. We cannot support  another short-term renewal, especially considering the program is $20  billion — and I have even heard that it is even upwards of that — $20  billion in the hole. It is hemorrhaging money, Mr. Speaker. And it is  concerning that folks cannot even agree to or even support modest  reforms to one of the most flawed government programswe have ever  seen.

“Mr. Speaker, I urge opposition of this extension and believe this  continuous kicking of the can down the road cannot go on forever. There  is still time to adopt even modest reforms, and I sure hope that we do  so.   I think Senator Mike Lee of Utah said it best when he gave his  description of a ‘yes’ vote to extend the NFIP yet again with no  reforms back in the summer. He said:

‘This is terribly discouraging. It’s not just this program; it’s all that it represents. If we aren’t  willing to adopt even modest reforms to a minor program like NFIP, how will we ever address any of the far more vexing problems facing our government?’

“This Senator from Utah gets it, and, Mr. Speaker, I wish others would as well.”  [Emphasis added.]

Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas) (Chairman Financial Services Committee): “And, today, November 29, 2018, is a sad and embarrassing day for the  United States House of Representatives. And I must say, as a Republican, it is a sad and embarrassing day for something we call  regular order, something that my party ran on.

“And now we have a bill coming to the floor, within the jurisdiction  of the House Financial Services Committee; regular order says the committee of jurisdiction first works their will before the House works  their will. The committee didn’t work its will on this bill. And, in fact, I have yet to find anybody in the Republican leadership who will own up to how this came to the floor in the first place.  So, unfortunately, because my party lost at the ballot box, we are  going to soon be out of the regular order business and apparently we have forgotten how to do it. So it is a sad day in that regard.

“It is also a sad day because what we see here with this bill is a perpetuation of the status quo.   Now, let me tell you what the status quo is, Mr. Speaker. The status  quo is 100 different people are dying in America every year from  floods. At least a part of that tragedy — a part of that tragedy is a failure to reform the National Flood Insurance Program.   Status quo is that we continue to pay people to build the same homes in the same fashion in the same places that flood over and over and over and somehow expect a different result. We are not helping them. We are not helping them at all. We are helping put them in harm’s way.  That is what the status quo is, and if you vote for this extension, you  are voting for the status quo.

“Status quo is a governmentmonopoly — a government monopoly with no  competition, no innovation, and, by the way, it is subsidized, and it is still not affordable. We are seeing average premium increases of 7 percent a year. You know, on the Republican side of the aisle, why don’t we give free enterprise a chance? Why don’t we allow competition to bring in innovation, to bring down rates as opposed to, again, making taxpayers subsidize it and still have unaffordability? Only government can bring about that insane result.   What else is the status quo? The status quo is $35 billion of debt — $35 billion of debt with $1\1/2\ billion actual actuarial annual deficit a year. Totally unsustainable. Totally unsustainable   The status quo is that taxpayers, hardworking factory workers in Mesquite, Texas, are having to subsidize millionaires’ beach condos. That is the status quo. That is the bill that is on the floor right  now.

“The last several tragic hurricanes we have seen, 80 to 90 percent of  the affected flooded homes didn’t even have flood insurance. Why?  Because it is not part of the homeowner’s insurance policy due to the government monopoly. That is the status quo. And we are paying on the back end because we are not allowing market competition on the front end. That is the status quo….

“We know what the classic definition of insanity is: doing the same  thing over and over and over and expecting a different result. Eight  times — this will be the eighth time since the House passed the 21st Century Flood Reform Act on a bipartisan basis that there will be yet  another vote for status quo.   Here is a radical idea. Why don’t we do something different? Why  don’t we tell the Senate it is time, after a year, that they do their  business?  I have got to tell you, once again, Mr. Speaker, I have learned a  number of things in my 16 years of service in this body. One is never  underestimate the Senate’s capacity to do nothing.  Why do we allow them to do nothing? Let them bring a bill….

“I imagine a day when we  have a flood insurance program with affordable premiums that is brought  about by competition, that is brought about by innovation.” [Emphasis added.]

[Freedom First Society:  Radical Leftist Democrats seem to use every opportunity to reinforce the illusion that their “man-made” climate change vehicle for revolutionary change is established fact.  One such comment follows.]

Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) (Ranking Democrat on the Financial Services Committee):  “Mr. Speaker, Americans across the country are experiencing natural disasters of an absolutely catastrophic magnitude. Just this month, the  Camp fire devastated California, amounting to the deadliest and most  destructive wildfire in California history. Current estimates are that  88 individuals have lost their lives and tens of thousands of  structures, including over 13,000 single-family homes, have been destroyed.   2017 was an absolutely catastrophic year in terms of hurricanes. In  2017, for the first time on record, three Category 4 hurricanes made  landfall in the United States. Hurricane Maria decimated Puerto Rico.

“Meanwhile, the administration’s National Climate Assessment, which is  a report prepared by 13 Federal agencies and more than 3,000  scientists, recently documented the numerous impacts of our warming climate. According to the report, climate change is costing billions of  dollars in property damage from sea level rise. High tide flooding has  increased by factors as high as 10 in some communities, and fire season  is now over 80 days longer than a couple of decades ago.   Faced with these realities, we stand here today still lacking a credible plan to end the partisan problems that we have that has  brought the NFIP to the brink of a lapse several times already in this  Congress….

“Given the critical importance of the NFIP to our housing market, I am  pleased that we are taking this small step today of reauthorizing the program through December 7 to at least avoid its doors from shuttering.”

Bill Summary: H.R. 7187 amends the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968 to reauthorize the National Flood Insurance Program through December 7, 2018, extending its expiration from November 30, 2018.

Freedom First Society Analysis: For an explanation of the origins of the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), please see our analysis of the vote on the seventh short-term extension in July (House Roll Call 373, 7-25-18).

With H.R. 7187, House Republican leaders sought consensus with the Democrats rather than responding to fiscal objections within their own party.  Such actions demonstrate that the GOP leadership is also beholden to the Establishment’s big government agenda.

Congressional Record (11-29-18):

[Freedom First Society:  Below are comments from some committee leaders and representatives who voted Nay]

Rep. Sean Duffy (R-Wisconsin) (author of the 21st Century Flood Reform Act, which the House passed over a year ago without action from the Senate]: “There are a lot of things we could talk about today in regard to  flood insurance:   We could talk about the fact that repetitive loss properties make up  2 percent of all the policies but account for 25 percent of all of the  claims.  We could talk about the fact that the NFIP is $30 billion in debt,  and that is after last year when we forgave $16 billion in debt. Again,  we forgave $16 billion. We are still $25 billion in debt and actually  racked up $10 billion of new debt in this program over the last year.   I have got to tell you I am frustrated. We passed a bipartisan bill  in this Chamber. We actively and aggressively negotiated it. This is a  big issue for families back home, for constituents of our Members. We  have listened to them. We heard them. We modified, we tweaked a bill,  and we passed it — and the Senate won’t take it up….

“I have come to the opinion that there are very powerful players in this Chamber and in  the Chamber next door that don’t want anything done with flood insurance.  It is a sick and broken program that goes deeper and deeper in debt, that incentivizes people to build in dangerous places. And they say: No, no, no. We don’t want any reform. Let’s march on with a program that doesn’t work.”

Rep. Dennis Ross (R-Florida): “Mr. Speaker, I thank the chairman and the subcommittee  chairman, Mr. Duffy, for his efforts, too, in trying to provide  significant reforms. I support their efforts in opposing this additional reauthorization of the National Flood Insurance Program.  We have done this eight times in just over the year, and what have we gotten in return? Some would say nothing. I would say, no, it has been worse than nothing. You see, we forgave $16 billion in debt and got no  reforms in response to that.  Now the NFIP is $20 billion in debt again, yet we look at: Oh, but it is just $20 billion.  In over 13 years, the interest on that is $5 billion. When are we going to stop this insanity?    “More disturbing, however, Mr. Speaker, is this House’s failure to  stand up to even the most modest technical reforms that would benefit the program.   During my time in this body, I have been proud to champion one such  bill, the Private Flood Insurance Market Development Act. To me, it defies logic that this coequal Chamber would pass a bill unanimously through the authorizing committee of this Congress and then unanimously through the whole House in the last Congress and, yet, abandon its opportunities every time thereafter.   My legislation is simple. It is a technical correction that will facilitate the growth of a private market alternative to the drowning  national program that we have today. It is bipartisan. It is desperately needed.    “Yet, here we are again with a clean reauthorization that makes no progress and no promises that tomorrow will be any different. That, Mr.  Speaker, is a shame. It is a shame that we have once again folded in  the face of unjustified inaction.   When does it end? When do we say enough is enough?

“Mr. Speaker, I do not want to shut down the NFIP. We don’t need to.  All we need to do is for the Senate to accept just one of the many eminently reasonable pieces of legislation that the House has passed, to be included alongside the short-term extension. Even the simplest  reform would indicate that the Senate is serious about coming to the  table to negotiate a long-term reauthorization.   Anything would be better than the hollow promises this clean  extension puts before us today.   Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to vote ‘no’ on this legislation.”  [Emphasis added.]

Rep. Roger Williams (R-Texas) (vice chairman on the Monetary Policy and Trade Subcommittee of the Financial Services Committee): “Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong opposition to the  reauthorization of the National Flood Insurance Program.   Mr. Speaker, for 20 years, Congress has been putting off making  meaningful reforms to this problematic program. Taxpayers continue to  pay the price for our failure to act. With every year that passes, the  NFIP goes further and further into debt. The unsustainability of this program has even caused Congress to  cancel $16 billion in NFIP debt last year.  “Without meaningful reform like what this body approved when we passed  the 21st Century Flood Reform Act, what protections do taxpayers have? Mr. Speaker, the reauthorization before us today is not reform. By simply changing the date of the NFIP expiration, this body is tacitly stating that reform can’t be done. Enough is enough. We can’t continue to pass our problems along to those in the future. The time to fix this problem is now. I will oppose  extensions of the NFIP as long as this body continues to ignore  meaningful reforms.   Mr. Speaker, I invite all my colleagues to join me in voting ‘no’ on this legislation.”

Rep. J. Hill (R-Arkansas) (the Financial Services Committee majority whip): “What we are here for today is because the Senate has not taken one  step to constructive reform of the National Flood Insurance Program.  That is why we are here…. “So it is very hard for me, Mr. Speaker, to support a 7-day  reauthorization status quo for the eighth time. It is just very hard to do that because it is not right….  “So, it is with a lot of regret, Mr. Speaker, I cannot support the  reauthorization of this program for 7 days. We need the Senate to wake up and take action.

Rep. Ted Budd (R-North Carolina):  “Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to yet another short-term extension  of the National Flood Insurance Program, or the NFIP. This is our  eighth one — our eighth one since fiscal year 2017 began.  I think we owe it to the taxpayers and I owe it to the residents of  North Carolina’s 13th District to fight for reform. We cannot support  another short-term renewal, especially considering the program is $20  billion — and I have even heard that it is even upwards of that — $20  billion in the hole. It is hemorrhaging money, Mr. Speaker. And it is  concerning that folks cannot even agree to or even support modest  reforms to one of the most flawed government programswe have ever  seen.

“Mr. Speaker, I urge opposition of this extension and believe this  continuous kicking of the can down the road cannot go on forever. There  is still time to adopt even modest reforms, and I sure hope that we do  so.   I think Senator Mike Lee of Utah said it best when he gave his  description of a ‘yes’ vote to extend the NFIP yet again with no  reforms back in the summer. He said:

‘This is terribly discouraging. It’s not just this program; it’s all that it represents. If we aren’t  willing to adopt even modest reforms to a minor program like NFIP, how will we ever address any of the far more vexing problems facing our government?’

“This Senator from Utah gets it, and, Mr. Speaker, I wish others would as well.”  [Emphasis added.]

Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas) (Chairman Financial Services Committee): “And, today, November 29, 2018, is a sad and embarrassing day for the  United States House of Representatives. And I must say, as a Republican, it is a sad and embarrassing day for something we call  regular order, something that my party ran on.

“And now we have a bill coming to the floor, within the jurisdiction  of the House Financial Services Committee; regular order says the committee of jurisdiction first works their will before the House works  their will. The committee didn’t work its will on this bill. And, in fact, I have yet to find anybody in the Republican leadership who will own up to how this came to the floor in the first place.  So, unfortunately, because my party lost at the ballot box, we are  going to soon be out of the regular order business and apparently we have forgotten how to do it. So it is a sad day in that regard.

