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FLORENCE, KY -- U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell held a “heroin listening session” in northern Kentucky today and discussed the challenges and opportunities facing prevention, prosecution and treatment/recovery efforts. Senator McConnell invited northern Kentucky community leaders, experts in the areas of law enforcement, workforce development, public health and medicine, and those affected by heroin addiction to participate. The following are Senator McConnell’s remarks as prepared for delivery:

“Hello and welcome to this important listening session to address the scourge of heroin abuse in Kentucky. I want to thank all of our attendees for coming today to speak on the rise of heroin use that is destroying too many communities, families, and lives here in the Bluegrass State.

“It’s appropriate that we’re holding this listening session here in Florence, because unfortunately, as you know, this wonderful and vibrant community of northern Kentucky is the epicenter of a serious heroin epidemic in the Commonwealth. I’m here to hear from you how to fix it.

“Today’s panelists include informed Kentuckians from the medical, public health, and law-enforcement fields, the business community, and the personal account of an individual in recovery. They will share with us their first-hand experiences in dealing with heroin abuse and the lives that it affects.

“I want to thank the executive director of the Northern Kentucky Area Development District, Lisa Cooper, as well as board chairman George Zubaty and board vice chairs Shorty Tomlinson and Lewis Diaz, for providing this facility to host our event today. The way the District brings together stakeholders from across the region, public and private, and at different levels of government, is a model for the type of robust community engagement we must use to solve Kentucky’s heroin problem.

“I also want to thank my friend Frank Rapier, executive director of the Appalachia High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area, or HIDTA, for being here today. Frank has earned the right to be called one of Kentucky’s hardest-working public servants after nearly five decades in law enforcement, and he is respected across the Commonwealth and the country for all the hard work he has done with HIDTA to combat illegal drug trafficking and drug abuse.

“I want to thank Tommy Loving, the executive director of the Kentucky Narcotic Officers Association, for joining us today. KNOA supports training and intelligence sharing for drug-enforcement officers across the Commonwealth, and I appreciate Tommy’s support and willingness to make the trip here from Bowling Green.

“And I’m glad my friend Sheriff Berl Purdue is here today. Sheriff Purdue is the top law-enforcement officer for Clark County and also the president of the Kentucky Fraternal Order of Police.

“I know I don’t have to persuade anyone here how devastating heroin abuse and addiction is to our Commonwealth. According to the Kentucky Office of Drug Control Policy, the state police crime lab jumped up from processing 451 samples of heroin in 2011, to 2,382 in just the first nine months of 2013. That’s an increase of over 400 percent, in just two years—repeat, 400 percent.

“And together, in 2011, Boone, Kenton, and Campbell counties accounted for nearly 60 percent of Kentucky’s heroin prosecutions, even though the counties contain less than 10 percent of the state’s population. In one year, northern Kentucky heroin overdose deaths doubled—from 33 in 2011 to 66 in 2012. That is the kind of statistic that cannot be tolerated.

“Northern Kentucky has been hardest hit partially because of its proximity to Cincinnati, a center for heroin trafficking. As you in this room are well aware, heroin is largely produced overseas and smuggled into the country for sale on the black market. This international and interstate smuggling aspect makes the problem harder for state and local law enforcement, whose jurisdiction often ends at the Commonwealth’s borders.

“Drugs like heroin are no respecter of borders, which is why I look forward to hearing about multi-agency federal, state, and local law-enforcement efforts such as those used by the Northern Kentucky Drug Strike Force and the Appalachia HIDTA.

“So while the growth in heroin addiction is partly a result of our own progress in fighting the illegal sale of prescription narcotics, I am also reassured that in concert we can successfully take on this challenge, just as we continue to partner together to fight prescription pain pill abuse.

“As many of you may know, Frank Rapier has adopted an unofficial motto for the Appalachia HIDTA that reads, “There’s no limit to what we can accomplish if we don’t worry about who gets the credit.” That’s an approach that we all must live by in order to fight this epidemic.

“In an era when the federal government faces unprecedented levels of debt, we must acknowledge that the federal government has finite resources. That being said, however, there are positive steps we can and must take. My goal today is to listen to you, hear your experiences, and take your concerns back to Washington to formulate the right policy that will leverage federal resources for maximum return.

