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House Energy & Commerce debates reauthorization of SUPPORT Act amid fights over SAMHSA cuts and oversight
Summary
The House Energy and Commerce Committee on May 20 marked up HR 24 83, the SUPPORT Act reauthorization, in a session dominated by disputes over recent firings and grant rescissions at the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).
The House Energy and Commerce Committee on May 20 marked up HR 24 83, the Support for Patients and Communities Reauthorization Act, which would reauthorize federal programs focused on prevention, treatment and recovery for people with substance use disorder.
The meeting repeatedly returned to actions by the Department of Health and Human Services that Democrats say undercut the bill’s purpose: extensive firings at SAMHSA and a decision to terminate previously obligated grants. Representative Frank Pallone (D-N.J.), the top Democrat on the committee, said he could not support reauthorization while the agency was being dismantled. “I can't support the reauthorization of the Support Act because I have no confidence that my Republican colleagues will actually stand up… to prevent him from taking additional illegal actions that undermine the Support Act,” Pallone said.
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