Congress is back at work in Washington. Congresswoman Martha Roby, R-Montgomery, said that the House will consider three pieces of legislation dealing with the opioid crisis.
“This week the House is taking action on a number of pieces of legislation this week with a focus on the ongoing opioid epidemic,” Congresswoman Roby said. “Three important pieces of legislation we will be voting on include: HR2851, the SITSA Act, to amend the Controlled Substances Act to clarify how controlled substance analogues are regulated; HR5735, the THRIVE Act, to establish housing support for individuals recovering from opioid and substance abuse disorders; and HR5788, Securing the International Mail Against Opioids Act, to allow U.S. Customs and Border Protection to process certain international mail shipments to help combat the influx of illegal substances from foreign countries.”
The opioid crisis has resulted in soaring overdose deaths. Over 60,000 Americans were killed by drug overdoses last year. Many of these people became addicted after their doctors prescribed prescription pain killers. Often when addicted people can’t get the drugs that they crave, they go to the thriving underground economy. The drug dealers then expose their customers to even more addictive and cheaper alternatives like heroin. Heroin use, and deaths have soared in recent decades. The dramatic increase in drug overdoses in the last decade has actually led to decreased American life expectancy in a number of states.
Congresswoman Martha Roby is seeking a fifth term in the U.S. House of Representatives representing the Second Congressional District. Roby is in the Republican runoff with former Congressman Bobby Bright. Roby defeated Bright in the 2010 general election, narrowly defeated the Democratic incumbent in a Republican wave election. Bright has now switched to the Republican party.
Roby is very popular in Washington and has been very successful in climbing the ranks in the Republican House Caucus who has awarded her with a seat on the powerful House Appropriations Committee as well as a seat on the House Judiciary Committee. Roby however has not been so popular with conservatives who launched early challenges of Roby in both 2016 and 2018. The conservative voter however was split between three candidates: Barry Moore, Rich Hobson, and Tommy Amason thus the Republican right failed to get a candidate in the runoff.
The question in the runoff now is will those conservative voters support: the more GOP mainstream incumbent in Roby or the former Democrat in Bright. The Republican runoff election is on July 17. Roby has been endorsed by both the National Rifle Association and the National Right to Life Committee.
The winner of the Republican runoff will face Tabitha Isner (D) in the general election.