“It is also a sad day because what we see here with this bill is a perpetuation of the status quo.   Now, let me tell you what the status quo is, Mr. Speaker. The status  quo is 100 different people are dying in America every year from  floods. At least a part of that tragedy — a part of that tragedy is a failure to reform the National Flood Insurance Program.   Status quo is that we continue to pay people to build the same homes in the same fashion in the same places that flood over and over and over and somehow expect a different result. We are not helping them. We are not helping them at all. We are helping put them in harm’s way.  That is what the status quo is, and if you vote for this extension, you  are voting for the status quo.

“Status quo is a governmentmonopoly — a government monopoly with no  competition, no innovation, and, by the way, it is subsidized, and it is still not affordable. We are seeing average premium increases of 7 percent a year. You know, on the Republican side of the aisle, why don’t we give free enterprise a chance? Why don’t we allow competition to bring in innovation, to bring down rates as opposed to, again, making taxpayers subsidize it and still have unaffordability? Only government can bring about that insane result.   What else is the status quo? The status quo is $35 billion of debt — $35 billion of debt with $1\1/2\ billion actual actuarial annual deficit a year. Totally unsustainable. Totally unsustainable   The status quo is that taxpayers, hardworking factory workers in Mesquite, Texas, are having to subsidize millionaires’ beach condos. That is the status quo. That is the bill that is on the floor right  now.

“The last several tragic hurricanes we have seen, 80 to 90 percent of  the affected flooded homes didn’t even have flood insurance. Why?  Because it is not part of the homeowner’s insurance policy due to the government monopoly. That is the status quo. And we are paying on the back end because we are not allowing market competition on the front end. That is the status quo….

“We know what the classic definition of insanity is: doing the same  thing over and over and over and expecting a different result. Eight  times — this will be the eighth time since the House passed the 21st Century Flood Reform Act on a bipartisan basis that there will be yet  another vote for status quo.   Here is a radical idea. Why don’t we do something different? Why  don’t we tell the Senate it is time, after a year, that they do their  business?  I have got to tell you, once again, Mr. Speaker, I have learned a  number of things in my 16 years of service in this body. One is never  underestimate the Senate’s capacity to do nothing.  Why do we allow them to do nothing? Let them bring a bill….

“I imagine a day when we  have a flood insurance program with affordable premiums that is brought  about by competition, that is brought about by innovation.” [Emphasis added.]

[Freedom First Society:  Radical Leftist Democrats seem to use every opportunity to reinforce the illusion that their “man-made” climate change vehicle for revolutionary change is established fact.  One such comment follows.]

Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) (Ranking Democrat on the Financial Services Committee):  “Mr. Speaker, Americans across the country are experiencing natural disasters of an absolutely catastrophic magnitude. Just this month, the  Camp fire devastated California, amounting to the deadliest and most  destructive wildfire in California history. Current estimates are that  88 individuals have lost their lives and tens of thousands of  structures, including over 13,000 single-family homes, have been destroyed.   2017 was an absolutely catastrophic year in terms of hurricanes. In  2017, for the first time on record, three Category 4 hurricanes made  landfall in the United States. Hurricane Maria decimated Puerto Rico.

“Meanwhile, the administration’s National Climate Assessment, which is  a report prepared by 13 Federal agencies and more than 3,000  scientists, recently documented the numerous impacts of our warming climate. According to the report, climate change is costing billions of  dollars in property damage from sea level rise. High tide flooding has  increased by factors as high as 10 in some communities, and fire season  is now over 80 days longer than a couple of decades ago.   Faced with these realities, we stand here today still lacking a credible plan to end the partisan problems that we have that has  brought the NFIP to the brink of a lapse several times already in this  Congress….

“Given the critical importance of the NFIP to our housing market, I am  pleased that we are taking this small step today of reauthorizing the program through December 7 to at least avoid its doors from shuttering.”

Bill Summary:
Although at the time of this posting, H.R. 6 has become public law, the Congressional Research Service has not updated its summary from the version passed by the House in Roll Call 288 (6-28-18).

Since then, the Senate took up the measure and passed an amended version (Senate Vote 210, 9-17-18).  Next, the House considered the Senate amendment with Roll Call 415 (H. Res. 1099) and added its amendment.  The Senate then accepted the House amendment with this Senate Vote 221 (10-3-18).  Both of these actions added new programs and provisions to the original House passed bill.   For example during the Senate “debate” leading up to its initial September 17th vote, Senator Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) stated:

“We have a sense of bipartisan urgency about  finishing our work in the Senate and combining our efforts with the House. Their bill is a good bill. I think combining it with ours will  help make it stronger, and we will get our bill to the President.”

In an October 24, 2018 news release following the President’s signing of the amended H.R. 6 into law, Senator Alexander listed the following ten key provisions of the legislation:

1. STOP Act—to stop illegal drugs, including fentanyl, at the border [FFS: i.e., shipments via the U.S. Mail]
2. New non-addictive painkillers, research and fast-track
3. Blister packs for opioids, such as a 3 or 7 day supply
4. Extends support for Medicaid patients seeking treatment from 15 to 30 days, covering all substance use disorders
5. TREAT Act—permanently allows more medical professionals to treat people in recovery to prevent relapse and overdoses
6. Prevent “doctor-shopping” by improving state prescription drug monitoring programs
7. More behavioral and mental health providers
8. Support for comprehensive opioid recovery centers
9. Help for babies born in opioid withdrawal and for mothers with opioid use disorders
10. More early intervention with vulnerable children who have experienced trauma

Freedom First Society Analysis: In our earlier analysis of the House action (Roll Call 288, 6-22-2018), we accused Congress of ignoring the root causes of the deadly epidemic while proposing to treat its symptoms with an unconstitutional expansion of government.  As for the root causes, we place the blame on Establishment elites and a complicit Congress marching to their tune.

The Establishment has an open borders agenda which explains why Congress has refused to enforce our borders thus allowing the easy inflow of illegal drugs.  Even more fundamentally, the Establishment has attacked the underpinnings of a free society — traditional morality and religion.  No wonder that many, finding little purpose in life, choose the escape of the opium den.  As we see below, America is also suffering from a “Meth” crisis, so the subversion of America’s cultural underpinnings must not be ignored.

Unfortunately, the Congressional floor debates over H.R. 6 are glaring in their refusal to address the fundamental question:  Why is America afflicted with these crises?

The following remarks are from the Senate debates on 9-17-18 [Emphasis added]:

Senator John Boozman (R-Arkansas): “This comprehensive package covers a wide range of avenues to attack this problem and get individuals the help and support they need to recover. This includes prevention, treatment, additional law enforcement tools, and expanding research into non-addictive pain treatments.   I appreciate the leadership of my colleagues on the HELP, Finance,  Judiciary, and Commerce Committees to advance this important  legislation that is necessary to address the ever-growing opioid crisis.   The legislation expands a grant program to train our first responders administering naloxone, the drug that can be used to block the effects of opioids and prevent deaths from an overdose….

“Not only does this legislation help those already impacted by the  crisis, it also aims to stop even more dangerous drugs, like fentanyl,  from getting into the country in the first place by improving detection  of prohibited drugs being illegally imported through the mail.   These provisions are just a small piece of the puzzle. Together, with other measures in this bill, we can make a real difference and change the conversations we have around opioid abuse and addiction to focus not on the lives taken but on the lives which are being saved. The comprehensive response to the crisis shows how committed we are as a nation to combating opioid addiction.”

Senator Edward Markey (D-Mass.): “This bill contains a number of proposals that will help families and  communities struggling day in and day out to respond to the opioid  overdose crisis. One of those proposals is my bipartisan Opioids Milestones Act, a bill I authored with Senator Lisa Murkowski and Senator Maggie Hassan to create a scorecard for our Nation’s response to the opioid crisis.   The Milestones Act will require the Federal Government to both set  tangible benchmarks for how we are addressing the opioid crisis in our country and measure progress on key objectives every single year. When  people are sick, they get a treatment plan. The United States of America needs a nationwide treatment plan for fighting the opioid crisis, and that is what this provision will create for our country.  Those objectives include reducing overdose deaths, expanding treatment availability, increasing the number of individuals in sustained  recovery, and decreasing emergency room visits for overdoses….

“With more than 220 counties across the United States at risk of a  hepatitis C or HIV outbreak related to the opioid crisis, we cannot  afford to wait any longer to arm our States with the tools needed to tackle the public health consequences of this epidemic….

“If we are going to reduce the supply of heroin, fentanyl, and illicit prescription opioids, then we have to reduce the demand through treatment. That must include increasing access to effective medication-assisted treatment, or MAT….

[Freedom First Society: Is treatment really how you reduce the demand?  Senator Markey’s treatment solution merely targets the demand that has been already created and tries to divert it.]

Senator Markey continues:  “The bill we vote on today cannot be the end of our efforts to help solve the opioid overdose crisis. The opioid crisis knows no  boundaries, and neither should our efforts to combat it.”

[Freedom First Society:  What a prescription for unlimited government!  Collectivism run amok!]

Senator Angus King (Ind.-Maine): “Mr. President, the discussion today is about the opioid  crisis, one of the most serious public health crisesI have seen in my  adult life, certainly in the State of Maine. It is an enormous problem  across the country, particularly in rural areas. In my State, we are losing more than one person a day to an overdose death. That is an epidemic by anybody’s definition.”

Senator Margaret Wood Hassan (D-New Hampshire): “I rise as the Senate considers bipartisan legislation that marks a  critical step forward in the fight against the fentanyl, heroin, and  opioid crisis.  In New Hampshire, and all across our Nation, entire communities are being ravaged by this epidemic. In order to turn the tide, we need to combat the challenges communities are experiencing from all angles; we need to collaborate across traditional boundaries; we need to take a truly all-hands-on-deck approach because the magnitude of this crisis demands it….

“This is a good start, but it is and must be only a start.”

Senator Steve Daines (R-Montana): “While we must focus on combating the opioid crisis, we must also continue to address a related but separate epidemic that is wreaking  havoc in Montana and in many other States; that is, the methamphetamine epidemic.   In Montana, meth is destroying families and communities and disproportionately impacting our Tribes. In fact, we have seen a 415-percent increase in meth cases from 2011 to 2017, and a 375-percent increase in meth-related deaths in that same timeframe.”

The following remarks are from the Senate debates on 10-3-18 [Emphasis added]:

Senator Lamar Alexander (R-Tennessee):  “We  are in the midst of contentious disagreement about the Supreme Court,  but at the same time we have an urgent, bipartisan consensus, of  virtually unanimous agreement, to deal with the most urgent public  health epidemic facing our country today in virtually every community;  that is, the opioids crisis….

“People often say, when I describe our bill — which we called the Opioid Crisis Response Act but is now called by, I think, a better name, the SUPPORT for  Patients and Communities Act  — when I describe the bill, people ask:  Where is the money? Well, the money is not in this bill. This is an  authorization bill. We do money in other bills. We call them  appropriations bills. The Congress and President Trump have both been attentive to the money.   Since just March, including the appropriations bill passed in March  and the appropriations bills approved by the Senate last week, we will  have directed in the Congress $8.5 billion toward the opioid crisis — everything from hundreds of millions for non-addictive pain medicines to  $1 billion for grants to States for more treatment — so $8.5 billion just this year. That is the money….

“The opioids epidemic is going to have to be solved in Ames, IA,  and Nashville, TN, and Sacramento, CA, and communities all across this  country by Governors who work with medical faculty to change the  curriculum on how doctors learn about pain medicine; by States that,  like Tennessee, have begun to limit the opioid prescriptions to 3 days  at a time to try to avoid the 60-day, 60-pill bottle that someone might  take home and use 15 pills and then have the rest taken by a teenager  to a party, with a terrible result at the end; by the judges who deal  with opioids and their criminal cases; and by the nurses and the  treatment officials who try to help people with medication. All of this has to be solved community by community by community. We know that. We  are not pretending that a single act here can fix the problem.

“We have had urgent bipartisan consensus on this. There have been contributions from 5 Senate committees, and 72 different Senators are reflected in  this bill. That is why we have urgent bipartisan consensus, because we want to do everything we can do to provide tools to parents and  patients and doctors and nurses and communities and Governors — anyone  we can find — to deal with this crisis.”

[Freedom First Society:  This points to another looming crisis. Congress has helped the States to become dependent on and addicted to federal handouts for their resources.  The federal government now has deep pockets with the income tax and the ability of the Federal Reserve to inflate the money supply to finance the federal government’s deficits. A revolution to restore federalism would solve a myriad of problems.]

Senator Alexander continues:  “In our State, as in most  States, more people are killed by opioid overdoses than by car  crashes — in Tennessee, 1,776 last year. That is why the House passed  this bill by 393 to 8 last Friday. That is why, after we vote on this  bill today at 3:15, it will go directly to the President, and I am confident he will sign it quickly.”

Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-West Virginia):  “The SUPPORT Act successfully builds on the work Congress began with  the passage of the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act back in  July of 2016, and it is a critical next step in our fight against an  epidemic that continues to devastate families and communities across  this country, especially in my home State of West Virginia.  This legislation reflects what we have learned in the past few years  since we passed CARA….

“When thinking about next steps for fighting the opioid epidemic, one of the first things I realized was that the formula for State funding was not providing adequate resources to the hardest hit States — States like West Virginia. I joined with my colleague Senator Shaheen from New  Hampshire — her State also has been devastated by this epidemic — to help change that formula….

“Something else we quickly realized in West Virginia was that we didn’t have the treatment facilities or the trained workforce to adequately support individuals seeking treatment. To address these  needs, I worked with my colleague Senator Hassan from New Hampshire to create a grant program establishing comprehensive opioid recovery  centers, or CORKs, in the most affected areas, and I worked on  provisions that will help increase and better prepare our healthcare  workers….

“We also have the need for recovering addicts to be able to find that pathway back to employment. To address both of these needs, this legislation authorizes grants that will align job training and  treatment services, including several provisions from the CARA Act that I sponsored with Senator Brown from Ohio.   As to the causes of the crisis, there are many, but there are two areas that come up again and again.   First is the need to reduce the number of prescriptions for opioids.  To get at the root of the problem, Senator Feinstein and I introduced  the Using Data to Prevent Opioid Diversion Act. Our bill, which is now a part of the SUPPORT Act, provides drug manufacturers and distributors with data to identify pharmacies that are suspiciously ordering  prescription opioids, and it grants law enforcement the authority to hold them accountable, as they should be, if they fail to use this data to identify, report, and stop suspicious orders….

“The second issue that comes up often is the need to reduce the amount  of synthetic opioids like fentanyl, which is killing — killing — people.  It is 100 times more potent than heroin.   The STOP Act will help prevent the shipment of synthetic opioids into  the United States through the international mail system, where the vast amount of these originate….

“Something we have seen in West Virginia are the ripple effects of the opioid epidemic. These are the children, the families. An unbelievably increasing number of children are being raised by their grandparents,  raised by their great-grandparents, or are in foster care. It is  putting a major strain on our social services but also on the individual child who, through no fault of their own, has ping-ponged  from house to house in very emotional kinds of ways.

[Freedom First Society: Are these not largely due to the successful Leftist attack on the family? Too many Republicans legislators accept the inroads targeting the traditional family, while eagerly joining with the perpetrators to throw federal money at the symptoms.]

Senator Capito continues:  “There are more babies receiving neonatal care, and I have worked with  my colleagues to make sure the CRIB Act, which I worked on with Senator  Brown as well — this measure clarifies a State’s ability, under Medicaid, to provide care for infants with neonatal abstinence syndrome in residential pediatric recovery centers like Lily’s Place, which we have in Huntington, WV….

“Methamphetamine is something that is way on the rise and taking over, unfortunately, from heroin, which is just a terrific tragedy.   There is no one silver bullet when it comes to the opioid epidemic,  but one thing is certain: I and we will keep fighting against those who are bringing deadly drugs into our communities. We will fight for those struggling with addiction and seeking treatment. We will fight for the children who are caught in the middle, and we will fight for every other person who is affected by this crisis.”

[Freedom First Society:  Perhaps Senator Capito should also be fighting those in Congress who are helping to create despair by destroying America’s heritage of economic opportunity and those legislators who are undermining a culture of strong families with religious values, where there is greater resistance to the temptation of drugs.]

Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-Minnesota): “In the end, the way I look at this is that our first goal is to stop people from getting addicted in the first place.That means doing all we can to stop this fentanyl, carfentanil, and all the illegal drugs from coming in. That means providing education in our schools so kids understand what is happening and how dangerous these drugs are. That means working with our doctors and healthcare providers so they are not overprescribing opioids. We now know that four out of five heroin users got their start on legal prescription drugs….

[Freedom First Society:  Certainly, something is missing here. Surely, the crisis can’t stem from “overprescribing doctors and health care providers.” And educating our kids in school to see the danger must be an uphill battle, particularly now that they see states legitimizing the “recreational pot” culture.   And particularly when our government schools have told them there is no God or higher purpose in life.”

Senator Klobuchar continues:  “The last point is to go after the bad guys, the people who are trying  to get people hooked on these drugs.”

[Freedom First Society:  And many of these “bad guys” came into the U.S. through the federal government’s refusal to enforce our borders, even after 9-11.]

Senator Rob Portman (R-Ohio): “This legislation is important because although Congress acted a  couple years ago, unfortunately, the problem has gotten worse, not  better, and we have learned more. The last major legislation we passed  on opioid legislation was about 2 years ago. By the way, during those 2  years, I am told I have been on this floor 56 times talking about this issue.”

Senator Ron Wyden (D-Oregon):  “Mr. President, when it comes to Medicaid, there is no  question the program is front and center in the fight against the opioid epidemic. Medicaid is the single largest payer of substance use  disorder services in the Nation, paying for a third of all medication-assisted treatment across the country and covering millions of Americans currently suffering; yet gaps in the system still exist.   The SUPPORT for Patients and Communities Act includes a number of  policies that will help fill some of these gaps both within Medicaid and across the healthcare system.

Senator Patty Murray (D-Washington):  “Mr. President, earlier this year, I heard from an elementary school principal in Washington State about how the opioid  crisis was hurting the kids in his school. Students at his school were  having trouble focusing in class as they dealt with the trauma of a family member’s substance use at home. Some of his teachers were having trouble understanding how best to help those students with their trauma.”

[Freedom First Society:  Is this really a federal issue?  Most in Congress ignore the fact that the Constitution authorizes the federal government to perform relatively few functions. Instead, they realize they can get reelected simply by championing popular causes.  It works, since the public is regularly given the image that we have a national government responsible for anything that needs doing.  Yet with its excesses, Congress creates the poison and the power-grabbing antidote in the same laboratory.]

Senator Murray continues: “The bill we all crafted together is a meaningful, bipartisan  compromise…. It includes provisions to develop a task force and grants to help support trauma-informed care programs and increase access to mental health care for children and families in their communities, including at schools like the one the principal told me about, and provisions to build on critical public health activities to prevent opioid misuse from occurring in the first place.   It includes provisions to address the economic and workforce impacts of the opioid crisis, such as support for training to help the nearly 1 million people out of work due to opioid use disorder to gain and  retain employment, as well as provisions to strengthen our behavioral workforce so patients and families can access the treatment they need.   It continues meaningful grants that help States address the most pressing problems associated with substance use disorders in their communities and makes those grants more flexible and available to our Tribal communities who are suffering deeply with the impact of  substance use disorders.   It expands access to treatment services by making more providers eligible to prescribe medication-assisted treatment.   It includes provisions to help the Food and Drug Administration address the crisis as well, such as giving it new authority over packaging and disposal of opioids, as well as many other steps to help those on the frontlines of this epidemic.”

Rebuilding a Congress accountable to an informed electorate, a Congress that respects the limits of the Constitution, will require organized action from responsible, concerned citizens.  Please consider the program of Freedom First Society. 

Bill Summary:
Although at the time of this posting, H.R. 6 has become public law, the Congressional Research Service has not updated its summary from the version passed by the House in Roll Call 288 (6-28-18).

Since then, the Senate took up the measure and passed an amended version (Senate Vote 210, 9-17-18).  Next, the House considered the Senate amendment with Roll Call 415 (H. Res. 1099) and added its amendment.  The Senate then accepted the House amendment with this Senate Vote 221 (10-3-18).  Both of these actions added new programs and provisions to the original House passed bill.   For example during the Senate “debate” leading up to its initial September 17th vote, Senator Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) stated:

“We have a sense of bipartisan urgency about  finishing our work in the Senate and combining our efforts with the House. Their bill is a good bill. I think combining it with ours will  help make it stronger, and we will get our bill to the President.”

In an October 24, 2018 news release following the President’s signing of the amended H.R. 6 into law, Senator Alexander listed the following ten key provisions of the legislation:

1. STOP Act—to stop illegal drugs, including fentanyl, at the border [FFS: i.e., shipments via the U.S. Mail]
2. New non-addictive painkillers, research and fast-track
3. Blister packs for opioids, such as a 3 or 7 day supply
4. Extends support for Medicaid patients seeking treatment from 15 to 30 days, covering all substance use disorders
5. TREAT Act—permanently allows more medical professionals to treat people in recovery to prevent relapse and overdoses
6. Prevent “doctor-shopping” by improving state prescription drug monitoring programs
7. More behavioral and mental health providers
8. Support for comprehensive opioid recovery centers
9. Help for babies born in opioid withdrawal and for mothers with opioid use disorders
10. More early intervention with vulnerable children who have experienced trauma

Freedom First Society Analysis: In our earlier analysis of the House action (Roll Call 288, 6-22-2018), we accused Congress of ignoring the root causes of the deadly epidemic while proposing to treat its symptoms with an unconstitutional expansion of government.  As for the root causes, we place the blame on Establishment elites and a complicit Congress marching to their tune.

The Establishment has an open borders agenda which explains why Congress has refused to enforce our borders thus allowing the easy inflow of illegal drugs.  Even more fundamentally, the Establishment has attacked the underpinnings of a free society — traditional morality and religion.  No wonder that many, finding little purpose in life, choose the escape of the opium den.  As we see below, America is also suffering from a “Meth” crisis, so the subversion of America’s cultural underpinnings must not be ignored.

Unfortunately, the Congressional floor debates over H.R. 6 are glaring in their refusal to address the fundamental question:  Why is America afflicted with these crises?

The following remarks are from the Senate debates on 9-17-18 [Emphasis added]:

Senator John Boozman (R-Arkansas): “This comprehensive package covers a wide range of avenues to attack this problem and get individuals the help and support they need to recover. This includes prevention, treatment, additional law enforcement tools, and expanding research into non-addictive pain treatments.   I appreciate the leadership of my colleagues on the HELP, Finance,  Judiciary, and Commerce Committees to advance this important  legislation that is necessary to address the ever-growing opioid crisis.   The legislation expands a grant program to train our first responders administering naloxone, the drug that can be used to block the effects of opioids and prevent deaths from an overdose….

“Not only does this legislation help those already impacted by the  crisis, it also aims to stop even more dangerous drugs, like fentanyl,  from getting into the country in the first place by improving detection  of prohibited drugs being illegally imported through the mail.   These provisions are just a small piece of the puzzle. Together, with other measures in this bill, we can make a real difference and change the conversations we have around opioid abuse and addiction to focus not on the lives taken but on the lives which are being saved. The comprehensive response to the crisis shows how committed we are as a nation to combating opioid addiction.”

Senator Edward Markey (D-Mass.): “This bill contains a number of proposals that will help families and  communities struggling day in and day out to respond to the opioid  overdose crisis. One of those proposals is my bipartisan Opioids Milestones Act, a bill I authored with Senator Lisa Murkowski and Senator Maggie Hassan to create a scorecard for our Nation’s response to the opioid crisis.   The Milestones Act will require the Federal Government to both set  tangible benchmarks for how we are addressing the opioid crisis in our country and measure progress on key objectives every single year. When  people are sick, they get a treatment plan. The United States of America needs a nationwide treatment plan for fighting the opioid crisis, and that is what this provision will create for our country.  Those objectives include reducing overdose deaths, expanding treatment availability, increasing the number of individuals in sustained  recovery, and decreasing emergency room visits for overdoses….

“With more than 220 counties across the United States at risk of a  hepatitis C or HIV outbreak related to the opioid crisis, we cannot  afford to wait any longer to arm our States with the tools needed to tackle the public health consequences of this epidemic….

“If we are going to reduce the supply of heroin, fentanyl, and illicit prescription opioids, then we have to reduce the demand through treatment. That must include increasing access to effective medication-assisted treatment, or MAT….

[Freedom First Society: Is treatment really how you reduce the demand?  Senator Markey’s treatment solution merely targets the demand that has been already created and tries to divert it.]

Senator Markey continues:  “The bill we vote on today cannot be the end of our efforts to help solve the opioid overdose crisis. The opioid crisis knows no  boundaries, and neither should our efforts to combat it.”

[Freedom First Society:  What a prescription for unlimited government!  Collectivism run amok!]

Senator Angus King (Ind.-Maine): “Mr. President, the discussion today is about the opioid  crisis, one of the most serious public health crisesI have seen in my  adult life, certainly in the State of Maine. It is an enormous problem  across the country, particularly in rural areas. In my State, we are losing more than one person a day to an overdose death. That is an epidemic by anybody’s definition.”

