Statement of the Honorable John Conyers, Jr. in Support of H.R. 5046, the “Comprehensive Opioid Abuse Reduction Act of 2016”

I am pleased to rise in support of H.R. 5046, the “Comprehensive Opioid Abuse Reduction Act of 2016.” H.R. 5046 is an important complement to a wide-range of legislation being considered in the House this week that is aimed at combating the devastating impact of drug abuse and addiction that is afflicting communities across our Nation.  

We are in the midst of a major public health crisis caused by prescription and opioid abuse.  It is a crisis that affects Americans of all ages, races, and income levels in our cities, suburbs, and rural areas across the United States. 

Drug overdoses are now the leading cause of death in our Nation. In my state of Michigan, for example, there were 1,745 drug overdose deaths in 2014.  And, more than half of those overdose deaths were attributed to opioids and heroin.

In fact, 78 Americans die from an opioid overdose every day. I am very familiar with the devastation heroin can exact over people and their communities.

Heroin took a deadly toll on Detroit in the 1970’s and is now threatening to take hold of a new generation of addicts.  Armed with lessons learned from that era and the crack epidemic of the 1980’s, we are wiser and more capable. This time, we can and must do more to respond to this crisis.

Fortunately, a number of states have undertaken various innovative measures to better respond to the rapid increase of individuals addicted to prescription opioids and heroin and to prevent individuals from dying as a result of drug overdose.

For instance, the Judiciary Committee’s Crime Subcommittee held a hearing last year that examined, among other things, the promising use of the Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion approach employed in cities such as Seattle and Santa Fe.

We have learned that there are successful ways to get addicts to treatment and to provide them with needed services quickly that help to address their addiction and prevent recidivism. 

And, we know that evidence-based treatment and treatment alternatives to incarceration work.

The Comprehensive Opioid Addiction Recovery Program, as authorized by H.R. 5046, would establish a competitive grant program to provide funds to state and local governments to continue and improve their efforts to protect Americans from the dangers of opioid and heroin abuse and to make sure that addicts have access to the services that are provided.

Funds from the new grant program could be used for the following purposes:

·         Treatment alternatives to incarceration.

·         Collaboration between state criminal justice agencies and state substance abuse systems.

·         For first responders to purchase and be trained in using Naloxone.

·         Medication assisted treatment programs by criminal justice agencies.

·         Investigating the illegal distribution of opioids.

·         Prescription drug monitoring programs.

·         Addressing juvenile opioid abuse.

·         And for comprehensive opioid abuse response programs. 

Our communities need our assistance in meeting the threat of opioid abuse, and this bill will fund innovative approaches to the problem, such as the LEAD program developed in Seattle that I mentioned earlier.  

H.R. 5046 would go a long ways toward providing that critical help.

Accordingly, I support this bill and I reserve the balance of my time.

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CONYERS APPLAUDS ENACTMENT OF LAW TO FUND TESTING OF DNA SAMPLES TO SOLVE CRIMES

WASHINGTON – Today, Congressman John Conyers, Jr. (MI-13) applauded the enactment of the “Debbie Smith Reauthorization Act of 2014” (H.R. 4323), which President Obama signed into law yesterday.  This law authorizes funding of nearly $194 million for each of Fiscal Years 2015-2019 for the Department of Justice to administer various grants, including the Debbie Smith DNA Backlog Grant Program, to assist state and local law enforcement agencies in solving rape and other violent crimes. 

The improved awareness that DNA evidence can aid in solving cases has resulted in law enforcement authorities collecting DNA samples in a wider range of cases and has increased demand for this testing, leading to backlogs of unanalyzed samples of DNA connected to crimes.  This law will provide for the continuation of programs which have been instrumental in addressing this backlog.

This Act is named in honor Debbie Smith, the survivor of a brutal rape who had to wait six years for her perpetrator to be identified and convicted due to delay in testing the DNA sample collected following her attack.  On April 7, 2014, prior to consideration of this bill by the House of Representatives, Congressman Conyers joined Debbie Smith and other Members of Congress in calling for reauthorization of this law, noting the success of the existing programs whose authorizations were expiring and the need to continue and expand them. 

Upon enactment of the Debbie Smith Reauthorization Act of 2014, Congressman Conyers stated, 

U.S. Representative
John Conyers, Jr.

“I am pleased that we have been able to enact the Debbie Smith Reauthorization Act so that state and local law enforcement can enhance their efforts to reduce and hopefully eliminate the national DNA evidence backlog, and bring to justice the perpetrators of rape and other violent crimes.  I am particularly hopeful that this law will lead to the reduction of the backlog of unanalyzed rape kits in Detroit, a problem that our local officials have been working to address.”

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Conyers: The Federal Criminal Code Needs A Major Overhaul

(WASHINGTON) – Today, the Over-Criminalization Task Force, a bipartisan working group convened by the U.S. House Judiciary Committee to consider reforms to the criminal justice system, held a hearing entitled “Criminal Code Reform.” After delivering his opening remarks, Ranking Member John Conyers, Jr. (D-Mich.) issued the following statement:

U.S. Representative
John Conyers, Jr.

"Over the past several decades, the number of federal crimes has grown exponentially in size with more than 4,450 of such offenses on the books. Equally troubling, the collection of criminal laws in the United States – Title 18 of the Criminal Code – has inadvertently become a tangled web, riddled with internal inconsistencies. At the same time, some crimes are not even found in Title 18 of the Criminal Code, but are scattered in sections ranging from immigration offenses to controlled substances concerns. As a matter of fairness and legal consistency, the status quo is unacceptable and the Judiciary Committee must work to remedy the situation,” said Conyers.

