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Washington Weekly Roundup - March 20, 2006
Senate Approves Budget Resolution; Package Includes Amendment to
Add $7 Billion To Health, Education and Labor Funding

On March 16th, the Senate approved a $2.8 trillion budget resolution or blueprint for the 2007 fiscal year with a 51 to 49 vote. The budget resolution includes $17 billion more in spending than requested in the President's FY 2007 budget, and does not include any provisions to cut future spending for entitlements programs such as Medicaid and Medicare.

Among the numerous amendments proposed to the budget resolution, Senators Arlen Specter (R-PA), Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education (LHHS) Subcommittee, and Tom Harkin (D-IA), Ranking Member of the LHHS Subcommittee, offered an amendment to add $7 billion to the sections of the budget that cover health, education and training, and worker safety programs. The Senate approved this amendment with a 73 to 27 vote. Voting in favor of the amendment were all the Democratic Senators, Senator James Jeffords (I-VT), and Republican Senators Arlen Specter (PA), Thad Cochran (MS), Lamar Alexander (TN), Pete Domenici (NM), Pat Roberts (KS), Mike DeWine (OH), Susan Collins (ME), Lisa Murkowski (AK), Orrin Hatch (UT), Lincoln Chafee (RI), Trent Lott (MS), John Warner (VA), John Thune (SD), Richard Lugar (IN), Norm Coleman (MN), Olympia Snowe (ME), Chuck Hagel (NE), Elizabeth Dole (NC), Robert Bennett (UT), Bill Frist (TN), George Voinovich (OH), Conrad Burns (MT), Ted Stevens (AK), Jim Talent (MO), Kay Bailey Hutchison (TX), Charles Grassley (IA), Gordon Smith (OR), and Rick Santorum (PA).

The House Budget Committee is expected to continue developing its budget resolution during the week of March 27th, after Congress returns from the St. Patrick's Day recess; a vote is expected in the full House in early April. Once the House approves its budget resolution, conferees from both the House and Senate Budget Committees will be appointed to reconcile the differences between the two resolutions. Once there is agreement, the chairs of the House and Senate Appropriations Committees will have their discretionary spending allocations, which they can then divide into sub-allocations for each of their Subcommittees. Although it is not guaranteed that the $7 billion approved by the Senate will survive the conference process, it has been reported that Senator Specter has received commitments from the Senate Republican leadership and Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Thad Cochran that the LHHS Subcommittee will receive an extra $10 billion in its sub-allocation, with $3 billion added by the Senate Budget Committee and $7 billion to be added by the Specter-Harkin amendment.

The text of S Con Res 83 can be found at: http://thomas.loc.gov.


House Approves Legislation to Reauthorize the White House
Office of National Drug Control Policy

On March 9th, the full House approved H.R. 2829, legislation to reauthorize the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) with a 399 to 5 vote.

A number of amendments to the legislation were offered to the ONDCP reauthorization bill during consideration on the House floor. Successful amendments to the legislation would:

  • Require the ONDCP Director to complete an assessment of report materials, studies, and statistics to determine the extent to which children who are 12 to 17 years of age (a) experiment with and regularly use marijuana, alcohol, cigarettes, prescription drugs without a prescription, designer drugs such as ecstasy, other illicit drugs such as cocaine, and (b) have access to intervention services or programs, including drug testing, counseling, rehabilitation, legal representation and other services or programs associated with prevention, treatment and punishment of substance abuse

  • Require the ONDCP Director to submit to Congress a comprehensive strategy that addresses the increased threat from methamphetamine

  • Require the ONDCP Director to provide for a corporation to (a) advise States on establishing laws and policies to address alcohol and other drug issues, based on the model State drug laws developed by the President's Commission on Model State Drug Laws in 1993, and (b) revise such model State drug laws and draft supplementary model State laws to take into consideration changes in the alcohol and drug abuse problems in the State involved

  • Require the ONDCP Director to request the Institute of Medicine to conduct a study to examine certain aspects of addiction to prescription drugs such as OxyContin

  • Require the ONDCP Director to conduct a study on drug court programs that conduct hearings in nontraditional public places such as schools

  • Direct the ONDCP Director, in consultation with the Secretary of State, the Attorney General, the Secretary of Homeland Security, the Secretary of Health and Human Services, and the United States Trade Representative, to seek to convene an international summit on the threat of methamphetamine and synthetic drug precursors

The complete text of H.R. 2829 can be found at: http://thomas.loc.gov. Following the House's approval of the legislation, H.R. 2829 was referred to the Senate Judiciary Committee where it awaits review.


Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) in Partnership with Therapeutic Communities of America (TCA) Convenes
National Behavioral Health Conference in Washington, D.C. on
Returning Veterans and Their Families

March 16th through the 18th SAMHSA, in partnership with TCA, sponsored a conference entitled, "The Road Home: The National Behavioral Health Conference on Returning Veterans and their Families, Restoring Hope and Building Resiliency." The conference provided an opportunity for service providers from throughout the country to learn more about effective approaches to working with veterans and their families as they return home from Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as with veterans from other previous wars who still may be dealing with the effects of combat on their lives. Several federal agencies who work with veterans were represented at the conference and provided presentations explaining their role in meeting the needs of veterans; these agencies included SAMHSA, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, U.S. Department of Defense, Veterans Administration Health Eligibility Center, Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and U.S. Department of Labor.

The opening plenary entitled, Restoring Hope and Building Resiliency: Caring for America's Veterans, included remarks from SAMHSA Administrator Charles Curie, BG. Michael J. Kussman, M.D. (Ret.), Deputy Under Secretary for Health, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and Stephen Jones, Ph.D., Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs, U.S. Department of Defense. In his opening comments, Mr. Curie spoke about the importance of eliminating the grip of stigma on people who struggle with addiction to alcohol and other drugs. He stressed the overall role of mental health in health and stated that mental illness and addiction are treatable illnesses and that recovery is real and possible. In addition, he emphasized the need for comprehensive services for individuals as they return from combat in order to help them reestablish their lives and reconnect with their communities. Other plenary sessions included: Understanding the Safety Net: Caring for Our Military Members, Veterans and their Families; Returning Veterans, Understanding Who We Are Serving; Providing Mental Health, Substance Abuse, and Co-occurring Disorders Services for Returning Veterans and their Families; and Financing the Care.

In addition to the panel presentations a variety of workshops were conducted for the conference participants. The workshops covered a variety of topics including, A Clinical Perspective: Addressing Mental Health, Substance Abuse, and Co-Occurring Issues of Traumatic Stress; Meeting the Needs of Children and Families of Returning Veterans; Faith-Based Recovery Support Services; and Help for Veterans and their Families through Civil Rights Laws, the Privacy Rule, and Disability-Related Federal Supports.

More information about the conference is available at www.samhsa.gov.




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