Senator Margaret Wood Hassan (D-New Hampshire): “I rise as the Senate considers bipartisan legislation that marks a  critical step forward in the fight against the fentanyl, heroin, and  opioid crisis.  In New Hampshire, and all across our Nation, entire communities are being ravaged by this epidemic. In order to turn the tide, we need to combat the challenges communities are experiencing from all angles; we need to collaborate across traditional boundaries; we need to take a truly all-hands-on-deck approach because the magnitude of this crisis demands it….

“This is a good start, but it is and must be only a start.”

Senator Steve Daines (R-Montana): “While we must focus on combating the opioid crisis, we must also continue to address a related but separate epidemic that is wreaking  havoc in Montana and in many other States; that is, the methamphetamine epidemic.   In Montana, meth is destroying families and communities and disproportionately impacting our Tribes. In fact, we have seen a 415-percent increase in meth cases from 2011 to 2017, and a 375-percent increase in meth-related deaths in that same timeframe.”

The following remarks are from the Senate debates on 10-3-18 [Emphasis added]:

Senator Lamar Alexander (R-Tennessee):  “We  are in the midst of contentious disagreement about the Supreme Court,  but at the same time we have an urgent, bipartisan consensus, of  virtually unanimous agreement, to deal with the most urgent public  health epidemic facing our country today in virtually every community;  that is, the opioids crisis….

“People often say, when I describe our bill — which we called the Opioid Crisis Response Act but is now called by, I think, a better name, the SUPPORT for  Patients and Communities Act  — when I describe the bill, people ask:  Where is the money? Well, the money is not in this bill. This is an  authorization bill. We do money in other bills. We call them  appropriations bills. The Congress and President Trump have both been attentive to the money.   Since just March, including the appropriations bill passed in March  and the appropriations bills approved by the Senate last week, we will  have directed in the Congress $8.5 billion toward the opioid crisis — everything from hundreds of millions for non-addictive pain medicines to  $1 billion for grants to States for more treatment — so $8.5 billion just this year. That is the money….

“The opioids epidemic is going to have to be solved in Ames, IA,  and Nashville, TN, and Sacramento, CA, and communities all across this  country by Governors who work with medical faculty to change the  curriculum on how doctors learn about pain medicine; by States that,  like Tennessee, have begun to limit the opioid prescriptions to 3 days  at a time to try to avoid the 60-day, 60-pill bottle that someone might  take home and use 15 pills and then have the rest taken by a teenager  to a party, with a terrible result at the end; by the judges who deal  with opioids and their criminal cases; and by the nurses and the  treatment officials who try to help people with medication. All of this has to be solved community by community by community. We know that. We  are not pretending that a single act here can fix the problem.

“We have had urgent bipartisan consensus on this. There have been contributions from 5 Senate committees, and 72 different Senators are reflected in  this bill. That is why we have urgent bipartisan consensus, because we want to do everything we can do to provide tools to parents and  patients and doctors and nurses and communities and Governors — anyone  we can find — to deal with this crisis.”

[Freedom First Society:  This points to another looming crisis. Congress has helped the States to become dependent on and addicted to federal handouts for their resources.  The federal government now has deep pockets with the income tax and the ability of the Federal Reserve to inflate the money supply to finance the federal government’s deficits. A revolution to restore federalism would solve a myriad of problems.]

Senator Alexander continues:  “In our State, as in most  States, more people are killed by opioid overdoses than by car  crashes — in Tennessee, 1,776 last year. That is why the House passed  this bill by 393 to 8 last Friday. That is why, after we vote on this  bill today at 3:15, it will go directly to the President, and I am confident he will sign it quickly.”

Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-West Virginia):  “The SUPPORT Act successfully builds on the work Congress began with  the passage of the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act back in  July of 2016, and it is a critical next step in our fight against an  epidemic that continues to devastate families and communities across  this country, especially in my home State of West Virginia.  This legislation reflects what we have learned in the past few years  since we passed CARA….

“When thinking about next steps for fighting the opioid epidemic, one of the first things I realized was that the formula for State funding was not providing adequate resources to the hardest hit States — States like West Virginia. I joined with my colleague Senator Shaheen from New  Hampshire — her State also has been devastated by this epidemic — to help change that formula….

“Something else we quickly realized in West Virginia was that we didn’t have the treatment facilities or the trained workforce to adequately support individuals seeking treatment. To address these  needs, I worked with my colleague Senator Hassan from New Hampshire to create a grant program establishing comprehensive opioid recovery  centers, or CORKs, in the most affected areas, and I worked on  provisions that will help increase and better prepare our healthcare  workers….

“We also have the need for recovering addicts to be able to find that pathway back to employment. To address both of these needs, this legislation authorizes grants that will align job training and  treatment services, including several provisions from the CARA Act that I sponsored with Senator Brown from Ohio.   As to the causes of the crisis, there are many, but there are two areas that come up again and again.   First is the need to reduce the number of prescriptions for opioids.  To get at the root of the problem, Senator Feinstein and I introduced  the Using Data to Prevent Opioid Diversion Act. Our bill, which is now a part of the SUPPORT Act, provides drug manufacturers and distributors with data to identify pharmacies that are suspiciously ordering  prescription opioids, and it grants law enforcement the authority to hold them accountable, as they should be, if they fail to use this data to identify, report, and stop suspicious orders….

“The second issue that comes up often is the need to reduce the amount  of synthetic opioids like fentanyl, which is killing — killing — people.  It is 100 times more potent than heroin.   The STOP Act will help prevent the shipment of synthetic opioids into  the United States through the international mail system, where the vast amount of these originate….

“Something we have seen in West Virginia are the ripple effects of the opioid epidemic. These are the children, the families. An unbelievably increasing number of children are being raised by their grandparents,  raised by their great-grandparents, or are in foster care. It is  putting a major strain on our social services but also on the individual child who, through no fault of their own, has ping-ponged  from house to house in very emotional kinds of ways.

[Freedom First Society: Are these not largely due to the successful Leftist attack on the family? Too many Republicans legislators accept the inroads targeting the traditional family, while eagerly joining with the perpetrators to throw federal money at the symptoms.]

Senator Capito continues:  “There are more babies receiving neonatal care, and I have worked with  my colleagues to make sure the CRIB Act, which I worked on with Senator  Brown as well — this measure clarifies a State’s ability, under Medicaid, to provide care for infants with neonatal abstinence syndrome in residential pediatric recovery centers like Lily’s Place, which we have in Huntington, WV….

“Methamphetamine is something that is way on the rise and taking over, unfortunately, from heroin, which is just a terrific tragedy.   There is no one silver bullet when it comes to the opioid epidemic,  but one thing is certain: I and we will keep fighting against those who are bringing deadly drugs into our communities. We will fight for those struggling with addiction and seeking treatment. We will fight for the children who are caught in the middle, and we will fight for every other person who is affected by this crisis.”

[Freedom First Society:  Perhaps Senator Capito should also be fighting those in Congress who are helping to create despair by destroying America’s heritage of economic opportunity and those legislators who are undermining a culture of strong families with religious values, where there is greater resistance to the temptation of drugs.]

Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-Minnesota): “In the end, the way I look at this is that our first goal is to stop people from getting addicted in the first place.That means doing all we can to stop this fentanyl, carfentanil, and all the illegal drugs from coming in. That means providing education in our schools so kids understand what is happening and how dangerous these drugs are. That means working with our doctors and healthcare providers so they are not overprescribing opioids. We now know that four out of five heroin users got their start on legal prescription drugs….

[Freedom First Society:  Certainly, something is missing here. Surely, the crisis can’t stem from “overprescribing doctors and health care providers.” And educating our kids in school to see the danger must be an uphill battle, particularly now that they see states legitimizing the “recreational pot” culture.   And particularly when our government schools have told them there is no God or higher purpose in life.”

Senator Klobuchar continues:  “The last point is to go after the bad guys, the people who are trying  to get people hooked on these drugs.”

[Freedom First Society:  And many of these “bad guys” came into the U.S. through the federal government’s refusal to enforce our borders, even after 9-11.]

Senator Rob Portman (R-Ohio): “This legislation is important because although Congress acted a  couple years ago, unfortunately, the problem has gotten worse, not  better, and we have learned more. The last major legislation we passed  on opioid legislation was about 2 years ago. By the way, during those 2  years, I am told I have been on this floor 56 times talking about this issue.”

Senator Ron Wyden (D-Oregon):  “Mr. President, when it comes to Medicaid, there is no  question the program is front and center in the fight against the opioid epidemic. Medicaid is the single largest payer of substance use  disorder services in the Nation, paying for a third of all medication-assisted treatment across the country and covering millions of Americans currently suffering; yet gaps in the system still exist.   The SUPPORT for Patients and Communities Act includes a number of  policies that will help fill some of these gaps both within Medicaid and across the healthcare system.

Senator Patty Murray (D-Washington):  “Mr. President, earlier this year, I heard from an elementary school principal in Washington State about how the opioid  crisis was hurting the kids in his school. Students at his school were  having trouble focusing in class as they dealt with the trauma of a family member’s substance use at home. Some of his teachers were having trouble understanding how best to help those students with their trauma.”

[Freedom First Society:  Is this really a federal issue?  Most in Congress ignore the fact that the Constitution authorizes the federal government to perform relatively few functions. Instead, they realize they can get reelected simply by championing popular causes.  It works, since the public is regularly given the image that we have a national government responsible for anything that needs doing.  Yet with its excesses, Congress creates the poison and the power-grabbing antidote in the same laboratory.]

Senator Murray continues: “The bill we all crafted together is a meaningful, bipartisan  compromise…. It includes provisions to develop a task force and grants to help support trauma-informed care programs and increase access to mental health care for children and families in their communities, including at schools like the one the principal told me about, and provisions to build on critical public health activities to prevent opioid misuse from occurring in the first place.   It includes provisions to address the economic and workforce impacts of the opioid crisis, such as support for training to help the nearly 1 million people out of work due to opioid use disorder to gain and  retain employment, as well as provisions to strengthen our behavioral workforce so patients and families can access the treatment they need.   It continues meaningful grants that help States address the most pressing problems associated with substance use disorders in their communities and makes those grants more flexible and available to our Tribal communities who are suffering deeply with the impact of  substance use disorders.   It expands access to treatment services by making more providers eligible to prescribe medication-assisted treatment.   It includes provisions to help the Food and Drug Administration address the crisis as well, such as giving it new authority over packaging and disposal of opioids, as well as many other steps to help those on the frontlines of this epidemic.”

Rebuilding a Congress accountable to an informed electorate, a Congress that respects the limits of the Constitution, will require organized action from responsible, concerned citizens.  Please consider the program of Freedom First Society. 

CRS Summary of H. Res. 1099
Shown Here:
Introduced in House (09/28/2018)

Sets forth the rule for consideration of the Senate amendment to H.R. 6 (Substance Use-Disorder Prevention that Promotes Opioid Recovery and Treatment for Patients and Communities Act or the SUPPORT for Patients and Communities Act).

H.R. 6 Bill Summary:
Although at the time of this posting, H.R. 6 has become public law, the Congressional Research Service has not updated its summary from the version passed by the House in Roll Call 288 (6-28-18).

Since then, the Senate took up the measure and passed an amended version (Senate Vote 210, 9-17-18).  Next, the House considered the Senate amendment with this Roll Call 415 (H. Res. 1099) and added its amendment.  The Senate accepted the House amendment with Senate Vote 221 (10-3-18).  Both of these actions added new programs and provisions to the original House passed bill.   For example during the Senate “debate” leading up to its initial September 17th vote, Senator Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) stated:

“We have a sense of bipartisan urgency about  finishing our work in the Senate and combining our efforts with the House. Their bill is a good bill. I think combining it with ours will  help make it stronger, and we will get our bill to the President.”

In an October 24, 2018 news release following the President’s signing of the amended H.R. 6 into law, Senator Alexander listed the following ten key provisions of the legislation:

1. STOP Act—to stop illegal drugs, including fentanyl, at the border [FFS: i.e., shipments via the U.S. Mail]
2. New non-addictive painkillers, research and fast-track
3. Blister packs for opioids, such as a 3 or 7 day supply
4. Extends support for Medicaid patients seeking treatment from 15 to 30 days, covering all substance use disorders
5. TREAT Act—permanently allows more medical professionals to treat people in recovery to prevent relapse and overdoses
6. Prevent “doctor-shopping” by improving state prescription drug monitoring programs
7. More behavioral and mental health providers
8. Support for comprehensive opioid recovery centers
9. Help for babies born in opioid withdrawal and for mothers with opioid use disorders
10. More early intervention with vulnerable children who have experienced trauma

Freedom First Society Analysis: In our earlier analysis of the House action (Roll Call 288, 6-22-2018), we accused Congress of ignoring the root causes of the deadly epidemic while proposing to treat its symptoms with an unconstitutional expansion of government.  As for the root causes, we place the blame on Establishment elites and a complicit Congress marching to their tune.