“In calling for reform, it is important that the problems arising from the Criminal Code are put in context. Currently, federal prisons in the United States house more than 200,000 people, costing taxpayers billions annually. The majority of these inmates, however, are serving time for drug offenses, many of which are minor and non-violent. Further, 11% of the prison population has been convicted of violating immigration law. Undoubtedly, drug and immigration laws are having a very real - and very detrimental - effect on over-criminalization, over-incarceration, and public finances. No modernization of the Criminal Code should be considered without considering the real world circumstances of America’s criminal justice system.

“All too frequently, the Criminal Code contains overlapping provisions for a single offense which, taken in combination with the ever-expanding prosecutorial discretion found in the Criminal Code, allows prosecutors to cherry pick which sections they will charge defendants with. Disturbingly, vague and inconsistent sections often contain different maximum sentences for identical crimes. As the Committee responsible for overseeing the nation’s criminal justice system and associated laws, we should not settle for a subpar Criminal Code that permits justice to be misdelivered, let alone on such a massive scale.”

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Conyers Introduces “Shield Our Streets Act” to Bolster Cash-Strapped Local Law Enforcement & Safeguard Our Communities

Conyers Introduces “Shield Our Streets Act” to Bolster Cash-Strapped Local Law Enforcement & Safeguard Our Communities

(WASHINGTON) – Today, House Judiciary Committee Ranking Member John Conyers, Jr. (D-Mich.),  joined by cosponsors Representative Gary Peters (D-Mich.), Crime, Terrorism and Homeland Security Subcommittee Ranking Member Bobby Scott (D-Va.), Representative Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.), and Representative Hank Johnson (D-Ga.) introduced H.R. 3069, the Shield Our Streets Act. As a result of state budgetary cuts, local governments face dwindling law enforcement budgets and police department resources are being stretched thin in order to make up the difference.  The Shield Our Streets Act creates additional law enforcement funding grants to help law enforcement agencies and local governments continue to police and safeguards streets across the United States in spite of these budget cuts. Following the introduction of the bill, Rep. Conyers issued the following statement:

U.S. Representative
John Conyers, Jr.

“Our local law enforcement agencies and local governments face increasingly tighter budgets, so Congress must redouble its efforts to help them protect our communities from crime.  Police officers are on the front lines in the fight against crime, and we need to do even more to ensure that our local law enforcement agencies are sufficiently staffed with officers and sheriffs. Local governments also need the funding and flexibility to pay for crime fighting equipment and programs which they identify as priority needs. For instance, in my district, the City of Highland Park needs assistance in paying for street lights that will deter criminal activity on its streets. In this time of austerity, it is essential that we support the brave men and women within our communities that put their lives on the line every day to maintain public safety.”

The bill creates two new types of law enforcement funding grants: 

·         Shield Police Hiring Grants, a new category of grants to be implemented by the Attorney General, would provide additional funding to law enforcement agencies that operate in Elevated Need Localities.  An “Elevated Need Locality” is a county (or unit of local government which is not part of a county) which (1) has a crime rate above the national average, and (2) has had budget reductions during the most recent 5-year period.  These law enforcement agencies could apply to the Attorney General to receive funds to hire law enforcement officers, or to rehire officers who have been laid off due to budget reductions. 

·         The Shield Public Safety Enhancement Grants, a new program to be implemented by the Attorney General, provide grants to units of local government that has jurisdiction over all or part of an Elevated Need Locality.  Local governments could apply to the Attorney General to receive funds to enhance public safety in a number of ways, such as purchasing public safety equipment, funding public safety programs, making infrastructure improvements for the purpose of enhancing public safety, purchasing and installing street lights to deter crime, funding activities related to crime labs, and funding public defender programs.  Non-profit organizations operating in Elevated Need Localities may also apply for grants under this program to fund initiatives designed to reduce crime in these jurisdictions.
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Conyers Fights to Preserve COPS Program

Tuesday, July 12, 2011

Conyers Fights to Preserve COPS Program  

Anti-Crime Program Has Given Over $67 Million to the 14^th District

Washington, D.C. — Today, Congressman John Conyers, Jr. (D-Mich.) joined other Members of Congress and representatives from law enforcement organizations to criticize the plan to eliminate the successful Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) Program.  The bill pending in the House Appropriations Committee to fund law enforcement programs for Fiscal Year 2012 presently does not fund the COPS Program or the COPS Office in the Department of Justice which administers this program.  Since the inception of the COPS Program in 1994, Congressman Conyers’ 14^th Congressional District has received over $67 million in COPS related grants to hire police officers and sheriff deputies, hire school resource officers, and fund important crime-fighting technologies. 

“I’m fighting to preserve the COPS Program, which has greatly benefited the 14^th District by providing us over $67 million in funding since the program’s inception in 1994,” Conyers said.  “We must reaffirm our commitment to a program that hires more officers and creates jobs in addition to enhancing public safety.”

The COPS Program was initiated under the Clinton Administration and has funded the hiring of more than 122,000 state and local police officers and sheriff’s deputies in communities across America.  These days, state and local governments are facing severe economic difficulties.  Some jurisdictions are actually laying off police officers. 

#07-12-2011#