U.S. Rep. Peter Roskam (IL-06) recently spoke out in favor of the Securing the International Mail Against Opioids Act, or HR 5788.
In his speech before his congressional colleagues on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives, Roskam urged the passage of the bill saying, "The more you learn, the more you realize that this is a major problem."
"Until somebody gets a phone call that says that their child is in the emergency room with an opioid overdose, then all of a sudden you've got one crisis," Roskam said in his speech. "That’s been happening in my constituency, and I know that's been happening in districts all across the country."
HR 5788 would require the U.S. Postal Service and the U.S. Customs and Border Protection, as well as other federal agencies, to work in partnership on using technology to detect opioids being shipped by U.S. Mail.
As chairman of the House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Health, Roskam worked on a bipartisan effort this spring to produce a white paper outlining ideas on combating the opioid epidemic. He has also worked with medical stakeholders and his Illinois constituents to gain feedback on preventing and treating opioid abuse.
"... Just in a nutshell, by bringing together the United States Postal Service, the Border Patrol and also the United States State Department to work together in a coordinated fashion is something that my district is really pleased about," he said.
Alerts Sign-up