The Establishment has an open borders agenda which explains why Congress has refused to enforce our borders thus allowing the easy inflow of illegal drugs.  Even more fundamentally, the Establishment has attacked the underpinnings of a free society — traditional morality and religion.  No wonder that many, finding little purpose in life, choose the escape of the opium den.  As we see below, America is also suffering from a “Meth” crisis, so the subversion of America’s cultural underpinnings must not be ignored.

Unfortunately, the Congressional floor debates over H.R. 6 are glaring in their refusal to address the fundamental question:  Why is America afflicted with these crises?

The following remarks are from the House debates on 9-28-18 regarding H. Res. 1099 (this Roll Call, 415) [Emphasis added]:

Rep.  Greg Walden (R-Oregon): “Mr. Speaker, this legislation is a product of months of bipartisan,  bicameral work, eight House committees involved, I think probably every  Member of this House, five Senate committees, dozen and dozens of  Members of Congress.”

Rep.  Frank Pallone (D-New Jersey): “Mr. Speaker, the legislation also expands access to coverage…. This bill requires State Medicaid programs to  cover all forms of medication-assisted treatment, which plays a  critical and lifesaving role in treating opioid use disorder…..

“In closing, Mr. Speaker, these are all policies that have the  potential to make a real impact on this epidemic, but our work here is  not complete. An epidemic of this size will take a long-term commitment  to improving health insurance coverage, treatment, access, and  affordability.   This bill is an important step, but I want to stress that we have to  do a lot more. The opioid crisis continues to get worse. A lot more  needs to be done to provide treatment and expand the treatment infrastructure. More resources are needed to support the families and  communities impacted by this crisis. So what we are doing today is clearly helpful, but it is not enough.”

[Freedom First Society: Rep. Pallone is right. It’s not enough.  Because Congress is ignoring the root causes of the epidemic and, in particular, its role in creating the “poison,” while boasting over its work in addressing the crisis with more unconstitutional intervention in the medical marketplace.

Most in Congress no longer accept that the federal government is authorized to perform relatively few functions, as spelled out in the Constitution. Instead, they realize they can get reelected simply by championing popular causes.  It works, since the public is regularly given the image that we have a national government responsible for anything that needs doing.  Yet with its excesses, Congress creates the poison and the power-grabbing antidote in the same laboratory.]

Rep. Richard Neal (D-Mass.): “The bill includes a number of Democratic priorities to expand treatment optionsfor our neighbors, family members, and friends  suffering from opioid use disorders. It includes my bill, with Member Pallone, that would require Medicare to cover opioid treatment programs so that our Nation’s seniors might have more outpatient options for treatment….

“While the bill before us is a step in the right direction, this  epidemic is not going to turn around overnight. It needs a thoughtful,  long-term, sustainable approach that requires significant Federal investments. H.R. 6 represents the initial step in addressing this  crisis, but it cannot be the end. Part of that long-term approach must  include protecting and strengthening Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act….

“I encourage all of us here in this Chamber today and in Congress to continue to work together to develop policy solutions for members of our community who are suffering from this terrible epidemic.”

Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Maryland): “Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of provisions in this package  reauthorizing and reforming the Office of National Drug Control Policy [ONDCP] to improve coordination of our national response to the drug crisis.   At my request, the bill creates a demand reduction coordinator position, parallel to the existing interdiction coordinator, to  strengthen demand reduction initiatives, including efforts to expand treatment.   Among other critical reforms, this legislation also requires ONDCP to report whether drug control program agency budgets are adequate to achieve the goals of the National Drug Control Strategy.

“So while the provisions of H.R. 6 are important, without significantly expanding access to treatment and wraparound services through long-term, sustained funding, we continue to nibble at the  edges of our national crisis, and the crisis will continue to worsen.”

Rep. Robert Latta (R-Ohio): “I am pleased that my bill, the INFO Act, is part of the fight against  the opioid crisis. The INFO Act is essential to ensuring we are  providing behavioral health professionals, advocates, physicians, and  families with the tools, resources, and funding information they need  to prevent, identify, and treat addiction.”

Rep. Gene Green (D-Texas): “I am proud to see our committee and both Chambers of  Congress come together and support the package before us today that  includes the Comprehensive Opioid Recovery Centers Act that I  introduced, along with my friend Representative Brett Guthrie from Kentucky, earlier this year.   This legislation would fund designated treatment centers where  Americans suffering from opioid abuse can receive comprehensive patient-centered care. The bill would allow designated treatment centers to provide wraparound services, including mental health,  counseling, recovery housing, and job training and placement to support reintegration into the workforce.”

Rep. Leonard Lance (R-New Jersey): “I am especially pleased that a bill that I sponsored related to infectious diseases is included in the final package.”

Rep. Ben Ray Lujan (D-New Mexico): “Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support  of H.R. 6, the SUPPORT for Patients and Communities Act.   This is an important step forward in the fight against the Nation’s  opioid epidemic. However, this Congress must acknowledge that this is not the end.  Healthcare is a right, not a privilege. There is much more work to do to ensure that families get the help that they deserve….

“In addition, this bill will create pathways to behavioral  healthcare jobs in communities like New Mexico.   Still, Congress must do more.  As we have heard from Representative  Cummings, this is going to take much more money, investment, and  comprehensive legislation.”

Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.): “While I appreciate the work that has been done on many components of this bill, I still have some important concerns. As the Ranking Member  of the House Committee on Financial Services, which has jurisdiction  over housing programs, I am concerned that this bill falls short when  it comes to providing housing for people with substance use disorders.  The bill includes a provision that creates a new grant program to  provide temporary housing assistance to help people with substance use  disorders, but this new funding will only be available in half of the  states. This will leave the other half of the states continuing to struggle with the challenges of helping people with substance use  disorders who are in need of housing.

“Furthermore, this bill does nothing to address the overly punitive and unfair policies governing  our federal housing programs that create unnecessary barriers to housing for people who have criminal backgrounds related to substance use disorders.”

[Freedom First Society:  Is that a euphemism for “drug pushers” or those engaged in crime to finance their drug habits?]

The following remarks are from the Senate debates on 9-17-18 [Emphasis added]:

Senator John Boozman (R-Arkansas): “This comprehensive package covers a wide range of avenues to attack this problem and get individuals the help and support they need to recover. This includes prevention, treatment, additional law enforcement tools, and expanding research into non-addictive pain treatments.   I appreciate the leadership of my colleagues on the HELP, Finance,  Judiciary, and Commerce Committees to advance this important  legislation that is necessary to address the ever-growing opioid crisis.   The legislation expands a grant program to train our first responders administering naloxone, the drug that can be used to block the effects of opioids and prevent deaths from an overdose….

“Not only does this legislation help those already impacted by the  crisis, it also aims to stop even more dangerous drugs, like fentanyl,  from getting into the country in the first place by improving detection  of prohibited drugs being illegally imported through the mail.   These provisions are just a small piece of the puzzle. Together, with other measures in this bill, we can make a real difference and change the conversations we have around opioid abuse and addiction to focus not on the lives taken but on the lives which are being saved. The comprehensive response to the crisis shows how committed we are as a nation to combating opioid addiction.”

Senator Edward Markey (D-Mass.): “This bill contains a number of proposals that will help families and  communities struggling day in and day out to respond to the opioid  overdose crisis. One of those proposals is my bipartisan Opioids Milestones Act, a bill I authored with Senator Lisa Murkowski and Senator Maggie Hassan to create a scorecard for our Nation’s response to the opioid crisis.   The Milestones Act will require the Federal Government to both set  tangible benchmarks for how we are addressing the opioid crisis in our country and measure progress on key objectives every single year. When  people are sick, they get a treatment plan. The United States of America needs a nationwide treatment plan for fighting the opioid crisis, and that is what this provision will create for our country.  Those objectives include reducing overdose deaths, expanding treatment availability, increasing the number of individuals in sustained  recovery, and decreasing emergency room visits for overdoses….

“With more than 220 counties across the United States at risk of a  hepatitis C or HIV outbreak related to the opioid crisis, we cannot  afford to wait any longer to arm our States with the tools needed to tackle the public health consequences of this epidemic….

“If we are going to reduce the supply of heroin, fentanyl, and illicit prescription opioids, then we have to reduce the demand through treatment. That must include increasing access to effective medication-assisted treatment, or MAT….

[Freedom First Society: Is treatment really how you reduce the demand?  Senator Markey’s treatment solution merely targets the demand that has been already created and tries to divert it.]

Senator Markey continues:  “The bill we vote on today cannot be the end of our efforts to help solve the opioid overdose crisis. The opioid crisis knows no  boundaries, and neither should our efforts to combat it.”

[Freedom First Society:  What a prescription for unlimited government!  Collectivism run amok!]

Senator Angus King (Ind.-Maine): “Mr. President, the discussion today is about the opioid  crisis, one of the most serious public health crisesI have seen in my  adult life, certainly in the State of Maine. It is an enormous problem  across the country, particularly in rural areas. In my State, we are losing more than one person a day to an overdose death. That is an epidemic by anybody’s definition.”

Senator Margaret Wood Hassan (D-New Hampshire): “I rise as the Senate considers bipartisan legislation that marks a  critical step forward in the fight against the fentanyl, heroin, and  opioid crisis.  In New Hampshire, and all across our Nation, entire communities are being ravaged by this epidemic. In order to turn the tide, we need to combat the challenges communities are experiencing from all angles; we need to collaborate across traditional boundaries; we need to take a truly all-hands-on-deck approach because the magnitude of this crisis demands it….

“This is a good start, but it is and must be only a start.”

Senator Steve Daines (R-Montana): “While we must focus on combating the opioid crisis, we must also continue to address a related but separate epidemic that is wreaking  havoc in Montana and in many other States; that is, the methamphetamine epidemic.   In Montana, meth is destroying families and communities and disproportionately impacting our Tribes. In fact, we have seen a 415-percent increase in meth cases from 2011 to 2017, and a 375-percent increase in meth-related deaths in that same timeframe.”

Rebuilding a Congress accountable to an informed electorate, a Congress that respects the limits of the Constitution, will require organized action from responsible, concerned citizens.  Please consider the program of Freedom First Society.

CRS Summary of H. Res. 1099
Shown Here:
Introduced in House (09/28/2018)

Sets forth the rule for consideration of the Senate amendment to H.R. 6 (Substance Use-Disorder Prevention that Promotes Opioid Recovery and Treatment for Patients and Communities Act or the SUPPORT for Patients and Communities Act).

H.R. 6 Bill Summary:
Although at the time of this posting, H.R. 6 has become public law, the Congressional Research Service has not updated its summary from the version passed by the House in Roll Call 288 (6-28-18).

Since then, the Senate took up the measure and passed an amended version (Senate Vote 210, 9-17-18).  Next, the House considered the Senate amendment with this Roll Call 415 (H. Res. 1099) and added its amendment.  The Senate accepted the House amendment with Senate Vote 221 (10-3-18).  Both of these actions added new programs and provisions to the original House passed bill.   For example during the Senate “debate” leading up to its initial September 17th vote, Senator Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) stated:

“We have a sense of bipartisan urgency about  finishing our work in the Senate and combining our efforts with the House. Their bill is a good bill. I think combining it with ours will  help make it stronger, and we will get our bill to the President.”

In an October 24, 2018 news release following the President’s signing of the amended H.R. 6 into law, Senator Alexander listed the following ten key provisions of the legislation:

1. STOP Act—to stop illegal drugs, including fentanyl, at the border [FFS: i.e., shipments via the U.S. Mail]
2. New non-addictive painkillers, research and fast-track
3. Blister packs for opioids, such as a 3 or 7 day supply
4. Extends support for Medicaid patients seeking treatment from 15 to 30 days, covering all substance use disorders
5. TREAT Act—permanently allows more medical professionals to treat people in recovery to prevent relapse and overdoses
6. Prevent “doctor-shopping” by improving state prescription drug monitoring programs
7. More behavioral and mental health providers
8. Support for comprehensive opioid recovery centers
9. Help for babies born in opioid withdrawal and for mothers with opioid use disorders
10. More early intervention with vulnerable children who have experienced trauma

Freedom First Society Analysis: In our earlier analysis of the House action (Roll Call 288, 6-22-2018), we accused Congress of ignoring the root causes of the deadly epidemic while proposing to treat its symptoms with an unconstitutional expansion of government.  As for the root causes, we place the blame on Establishment elites and a complicit Congress marching to their tune.

The Establishment has an open borders agenda which explains why Congress has refused to enforce our borders thus allowing the easy inflow of illegal drugs.  Even more fundamentally, the Establishment has attacked the underpinnings of a free society — traditional morality and religion.  No wonder that many, finding little purpose in life, choose the escape of the opium den.  As we see below, America is also suffering from a “Meth” crisis, so the subversion of America’s cultural underpinnings must not be ignored.

