From
the
Hill
to
the
Mountains
Thanking
our
Teachers
for
Standing
Strong
Today's
announcement
that
the
West
Virginia
Legislature
has
finally
come
together
in
agreement
on
a
teacher
and
public
employee
salary
increase
proposal
is
great
news
for
West
Virginia
students,
educators
and
all
state
employees.
I
applaud
the
Governor,
and
Democratic
and
Republican
legislators
for
coming
to
this
solution.
And
I
thank
our
teachers
and
school
service
personnel,
who
absolutely
are
to
be
credited
for
this
milestone
–
by
standing
up,
standing
strong,
and
keeping
our
state’s
young
people
at
the
forefront
of
this
fight.
I
have
always
said
that
our
priorities
should
reflect
our
values
and
this
compromise
illustrates
that
West
Virginia’s
children
are
our
priority.
This
is
a
solid
investment
in
West
Virginia’s
education
system
and
all
of
the
services
our
state
employees
provide
which
includes
our
law
enforcement
officers.
This
goes
hand
in
hand
with
West
Virginia’s
economy
and
our
efforts
to
create
jobs.
We
have
put
our
state
back
in
play.
Empowering
the
DEA
to
Properly
and
Aggressively
Fight
the
Opioid
Epidemic
This
week
I introduced
legislation
to
make
the
changes
requested
by
the
Justice
Department
to
restore
the
Drug
Enforcement
Administration’s
authority
to
go
after
pharmaceutical
companies
that
are
violating
the
law
and
flooding
our
communities
with
opioids.
The
Drug
Enforcement
Administration
is
our
first
line
of
defense
in
preventing
pharmaceutical
companies
from
flooding
the
market
with
opioids
and
taking
advantage
of
a
nation
ravaged
by
this
deadly
epidemic.
This
bill
will
make
sure
that
the
DEA
regains
the
legal
authority
that
was
wrongly
stripped
from
the
administration
in
2016
to
ensure
that
they
can
go
after
companies
taking
advantage
of
the
system,
including
those
companies
that
send
millions
of
opioid
pills
to
tiny
towns
in
West
Virginia.
In
order
to
fight
this
epidemic
properly,
we
need
a
strong
DEA
and
they
need
to
be
able
to
stop
the
opioid
distributors
and
manufacturers
who
are
endangering
the
American
people.
West
Virginia’s
families
and
communities
deserve
a
DEA
that
will
protect
them,
not
pharmaceutical
companies.
This
bill
would
make
the
following
changes,
requested
by
the
Department
of
Justice,
to
amend
the
Ensuring
Patient
Access
and
Effective
Drug
Enforcement
Act
to
restore
DEA’s
authority
to
go
after
bad
actors
and
reduce
unnecessary
bureaucracy.
It
would:
- Amend
the
“substantial
likelihood”
standard
to
a
“probable
cause”
standard
and
- Strike
the
provisions
adding
the
option
of
a
“corrective
action
plan,”
which
slows
down
the
DEA’s
ability
to
suspend
suspicious
opioid
orders.
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