Government affairs

Legislative Updates

House passes H.R. 6, a vehicle for opioid-related measures

Today, in a 396-14 vote, the House of Representatives passed the “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), which serves as a vehicle for a series of opioid-related bills.

Through an amendment, H.R. 6 incorporates 50 other opioid-related, House-passed bills that would impact Medicare, Medicaid, public health policies, grant programs, FDA authorities, fentanyl shipments, and more. This includes the STOP Act of 2018 (H.R. 5788), which the House passed 353-52 on June 14 and would force USPS to provide Customs and Border Protection (CBP) with advanced electronic data (AED) on all inbound international shipments by 2020, and impose civil penalties on the agency if it fails to comply (read NALC’s letter in opposition to the bill here).

The passage of this bill marks the end of the House’s two-week stint of votes on legislation to address the opioid epidemic. The Senate will continue considering various opioid-related legislation, including the Senate companion to the STOP Act (S. 3057), with the ultimate coal of conferencing their measures with the House.

America’s letter carriers, who work in every neighborhood in the country, have seen the devastating impact of opioids firsthand. We are fully committed to working with Congress to fight the epidemic in any way we can.

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