Rep. TJ Cox Discusses Solutions to the Opioid Crisis with National Institutes of Health Leadership
Washington, D.C. – This week, Congressman TJ Cox (CA-21) joined his colleagues on the Freshmen Working Group on Addiction for a visit to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), where they met with NIH Director, Dr. Francis Collins. Dr. Collins and his team provided the bipartisan group of members with an overview of the mission of NIH and the agency’s Helping to End Addiction Long-term (HEAL) Initiative. Additional members in attendance were; David Trone (D-MD), David Joyce (R-PA), Connor Lamb (D-PA), Susie Lee (D-NV), Denver Riggleman (R-05), and Donna Shalala (D-FL).
“It was a pleasure to visit the National Institutes of Health this week and learn more about their ongoing efforts and commitment to research to fight our nations’ opioid epidemic and addiction crisis,” said Congressman TJ Cox. “Substance use disorder does not discriminate. It impacts individuals, families and our communities at large. In the Central Valley, fentanyl and methamphetamine use continues to increase and it’s our rural communities that are being disproportionately impacted. I’m proud to be a member of the bipartisan Freshmen Working Group on Addiction and committed to taking meaningful steps to address this crisis.”
The Freshmen Working Group on Addiction is composed of 36 members of the newly-elected freshman class with representatives from across the entire nation. The purpose of the bipartisan group is to come together to understand the extent of the impacts of addiction and to promote policies to reduce overdoses and deaths.