00:17Between 1999 and 2019, overdose deaths involving opioids skyrocketed over 500 percent.
00:25And this epidemic has not discriminated. It doesn't care if you're rich, if you're poor, if you're black or you're white, if you're Democrat or Republican.
00:34It takes veterans, mothers, students, and children.
00:38Over 240,000 children have lost a parent to opioids, an entire generation growing up with grief and trauma.
00:46And over 42,000 veterans lost to overdose.
00:50And now, instead of strengthening the VA, the administration you work for plans to gut it, cutting 80,000 jobs, cutting resources from heroes who fought for us.
00:59In 2020, 48,000 Americans died from opioid overdoses.
01:06Despite historic progress under the Biden administration, where overdose deaths dropped 65 percent from 2023 to 2024,
01:17this administration now plans to cut critical programs and fire behavioral health and crisis specialists threatening to strip hundreds of thousands of veterans of life-saving treatment to prioritize billionaires over those who serve.
01:30But most egregiously, in the FY26 budget, the Trump administration is proposing to slash over $1 billion from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.
01:42That is literally a billion dollars ripped away from treatment, prevention, and hope.
01:47Mr. Secretary, you don't slash lifelines in the middle of a rescue.
01:51You don't call 9-1-1 and hang up halfway through.
01:55And you sure as hell don't preach about redemption while cutting the funding that makes redemption possible.
02:01So let's be clear.
02:02This isn't a budget.
02:04It's a death sentence.
02:05And now I have a few questions for you, Mr. Secretary.
02:08Mr. Secretary, do you believe the United States is currently facing an opioid crisis?
02:13And that's why I've reauthorized.
02:15So you do.
02:15So do you believe the federal government has a responsibility to combat this crisis, yes or no?
02:22The federal government has a role in it, certainly.
02:25An important role.
02:27Mr. Secretary, you're aware that the president's own brother died from addiction.
02:32You've heard J.D. Vance, the vice president of the United States, talk about his mother's addiction.
02:37And you've talked about your own history and your own addiction issues in 1983, where you sought treatment for heroin addiction at a rehab facility in New Jersey.
02:49Was that treatment effective for you?
02:52I've been sober.
02:54I also would point out that I lost a brother to this disease.
02:57It's a priority for me, and it's going to be a priority for HHS.
03:02And let me also ask you, do you believe, yes or no, do you believe that structured recovery programs were essential to your own recovery?
03:13You know, my recovery program was mainly inā
03:16Yes or no, do you think that was important for your own recovery?
03:20It was important.
03:20Okay.
03:21So, Mr. Secretary, overcoming addiction is commendable.
03:24I've had family members that have overcome addiction.
03:26I commend you for that.
03:28But not everyone have the resources that your family has to get the care that they need.
03:34And because you know better than anyone that recovery without treatment is challenging at best.
03:40So, Mr. Secretary, please tell me, why would you deny millions of Americans the same access to care that saved your life?
03:49We're not denying anybody access to care, Congressman.
03:53And we're shifting some of the funding away from SAMHSA to the states.
03:58The addiction problem in Western Canada is very different than the addiction problem in Western Canada.
04:03Let me ask you this.
04:04Let me ask you this, Mr. Secretary.
04:05You've credited the 12 steps in your recovery.
04:08So, can you tell this committee what is step four?
04:13It's making a fearless inventory.
04:16It's making a fearless inventory of ourselves.
04:18And you remember that one.
04:21And do you remember step 12?
04:24Yeah.
04:25It's having had a spiritual awakening.
04:28We try to help other alcoholics and addicts.
04:32So, tell me, Mr. Secretary, yes or no, does cutting off treatment for people still suffering align with step four and step 12?
04:40We're not cutting off treatment for anybody, Congressman.
04:42As I said, I'm happy to explain it, but you don't give me any chance to answer questions, but which is part of the game that we play here?
04:50Mr. Secretary, I've heard your story.
04:53Again, I think that it's great that you talked about your recovery.
04:56But, man, you can't pull the ladder and shut the door.
05:01There are people like President Trump's family and your family that have resources, but there are families like mine and Secretary Vance's that don't.
05:08The gentleman's time has expired.
05:09As we've read, we're not denying time has expired.