Unfortunately, the Congressional floor debates over H.R. 6 are glaring in their refusal to address the fundamental question:  Why is America afflicted with these crises?

The following remarks are from the House debates on 9-28-18 regarding H. Res. 1099 (this Roll Call, 415) [Emphasis added]:

Rep.  Greg Walden (R-Oregon): “Mr. Speaker, this legislation is a product of months of bipartisan,  bicameral work, eight House committees involved, I think probably every  Member of this House, five Senate committees, dozen and dozens of  Members of Congress.”

Rep.  Frank Pallone (D-New Jersey): “Mr. Speaker, the legislation also expands access to coverage…. This bill requires State Medicaid programs to  cover all forms of medication-assisted treatment, which plays a  critical and lifesaving role in treating opioid use disorder…..

“In closing, Mr. Speaker, these are all policies that have the  potential to make a real impact on this epidemic, but our work here is  not complete. An epidemic of this size will take a long-term commitment  to improving health insurance coverage, treatment, access, and  affordability.   This bill is an important step, but I want to stress that we have to  do a lot more. The opioid crisis continues to get worse. A lot more  needs to be done to provide treatment and expand the treatment infrastructure. More resources are needed to support the families and  communities impacted by this crisis. So what we are doing today is clearly helpful, but it is not enough.”

[Freedom First Society: Rep. Pallone is right. It’s not enough.  Because Congress is ignoring the root causes of the epidemic and, in particular, its role in creating the “poison,” while boasting over its work in addressing the crisis with more unconstitutional intervention in the medical marketplace.

Most in Congress no longer accept that the federal government is authorized to perform relatively few functions, as spelled out in the Constitution. Instead, they realize they can get reelected simply by championing popular causes.  It works, since the public is regularly given the image that we have a national government responsible for anything that needs doing.  Yet with its excesses, Congress creates the poison and the power-grabbing antidote in the same laboratory.]

Rep. Richard Neal (D-Mass.): “The bill includes a number of Democratic priorities to expand treatment optionsfor our neighbors, family members, and friends  suffering from opioid use disorders. It includes my bill, with Member Pallone, that would require Medicare to cover opioid treatment programs so that our Nation’s seniors might have more outpatient options for treatment….

“While the bill before us is a step in the right direction, this  epidemic is not going to turn around overnight. It needs a thoughtful,  long-term, sustainable approach that requires significant Federal investments. H.R. 6 represents the initial step in addressing this  crisis, but it cannot be the end. Part of that long-term approach must  include protecting and strengthening Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act….

“I encourage all of us here in this Chamber today and in Congress to continue to work together to develop policy solutions for members of our community who are suffering from this terrible epidemic.”

Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Maryland): “Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of provisions in this package  reauthorizing and reforming the Office of National Drug Control Policy [ONDCP] to improve coordination of our national response to the drug crisis.   At my request, the bill creates a demand reduction coordinator position, parallel to the existing interdiction coordinator, to  strengthen demand reduction initiatives, including efforts to expand treatment.   Among other critical reforms, this legislation also requires ONDCP to report whether drug control program agency budgets are adequate to achieve the goals of the National Drug Control Strategy.

“So while the provisions of H.R. 6 are important, without significantly expanding access to treatment and wraparound services through long-term, sustained funding, we continue to nibble at the  edges of our national crisis, and the crisis will continue to worsen.”

Rep. Robert Latta (R-Ohio): “I am pleased that my bill, the INFO Act, is part of the fight against  the opioid crisis. The INFO Act is essential to ensuring we are  providing behavioral health professionals, advocates, physicians, and  families with the tools, resources, and funding information they need  to prevent, identify, and treat addiction.”

Rep. Gene Green (D-Texas): “I am proud to see our committee and both Chambers of  Congress come together and support the package before us today that  includes the Comprehensive Opioid Recovery Centers Act that I  introduced, along with my friend Representative Brett Guthrie from Kentucky, earlier this year.   This legislation would fund designated treatment centers where  Americans suffering from opioid abuse can receive comprehensive patient-centered care. The bill would allow designated treatment centers to provide wraparound services, including mental health,  counseling, recovery housing, and job training and placement to support reintegration into the workforce.”

Rep. Leonard Lance (R-New Jersey): “I am especially pleased that a bill that I sponsored related to infectious diseases is included in the final package.”

Rep. Ben Ray Lujan (D-New Mexico): “Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support  of H.R. 6, the SUPPORT for Patients and Communities Act.   This is an important step forward in the fight against the Nation’s  opioid epidemic. However, this Congress must acknowledge that this is not the end.  Healthcare is a right, not a privilege. There is much more work to do to ensure that families get the help that they deserve….

“In addition, this bill will create pathways to behavioral  healthcare jobs in communities like New Mexico.   Still, Congress must do more.  As we have heard from Representative  Cummings, this is going to take much more money, investment, and  comprehensive legislation.”

Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.): “While I appreciate the work that has been done on many components of this bill, I still have some important concerns. As the Ranking Member  of the House Committee on Financial Services, which has jurisdiction  over housing programs, I am concerned that this bill falls short when  it comes to providing housing for people with substance use disorders.  The bill includes a provision that creates a new grant program to  provide temporary housing assistance to help people with substance use  disorders, but this new funding will only be available in half of the  states. This will leave the other half of the states continuing to struggle with the challenges of helping people with substance use  disorders who are in need of housing.

“Furthermore, this bill does nothing to address the overly punitive and unfair policies governing  our federal housing programs that create unnecessary barriers to housing for people who have criminal backgrounds related to substance use disorders.”

[Freedom First Society:  Is that a euphemism for “drug pushers” or those engaged in crime to finance their drug habits?]

The following remarks are from the Senate debates on 9-17-18 [Emphasis added]:

Senator John Boozman (R-Arkansas): “This comprehensive package covers a wide range of avenues to attack this problem and get individuals the help and support they need to recover. This includes prevention, treatment, additional law enforcement tools, and expanding research into non-addictive pain treatments.   I appreciate the leadership of my colleagues on the HELP, Finance,  Judiciary, and Commerce Committees to advance this important  legislation that is necessary to address the ever-growing opioid crisis.   The legislation expands a grant program to train our first responders administering naloxone, the drug that can be used to block the effects of opioids and prevent deaths from an overdose….

“Not only does this legislation help those already impacted by the  crisis, it also aims to stop even more dangerous drugs, like fentanyl,  from getting into the country in the first place by improving detection  of prohibited drugs being illegally imported through the mail.   These provisions are just a small piece of the puzzle. Together, with other measures in this bill, we can make a real difference and change the conversations we have around opioid abuse and addiction to focus not on the lives taken but on the lives which are being saved. The comprehensive response to the crisis shows how committed we are as a nation to combating opioid addiction.”

Senator Edward Markey (D-Mass.): “This bill contains a number of proposals that will help families and  communities struggling day in and day out to respond to the opioid  overdose crisis. One of those proposals is my bipartisan Opioids Milestones Act, a bill I authored with Senator Lisa Murkowski and Senator Maggie Hassan to create a scorecard for our Nation’s response to the opioid crisis.   The Milestones Act will require the Federal Government to both set  tangible benchmarks for how we are addressing the opioid crisis in our country and measure progress on key objectives every single year. When  people are sick, they get a treatment plan. The United States of America needs a nationwide treatment plan for fighting the opioid crisis, and that is what this provision will create for our country.  Those objectives include reducing overdose deaths, expanding treatment availability, increasing the number of individuals in sustained  recovery, and decreasing emergency room visits for overdoses….

“With more than 220 counties across the United States at risk of a  hepatitis C or HIV outbreak related to the opioid crisis, we cannot  afford to wait any longer to arm our States with the tools needed to tackle the public health consequences of this epidemic….

“If we are going to reduce the supply of heroin, fentanyl, and illicit prescription opioids, then we have to reduce the demand through treatment. That must include increasing access to effective medication-assisted treatment, or MAT….

[Freedom First Society: Is treatment really how you reduce the demand?  Senator Markey’s treatment solution merely targets the demand that has been already created and tries to divert it.]

Senator Markey continues:  “The bill we vote on today cannot be the end of our efforts to help solve the opioid overdose crisis. The opioid crisis knows no  boundaries, and neither should our efforts to combat it.”

[Freedom First Society:  What a prescription for unlimited government!  Collectivism run amok!]

Senator Angus King (Ind.-Maine): “Mr. President, the discussion today is about the opioid  crisis, one of the most serious public health crisesI have seen in my  adult life, certainly in the State of Maine. It is an enormous problem  across the country, particularly in rural areas. In my State, we are losing more than one person a day to an overdose death. That is an epidemic by anybody’s definition.”

Senator Margaret Wood Hassan (D-New Hampshire): “I rise as the Senate considers bipartisan legislation that marks a  critical step forward in the fight against the fentanyl, heroin, and  opioid crisis.  In New Hampshire, and all across our Nation, entire communities are being ravaged by this epidemic. In order to turn the tide, we need to combat the challenges communities are experiencing from all angles; we need to collaborate across traditional boundaries; we need to take a truly all-hands-on-deck approach because the magnitude of this crisis demands it….

“This is a good start, but it is and must be only a start.”

Senator Steve Daines (R-Montana): “While we must focus on combating the opioid crisis, we must also continue to address a related but separate epidemic that is wreaking  havoc in Montana and in many other States; that is, the methamphetamine epidemic.   In Montana, meth is destroying families and communities and disproportionately impacting our Tribes. In fact, we have seen a 415-percent increase in meth cases from 2011 to 2017, and a 375-percent increase in meth-related deaths in that same timeframe.”

Rebuilding a Congress accountable to an informed electorate, a Congress that respects the limits of the Constitution, will require organized action from responsible, concerned citizens.  Please consider the program of Freedom First Society.

Bill Summary:  

DIVISION A—DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2019 

Title I—Military Personnel
Title II—Operation and Maintenance
Title III—Procurement
Title IV—Research, Development, Test and Evaluation
Title V—Revolving and Management Funds
Title VI—Other Department of Defense Programs
Title VII—Related Agencies
Title VIII—General Provisions
Title IX—Overseas Contingency Operations

DIVISION B—DEPARTMENTS OF LABOR, HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES, AND EDUCATION, AND RELATED AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2019

Title I—Department of Labor
Title II—Department of Health and Human Services
Title III—Department of Education
Title IV—Related Agencies
Title V—General Provisions

DIVISION C—CONTINUING APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2019

Sec. 105:  Unless otherwise provided for in this Act or in the applicable appropriations Act for fiscal year 2019, appropriations and funds made available and authority granted pursuant to this Act shall be available until whichever of the following first occurs:

(1) the enactment into law of an appropriation for any project or activity provided for in this Act;
(2) the enactment into law of the applicable appropriations Act for fiscal year 2019 without any provision for such project or activity; or
(3) December 7, 2018.

Analysis:  Our analysis of the House-Senate compromise measure makes three objections:

1. Collectivism is Alive and Well in Both Parties
Leadership of both parties promote the idea that their principal job is to spend money in a timely manner and that the American taxpayer is counting on Congress to do so.   The appropriators often make it sound as though they are paying for these appropriations out of their own pockets.

Moreover, they tout all of the ostensible good things government can do on our behalf (collectivism), while completely ignoring the damage to middle class opportunity from a bloated out-of-control government.  Yet this unrestrained spending on unconstitutional programs threatens to bankrupt our nation and cost us our freedom.

The breakthrough American principle of constitutionally limited government is totally foreign to congressional appropriators. Those readers familiar with the U.S. Constitution will see below that senatorsare boasting of federal involvement in numerous areas where there is simply no constitutional authorization, nor should there be.

2. Bipartisan Compromise Should Not Be Extolled As a Virtue
Legislative leaders and the Establishment media constantly seek toconvince the public that political compromise is a necessary virtue.  But the real interests of the American people, and the unborn in particular, are not party to the compromise.

Congressmen should not compromise on fundamental principles, such as their oath to defend the Constitution.  And some don’t.  Instead, if there were a sufficient faction in either branch committed to restoring limited government according to the Constitution, that faction should use the “power of the purse” to play hardball with the socialists.  (And true regular order, funding parts of the government separately, is necessary in order to play hardball and take the sting out of the modern socialist threat of a total government shutdown.)

Responsible congressmen should vote on principle, even if they are not currently in the majority.  Unless some stake out the principled position, as a few are doing (see Scorecard), there is no hope of becoming the majority and averting disaster.

Those who extoll compromise are often employing a double standard.  Here, Senate appropriators refused to compromise on so-called “Poison pills” — attempts to address significant policy problems by attaching them to unrelated appropriation measures.  But appropriators deemed it okay to compromise on the Constitution!

