Bipartisan Mental Health and Substance Use Disorder Task Force Highlights 2023 Legislative Agenda, Outlines Path Forward
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 20, 2023
CONTACT:
Annie Lentz, Annie.Lentz@mail.house.gov (Kuster)
Reagan McCarthy, Reagan.McCarthy@mail.house.gov (Fitzpatrick)
Sasha Galbreath, Sasha.Galbreath@mail.house.gov (Trone)
Dan Wunderlich, Dan.Wunderlich@mail.house.gov (McClain)
Bipartisan Mental Health and Substance Use Disorder Task Force Highlights 2023 Legislative Agenda, Outlines Path Forward
**You can read the Task Force’s 2023 Legislative Agenda here**
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, the co-chairs of the Bipartisan Mental Health and Substance Use Disorder Task Force, Reps. Trone (D-MD), Fitzpatrick (R-PA), Kuster (D-NH), and McClain (R-MI), hosted a press conference with mental health professionals and recovery advocates to highlight their 2023 Legislative Agenda. During the event, the co-chairs outlined the progress that our country has made and emphasized the urgent need for Congress to take further steps to address this crisis.
“Substance use disorder does not care about your politics, and neither should our approach to addressing the addiction and mental health crisis,” said the co-chairs. “We stand here today, more united than ever, to expand access to treatment and recovery resources, stop the flow of these dangerous drugs into our communities, end the stigma associated with treatment, and ensure every community has the support they need to thrive. Our 2023 Legislative Agenda lays out the path forward to make these goals a reality, and we urge our colleagues on both sides of the aisle to join us in this critical work.”
You can read the Task Force’s 2023 Legislative Agenda here.
Earlier in the day, the Task Force hosted a roundtable discussion to connect Members with experts in the field to talk about the changing nature of the opioid crisis, the federal role in directing opioid spending, and how to more efficiently use resources to respond to rising overdoses.
The Bipartisan Mental Health and Substance Use Disorder Task Force brings together over 140 Democratic and Republican lawmakers committed to combating the growing opioid, substance use disorder, and mental health crises. During the 117th Congress, the Task Force passed 26 bills from their legislative agenda into law. In 2021, more than 106,000 Americans died from an overdose, and in 2022 that number rose dramatically due to the prevalence and accessibility of dangerous synthetic drugs like fentanyl and xylazine.
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