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Congressional Report: June 10-June 17, 2018

Representative Turner

Per Turner.house.gov site, 5 bills cosponsored by Turner were passed this week, aimed at combating the opioid epidemic.

He cosponsored the following bills that passed:
H.R. 5735, Transitional Housing for Recovery in Viable Environments Demonstration Program Act: Creates a demonstration housing assistance program to provide low-income individuals recovering from opioid/other substance use disorders with a clean, safe, and structured environment.  It establishes a demonstration program to set aside Section 8 housing vouchers for supportive and transitional housing for individuals recovering from substance use disorders. 
H.R. 2851, Stop the Importation and Trafficking of Synthetic Analogues (SITSA) Act: Creates a new schedule – Schedule A – to address the problem of synthetic chemical analogues of already-controlled substances, which threaten public health.
H.R. 5788, Securing the International Mail Against Opioids Act of 2018: Imposes additional requirements on the United States Postal Service and Customs & Border Protection to address the opioid crisis by securing international mail, which is often a means for smuggling dangerous synthetic opioids like fentanyl into the U.S.
H.R. 5102, Substance Use Disorder Workforce Loan Repayment Act of 2018: Creates a capped loan repayment program for substance use disorder (SUD) treatment providers in exchange for up to 6 years of work as a SUD treatment professional in areas most in need of such services. 
H.R. 2147, Veterans Treatment Court Improvement Act: Directs the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to hire at least 50 Veterans Justice Outreach (VJO) specialists, place each one at an eligible VA medical center, and ensure that each serves as part of a justice team in a veterans treatment court or other veteran-focused court.
Senator Portman:
Senators Portman and Sherrod Brown led a bipartisan group of 10 Senators in demanding the administration release the results of a study regarding what levels of certain chemicals are safe in drinking water. According to recent news reports, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has been working to block the release of results from a Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) study on the toxic Per-and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS). PFAS are a class of toxic chemicals used in manufacturing that have been linked to a variety of cancers and serious health conditions. 
On N Korea summit, he commented:  “Following this historic summit I remain skeptical but hopeful that this new dialogue can translate into meaningful progress.  I strongly believe that the president’s maximum pressure campaign must remain in place until North Korea truly changes course and ends
‘;its dangerous nuclear weapons program.”
 
As part of his ‘Results for the Middle-Class Tax Reform TourSen Portman visited Helping Hands Healthcare and participated in a roundtable discussion with other local small businesses to hear about tax reform and its positive impact on Ohio. 
Senator Brown
Sen Brown blasted the Supreme Court’s decision to uphold Ohio’s efforts to purge voters from the state’s voter rolls. Last week, Brown announced he would not support Eric Murphy to serve as Judge on the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, in part because of Murphy’s defense of the Ohio voter purge as State Solicitor of Ohio.
“Ohio should be working to make voting easier, not harder,” said Brown. “Instead, today’s decision empowers Ohio to further strip away the right to vote for thousands of Ohioans, threatening the integrity of our state’s election process. This ruling further shows why we can’t afford to pack our federal courts with judges who have a track record of hostility towards Ohioans’ most basic right.”
 
Commenting on the N Korea summit:  “We all want these negotiations to succeed, and I’m glad the President had a positive meeting with Kim Jong Un. But we’ve heard empty promises from the North Koreans before, so we must continue to hold them accountable with tough sanctions until we see proof the North Koreans are taking real steps to dismantle their nuclear weapons program.”
 
Brown introduced this bill with Senators Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT). It would require drug companies and medical device makers to publicly disclose the payments that they make to nurse practitioners and physician assistants for promotional talks, consulting, and other interactions, just as they are required to for payments made to physicians and academic medical centers. 

In support of Trumps tariffs against China, Brown said:   “China’s cheating has shuttered steel plants across our state, put Ohioans out of work, and distorted global markets. Today’s tariffs are an important step toward enforcing trade laws and making clear the U.S. will not allow China to cheat Americans out of their jobs.”  “We have more work to do to address the root of China’s cheating and reset our trade imbalance, and I will continue working with the Administration to push for long-term solutions.”

To learn more about the recently passed farm bill, go here: Local Food and Regional Market Supply (FARMS) Act