In fact, Senate appropriators saw no problem in attaching the largely unconstitutional and unrelated Labor-Health and Human Services, and Education Appropriations bill — the very definition of a “Poison Pill” — to the Defense Appropriations bill.

3. They Compromised to the Left
The House-Senate “compromise” boosting spending for unconstitutional programs brought the big-government Democrats on board. Conservative Republicans, including some constitutionalists, were left out in the cold by “their” leadership.

Senate debates (from the Congressional Record, 9-18-18) [Emphasis added.]
We support the above three objections with excerpts from the floor “debates” (as reported in the Congressional Record).

However, we must also point out that the so-called House and Senate debates were not really debates at all.  This is often the case today.   Although there was opposition in both the House and Senate to the conference agreement, only in the Senate did one opponent of the measure (Senator Mike Lee of Utah, see below) take the podium to give his reasons for opposition.   The “debate” time was divided primarily between leading Republican and Democrat appropriators who embraced the House-Senate, Democrat-Republican “compromise.’

Senator Roy Blunt (R-Missouri), member Appropriations Committee:  “Mr. President, today we are about to mark a milestone.  Maybe it wouldn’t be a milestone for any other group except for the U.S. Congress; that milestone is getting a  significant part of our work done on time.   This will be the first time in 22 years that we have passed the Labor-Health and Human Services appropriations bill before the start of  the fiscal year. Just a few days ago was the first time in 11 years  this bill has even been debated on the Senate floor. So we are heading in a good direction.

“This is a bipartisan agreement. It isn’t exactly the bill that I  would prefer; it isn’t exactly what my ranking member Senator Murray  would like to have done here. But working with our House colleagues and with Senator Shelby and Senator Leahy, we have actually done the job  this year that the appropriating committee is supposed to do, which is  to appropriate the money — to decide how to spend the people’s money  that we have been entrusted with….

“This is one of the most difficult bills to negotiate. It is 30 percent of all nondefense spending. It is, interestingly, combined this  year with the defense bill. So you have the No. 1 priority of the  Federal Government — to defend the country — as part of the bill, which  is 50 percent of all the discretionary spending, and then another 12  percent or so with the Labor-HHS bill. Sixty-two percent of all of the  spending the government will do that we have a choice in — that is not  mandatory spending — happens in the bill the Senate is voting on today….

“Today’s bill, I think, reflects the priorities of both sides of the Capitol and both sides of the aisle. We fulfilled the commitments the leaders made in the February budget agreement to keep the extraneous  issues off these bills that fund the government. It also fulfills the President’s demand that he doesn’t want any more omnibus spending  bills. He wants these bills in small packages that we can debate and he can look at.  It invests in national priorities, like fighting the opioid epidemic, expanding medical research, promoting college affordability, and  strengthening our workforce.

“This bill accomplishes a huge goal that I, Senator Murray, Senator Durbin, Senator Alexander, and others have had  for several years now, which is to get back, fully committed, to health research funding, the NIH grant process that to a great extent had gone into a stagnant, no-growth mode for over a decade….

“We have money to help people in schools to be ready to learn and to  be prepared for careers and training. Certainly, the apprenticeship  programs are programs that Senator Murray has advocated effectively for, both in this bill and on the floor. The bill includes an increase for Head Start — again, getting kids ready to go to school — more title I money to support students in low-income schools and help them meet challenging State economic or academic standards. There is an increase for the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, so students with disabilities have more Federal encouragement, even though more of that burden is still borne locally than was ever  thought possible when the IDEA was passed.   There is more funding for academic enrichment grants and charter schools, impact aid for dedicated, evidence-based STEM education  programs, and for career and technical programs.”

Senator Patty Murray (D-Washington State), member Appropriations Committee: “Mr. President, I thank my colleague Senator Blunt and  echo his comments this morning. I come to the floor to urge our  colleagues to support this conference report.   I do thank Chairman Shelby, Vice Chairman Leahy, Chairman  Frelinghuysen, and Ranking Member Lowey, as well as Leaders McConnell  and Schumer. Because of their hard work and leadership, we have been able to work together across the aisle and pass bills under regular order in a way that we have been unable to do for many years.

Freedom First Society: Passage of a minibus is not regular order (individual votes on each of the 12 regular appropriations measures).  The primary reason that the leadership combines appropriation measures into a minibus, rather than allowing votes on each individual measure, is to provide protective coloration so that congressmen can support the bad with the good.

Senator Mike Lee (R-Utah): “Mr. President, I am a Republican because I am a  conservative. I am a conservative because I believe the Constitution  and the ideals that it asserts on behalf of the American people are worth protecting, worth defending, even when they are untimely, even when they are unpopular, and especially for the vulnerable, for the marginalized, and for the forgotten among us.

“Equal rights, equal opportunity, equal justice under the law, equal dignity under God — we fail as Americans when we violate these ideals, when we neglect them to whatever degree, when we exclude some number of  our neighbors from their God-given share of our common inheritance,  when we declare in the interest of expedience and in defiance of our  own national creed that some people somehow are less equal than others.

“Such was the cruelty of our Nation through our laws, long-visited on  African Americans, Native Americans, immigrants, and ethnic minorities,  on women, on the disabled, and on religious minorities, including  religious minorities like my own forebears as members of the Church of  Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.   Happily, this is no longer the case. Happily, all of these groups — who, taken together, comprise the vast majority of all Americans — were  at different times in our history affirmatively brought under the  protection of our laws. This work of inclusion, of expanding the circle of legal and constitutional protection, was not a natural, organic,  spontaneous, evolutionary process; it was the product of hard work — the  work of vigilant citizens, activists, and lawmakers who affirmatively,  aggressively, painstakingly advanced the cause of justice at every  opportunity, even against the entrenched forces of the political status quo.   Republicans in this Congress have undertaken such efforts on behalf  of certain priorities — in particular, the tax relief and spending  increases that are poised to yield a budget deficit of nearly $1 trillion this year.

“But no such legislative progress has been achieved advancing the  right to life nor the plight of those denied it. For the second  straight year of unified Republican governance — unified pro-life governance Congress’s annual spending bills will include no new reforms protecting unborn children or getting Federal taxpayers out of  the abortion business. The House version of this Health and Human Services spending bill included multiple reforms. It denied taxpayer funds to the largest  abortion provider in the country, Planned Parenthood. It eliminated  title X family planning grants, which cross-subsidize abortion  providers. It prohibited Federal funding of research on aborted fetal  tissue. It included the Conscience Protection Act protecting pro-life people  and groups from funding discrimination. None of these modest,  commonsense spending reforms survived the House-Senate negotiations — none of them. None was made a priority by the people empowered to set  the priorities.   The authors of this bill defend their $1.3 trillion compromise. And  of course, this being Washington, I know, as is always the case, that  in this case, it could always be worse. But before this bill passes with an overwhelming bipartisan supermajority as its base of support — despite it being mostly unread by its supporters — someone ought to speak up for the Americans whom this legislation conspicuously leaves behind.

“The best measure of any government or any policy or proposal can be  measured according to its impact on the least among us. Too often  today, Washington acts as though “the least among us” refers to our  most vulnerable incumbents rather than our most vulnerable  constituents. This $1.3 trillion spending bill exemplifies that very confusion and fails that very test. Under this bill, neither the unborn nor taxpayers are any more protected from the abortion industry than they were under President Obama and a unified Democratic Congress.

“I understand that fighting on contentious issues comes with a cost. I  understand that it is not easy. But other things come with a cost too.  It is not just this that comes with a cost — so, too, does not fighting on them, especially in the rare moments when we could win. This bill represents a significant opportunity missed — and missed at a time when we can’t be sure how many more we will be given going forward, how many more opportunities like this one we might have.  Some causes are worth fighting for, even in defeat — the God-given  equal rights and the dignity of all human beings paramount among them.   The arc of history may, as I hope, bend toward life, but only if we  bend it. I oppose this legislation, but I do so neither in anger nor in  sadness; rather, I do so in hope, looking forward to another bill,  another time in the not-too-distant future, one that stands up for  those Americans who asked nothing more than the chance to one day stand up for themselves. I yield the floor.”

Senator Richard Shelby (R-Alabama), Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee:  “Mr. President, I want to thank my colleagues,  particularly Leaders McConnell and Schumer and Vice Chairman Leahy for  their help in moving this package. The conference report before the Senate accelerates the rebuilding of America’s military and provides our men and women in uniform with the largest pay increase in nearly a decade.

“It also increases NIH’s budget by $2 billion and provides  critical resources to combat the opioid epidemic.And, it contains no  poison pill riders.   On the whole, the conference report tracks very closely with the  Senate version of this package, which passed by a vote of 85 to 7. I  hope it will receive the same level of support today and urge my  colleagues to vote yes.”  

Senator Dick Durbin (D-Illinois), member Appropriations Committee: “The defense bill is paired with the Labor, Health and Human Services,  and Education bill this year, which includes another $2 billion funding increase for medical research at the National Institutes of Health.  This will be the fourth year in a row that Congress has provided the  NIH with at least a 5-percent budget increase. Every NIH institute and center will see their budgets increase, but there are also noteworthy  increases for Alzheimer’s disease and cancer research. I wish we could have given the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention a bigger increase, but I am pleased with what we were able to accomplish here, including the continued investment— with an  additional $5 million in fiscal year 2019 — for the Open Textbooks Pilot to help save college students money on textbook costs…..

“In conclusion, the outcome of much of this bill shows what we can  accomplish when Democrats and Republicans work together.”

Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont), ranking Democrat on Appropriations Committee:  “Mr. President, the Senator from Alabama and I have been friends for decades. Our wives have been friends, as the Presiding  Officer knows. We have different political philosophies, but we join  together in wanting to make the Senate work the way it should work and the way it used to work. We have done that in these appropriations bills. It means that the Senator from Alabama has had to decline some  things in this bill that he might have liked otherwise, but I have had  to do the same. That is why we are here today.  The two bills in the package before us — the Defense bill and the  Labor-HHS-Education bill — are a product of hard work and bipartisan  cooperation.I am pleased that those of us working together have been  able to work out the differences between the House and Senate bills. It  goes way beyond the procedures, way beyond working together.   These bills make important investments not only in our national security but also in the future of our country for us, our children,  and our grandchildren. They demonstrate the importance of the bipartisan budget agreement we reached earlier this year.

“The Labor-HHS-Education bill makes new investments in healthcare and education. We increase funding for the National Institutes of Health, the jewel that we have here in this country. We invest in working families by improving access to childcare and promoting college affordability. We provide new resources to combat the opioid epidemic — something that hits every single State represented in this body….

“We never want to fund the government by continuing resolution; that is inefficient and actually wastes money. That is why Chairman Shelby and I have worked so hard to get the appropriations process back on track. We have more work to do. We are still in  conference on a four-bill minibus….

“Most of the funding issues  have been resolved. We do have some controversial poison pill riders.  We shouldn’t delay this package over unrelated policy matters that have no place on must-pass spending bills. Get the poison pills out and pass  the bills.   There are four bills — the Interior bill, the Financial Services bill, the Agriculture bill, and the Transportation-HUD bill. These are  programs that are important to the American people. They should not be  frozen at fiscal year 2018 funding levels — not even for a few months.”

Bill Summary:  

DIVISION A—DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2019 

Title I—Military Personnel
Title II—Operation and Maintenance
Title III—Procurement
Title IV—Research, Development, Test and Evaluation
Title V—Revolving and Management Funds
Title VI—Other Department of Defense Programs
Title VII—Related Agencies
Title VIII—General Provisions
Title IX—Overseas Contingency Operations

DIVISION B—DEPARTMENTS OF LABOR, HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES, AND EDUCATION, AND RELATED AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2019

Title I—Department of Labor
Title II—Department of Health and Human Services
Title III—Department of Education
Title IV—Related Agencies
Title V—General Provisions

DIVISION C—CONTINUING APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2019

Sec. 105:  Unless otherwise provided for in this Act or in the applicable appropriations Act for fiscal year 2019, appropriations and funds made available and authority granted pursuant to this Act shall be available until whichever of the following first occurs:

(1) the enactment into law of an appropriation for any project or activity provided for in this Act;
(2) the enactment into law of the applicable appropriations Act for fiscal year 2019 without any provision for such project or activity; or
(3) December 7, 2018.

Analysis:  Our analysis of the House-Senate compromise measure makes three objections:

1. Collectivism is Alive and Well in Both Parties
Leadership of both parties promote the idea that their principal job is to spend money in a timely manner and that the American taxpayer is counting on Congress to do so.   The appropriators often make it sound as though they are paying for these appropriations out of their own pockets.

Moreover, they tout all of the ostensible good things government can do on our behalf (collectivism), while completely ignoring the damage to middle class opportunity from a bloated out-of-control government.  Yet this unrestrained spending on unconstitutional programs threatens to bankrupt our nation and cost us our freedom.

The breakthrough American principle of constitutionally limited government is totally foreign to congressional appropriators. Those readers familiar with the U.S. Constitution will see below that senatorsare boasting of federal involvement in numerous areas where there is simply no constitutional authorization, nor should there be.

2. Bipartisan Compromise Should Not Be Extolled As a Virtue
Legislative leaders and the Establishment media constantly seek toconvince the public that political compromise is a necessary virtue.  But the real interests of the American people, and the unborn in particular, are not party to the compromise.

Congressmen should not compromise on fundamental principles, such as their oath to defend the Constitution.  And some don’t.  Instead, if there were a sufficient faction in either branch committed to restoring limited government according to the Constitution, that faction should use the “power of the purse” to play hardball with the socialists.  (And true regular order, funding parts of the government separately, is necessary in order to play hardball and take the sting out of the modern socialist threat of a total government shutdown.)

Responsible congressmen should vote on principle, even if they are not currently in the majority.  Unless some stake out the principled position, as a few are doing (see Scorecard), there is no hope of becoming the majority and averting disaster.

Those who extoll compromise are often employing a double standard.  Here, Senate appropriators refused to compromise on so-called “Poison pills” — attempts to address significant policy problems by attaching them to unrelated appropriation measures.  But appropriators deemed it okay to compromise on the Constitution!

In fact, Senate appropriators saw no problem in attaching the largely unconstitutional and unrelated Labor-Health and Human Services, and Education Appropriations bill — the very definition of a “Poison Pill” — to the Defense Appropriations bill.

3. They Compromised to the Left
The House-Senate “compromise” boosting spending for unconstitutional programs brought the big-government Democrats on board. Conservative Republicans, including some constitutionalists, were left out in the cold by “their” leadership.

Senate debates (from the Congressional Record, 9-18-18) [Emphasis added.]
We support the above three objections with excerpts from the floor “debates” (as reported in the Congressional Record).

However, we must also point out that the so-called House and Senate debates were not really debates at all.  This is often the case today.   Although there was opposition in both the House and Senate to the conference agreement, only in the Senate did one opponent of the measure (Senator Mike Lee of Utah, see below) take the podium to give his reasons for opposition.   The “debate” time was divided primarily between leading Republican and Democrat appropriators who embraced the House-Senate, Democrat-Republican “compromise.’

Senator Roy Blunt (R-Missouri), member Appropriations Committee:  “Mr. President, today we are about to mark a milestone.  Maybe it wouldn’t be a milestone for any other group except for the U.S. Congress; that milestone is getting a  significant part of our work done on time.   This will be the first time in 22 years that we have passed the Labor-Health and Human Services appropriations bill before the start of  the fiscal year. Just a few days ago was the first time in 11 years  this bill has even been debated on the Senate floor. So we are heading in a good direction.

“This is a bipartisan agreement. It isn’t exactly the bill that I  would prefer; it isn’t exactly what my ranking member Senator Murray  would like to have done here. But working with our House colleagues and with Senator Shelby and Senator Leahy, we have actually done the job  this year that the appropriating committee is supposed to do, which is  to appropriate the money — to decide how to spend the people’s money  that we have been entrusted with….

“This is one of the most difficult bills to negotiate. It is 30 percent of all nondefense spending. It is, interestingly, combined this  year with the defense bill. So you have the No. 1 priority of the  Federal Government — to defend the country — as part of the bill, which  is 50 percent of all the discretionary spending, and then another 12  percent or so with the Labor-HHS bill. Sixty-two percent of all of the  spending the government will do that we have a choice in — that is not  mandatory spending — happens in the bill the Senate is voting on today….

“Today’s bill, I think, reflects the priorities of both sides of the Capitol and both sides of the aisle. We fulfilled the commitments the leaders made in the February budget agreement to keep the extraneous  issues off these bills that fund the government. It also fulfills the President’s demand that he doesn’t want any more omnibus spending  bills. He wants these bills in small packages that we can debate and he can look at.  It invests in national priorities, like fighting the opioid epidemic, expanding medical research, promoting college affordability, and  strengthening our workforce.

“This bill accomplishes a huge goal that I, Senator Murray, Senator Durbin, Senator Alexander, and others have had  for several years now, which is to get back, fully committed, to health research funding, the NIH grant process that to a great extent had gone into a stagnant, no-growth mode for over a decade….

“We have money to help people in schools to be ready to learn and to  be prepared for careers and training. Certainly, the apprenticeship  programs are programs that Senator Murray has advocated effectively for, both in this bill and on the floor. The bill includes an increase for Head Start — again, getting kids ready to go to school — more title I money to support students in low-income schools and help them meet challenging State economic or academic standards. There is an increase for the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, so students with disabilities have more Federal encouragement, even though more of that burden is still borne locally than was ever  thought possible when the IDEA was passed.   There is more funding for academic enrichment grants and charter schools, impact aid for dedicated, evidence-based STEM education  programs, and for career and technical programs.”

Senator Patty Murray (D-Washington State), member Appropriations Committee: “Mr. President, I thank my colleague Senator Blunt and  echo his comments this morning. I come to the floor to urge our  colleagues to support this conference report.   I do thank Chairman Shelby, Vice Chairman Leahy, Chairman  Frelinghuysen, and Ranking Member Lowey, as well as Leaders McConnell  and Schumer. Because of their hard work and leadership, we have been able to work together across the aisle and pass bills under regular order in a way that we have been unable to do for many years.

Freedom First Society: Passage of a minibus is not regular order (individual votes on each of the 12 regular appropriations measures).  The primary reason that the leadership combines appropriation measures into a minibus, rather than allowing votes on each individual measure, is to provide protective coloration so that congressmen can support the bad with the good.

Senator Mike Lee (R-Utah): “Mr. President, I am a Republican because I am a  conservative. I am a conservative because I believe the Constitution  and the ideals that it asserts on behalf of the American people are worth protecting, worth defending, even when they are untimely, even when they are unpopular, and especially for the vulnerable, for the marginalized, and for the forgotten among us.

“Equal rights, equal opportunity, equal justice under the law, equal dignity under God — we fail as Americans when we violate these ideals, when we neglect them to whatever degree, when we exclude some number of  our neighbors from their God-given share of our common inheritance,  when we declare in the interest of expedience and in defiance of our  own national creed that some people somehow are less equal than others.

“Such was the cruelty of our Nation through our laws, long-visited on  African Americans, Native Americans, immigrants, and ethnic minorities,  on women, on the disabled, and on religious minorities, including  religious minorities like my own forebears as members of the Church of  Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.   Happily, this is no longer the case. Happily, all of these groups — who, taken together, comprise the vast majority of all Americans — were  at different times in our history affirmatively brought under the  protection of our laws. This work of inclusion, of expanding the circle of legal and constitutional protection, was not a natural, organic,  spontaneous, evolutionary process; it was the product of hard work — the  work of vigilant citizens, activists, and lawmakers who affirmatively,  aggressively, painstakingly advanced the cause of justice at every  opportunity, even against the entrenched forces of the political status quo.   Republicans in this Congress have undertaken such efforts on behalf  of certain priorities — in particular, the tax relief and spending  increases that are poised to yield a budget deficit of nearly $1 trillion this year.

“But no such legislative progress has been achieved advancing the  right to life nor the plight of those denied it. For the second  straight year of unified Republican governance — unified pro-life governance Congress’s annual spending bills will include no new reforms protecting unborn children or getting Federal taxpayers out of  the abortion business. The House version of this Health and Human Services spending bill included multiple reforms. It denied taxpayer funds to the largest  abortion provider in the country, Planned Parenthood. It eliminated  title X family planning grants, which cross-subsidize abortion  providers. It prohibited Federal funding of research on aborted fetal  tissue. It included the Conscience Protection Act protecting pro-life people  and groups from funding discrimination. None of these modest,  commonsense spending reforms survived the House-Senate negotiations — none of them. None was made a priority by the people empowered to set  the priorities.   The authors of this bill defend their $1.3 trillion compromise. And  of course, this being Washington, I know, as is always the case, that  in this case, it could always be worse. But before this bill passes with an overwhelming bipartisan supermajority as its base of support — despite it being mostly unread by its supporters — someone ought to speak up for the Americans whom this legislation conspicuously leaves behind.

“The best measure of any government or any policy or proposal can be  measured according to its impact on the least among us. Too often  today, Washington acts as though “the least among us” refers to our  most vulnerable incumbents rather than our most vulnerable  constituents. This $1.3 trillion spending bill exemplifies that very confusion and fails that very test. Under this bill, neither the unborn nor taxpayers are any more protected from the abortion industry than they were under President Obama and a unified Democratic Congress.

“I understand that fighting on contentious issues comes with a cost. I  understand that it is not easy. But other things come with a cost too.  It is not just this that comes with a cost — so, too, does not fighting on them, especially in the rare moments when we could win. This bill represents a significant opportunity missed — and missed at a time when we can’t be sure how many more we will be given going forward, how many more opportunities like this one we might have.  Some causes are worth fighting for, even in defeat — the God-given  equal rights and the dignity of all human beings paramount among them.   The arc of history may, as I hope, bend toward life, but only if we  bend it. I oppose this legislation, but I do so neither in anger nor in  sadness; rather, I do so in hope, looking forward to another bill,  another time in the not-too-distant future, one that stands up for  those Americans who asked nothing more than the chance to one day stand up for themselves. I yield the floor.”

Senator Richard Shelby (R-Alabama), Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee:  “Mr. President, I want to thank my colleagues,  particularly Leaders McConnell and Schumer and Vice Chairman Leahy for  their help in moving this package. The conference report before the Senate accelerates the rebuilding of America’s military and provides our men and women in uniform with the largest pay increase in nearly a decade.

“It also increases NIH’s budget by $2 billion and provides  critical resources to combat the opioid epidemic.And, it contains no  poison pill riders.   On the whole, the conference report tracks very closely with the  Senate version of this package, which passed by a vote of 85 to 7. I  hope it will receive the same level of support today and urge my  colleagues to vote yes.”  

Senator Dick Durbin (D-Illinois), member Appropriations Committee: “The defense bill is paired with the Labor, Health and Human Services,  and Education bill this year, which includes another $2 billion funding increase for medical research at the National Institutes of Health.  This will be the fourth year in a row that Congress has provided the  NIH with at least a 5-percent budget increase. Every NIH institute and center will see their budgets increase, but there are also noteworthy  increases for Alzheimer’s disease and cancer research. I wish we could have given the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention a bigger increase, but I am pleased with what we were able to accomplish here, including the continued investment— with an  additional $5 million in fiscal year 2019 — for the Open Textbooks Pilot to help save college students money on textbook costs…..

“In conclusion, the outcome of much of this bill shows what we can  accomplish when Democrats and Republicans work together.”

Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont), ranking Democrat on Appropriations Committee:  “Mr. President, the Senator from Alabama and I have been friends for decades. Our wives have been friends, as the Presiding  Officer knows. We have different political philosophies, but we join  together in wanting to make the Senate work the way it should work and the way it used to work. We have done that in these appropriations bills. It means that the Senator from Alabama has had to decline some  things in this bill that he might have liked otherwise, but I have had  to do the same. That is why we are here today.  The two bills in the package before us — the Defense bill and the  Labor-HHS-Education bill — are a product of hard work and bipartisan  cooperation.I am pleased that those of us working together have been  able to work out the differences between the House and Senate bills. It  goes way beyond the procedures, way beyond working together.   These bills make important investments not only in our national security but also in the future of our country for us, our children,  and our grandchildren. They demonstrate the importance of the bipartisan budget agreement we reached earlier this year.

“The Labor-HHS-Education bill makes new investments in healthcare and education. We increase funding for the National Institutes of Health, the jewel that we have here in this country. We invest in working families by improving access to childcare and promoting college affordability. We provide new resources to combat the opioid epidemic — something that hits every single State represented in this body….

“We never want to fund the government by continuing resolution; that is inefficient and actually wastes money. That is why Chairman Shelby and I have worked so hard to get the appropriations process back on track. We have more work to do. We are still in  conference on a four-bill minibus….

“Most of the funding issues  have been resolved. We do have some controversial poison pill riders.  We shouldn’t delay this package over unrelated policy matters that have no place on must-pass spending bills. Get the poison pills out and pass  the bills.   There are four bills — the Interior bill, the Financial Services bill, the Agriculture bill, and the Transportation-HUD bill. These are  programs that are important to the American people. They should not be  frozen at fiscal year 2018 funding levels — not even for a few months.”