“I’m gratified that I was able to get results for Kentucky’s prescription pill epidemic using this same approach. I worked with local and state medical authorities, treatment centers, and law-enforcement offices.

“I brought White House Drug Czar Gil Kerlikowske to Kentucky to witness firsthand the scope of the problem. I fought for the expansion of the Appalachia HIDTA to Jefferson County and then Hardin County in western Kentucky.

“We secured federal grants for many community prevention and treatment efforts. And we successfully convinced the FDA to prohibit a generic version of one long-release opiate from coming to market without abuse-deterrent “non-crushable” technologies.

“Most recently, I called the FDA to task for approving a single-entity, extended-release hydrocodone product that does not include technologies to make it harder to crush and abuse. I look forward to receiving responses from the FDA to my questions about what safeguards they have in place to ensure the progress made in fighting prescription drug abuse is not lost.

“So I believe we can combat the rise of heroin abuse in Kentucky—we can, and we must. And today I’m not here to talk, I’m here to listen, and then take your stories and ideas back to Washington, and deliver them to the highest levels of the United States government, with the DEA, the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

“I also look forward to sharing our discussions in testimony before the Senate Drug Caucus later this month.

“With that, let me turn it over to the informed guests here today on the panel.

“After each panelist has delivered their brief formal remarks, I look forward to a more informal discussion with the remainder of our time.

“First we’ll hear from Dr. Bonnie Hedrick, Ph.D. Dr. Hedrick is the coordinator of the Northern Kentucky Agency for Substance Abuse Policy. Dr. Hedrick, thank you for being here.”

Other panelists include:

2. Bill Mark: Director of Northern Kentucky Drug Strike Force

3. Patrick Kenyon: A courageous young man who has overcome an addiction to heroin and is here to share his experiences. Patrick, we’re looking forward to hearing your story.

4. Kerry Harvey: U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky

5. Rob Sanders: Kenton County Commonwealth Attorney

6. Katie Stine: State Senate President Pro tempore from Campbell County; sponsor of KY Senate Bill 5, a heroin bill toughening sentences for trafficking and expanding treatment options

7. Brent Cooper: Interim President of Northern Kentucky Chamber of Commerce and small business owner

8. Kathy Reutman: Executive Director of Student Services, Boone County Schools

9. Dr. Jeremy Engel: St. Elizabeth Physicians, Bellevue

10. Mac McArther: Executive Director, Transitions Inc.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell issued the following statement today regarding the administration’s latest attempt to manipulate Obamacare minimum coverage requirements in an effort to protect endangered Democrats:

“The Obama administration’s announcement today that it will continue to allow insurers to sell health care plans that don’t meet Obamacare minimum coverage requirements is not only another reminder of the President’s broken promise that you can keep your plan if you like it, but represents a desperate move to protect vulnerable Democrats in national elections later this year. By announcing a new delay in requiring that policies meet minimum coverage standards, the administration avoids a new round of health policy cancellations set to hit shortly before the November elections. What makes this latest delay so troubling is the fact that it was prompted not by the heartbreaking stories of millions of Americans but by the private pleadings of a handful of endangered Democrats. Americans have become increasingly aware of the fact Obamacare is broken beyond repair. The only ‘fix’ is full repeal followed by step-by-step, patient-centered reforms that drive down costs and that Americans actually want.”

Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell made the following remarks on the Senate floor regarding the crisis in Ukraine:

“Last week’s military intervention by Russian forces into Crimea makes clear that President Vladimir Putin is determined to maintain the Russian sphere of influence there, and at a cost to his country.

“That’s why the leadership of Washington and its allies will now be of such critical importance in Ukraine. According to the Budapest agreement, Russia has an obligation to respect the sovereignty of its neighbor, and the West should stand united in holding President Putin to that agreement.

“The United States, NATO, and the EU should also work together to support the interim government in Kiev by supporting free and fair elections. And members of Congress are already discussing loan guarantees and additional sanctions against Russia.

“But if there’s one thing Russia’s military intervention into Crimea also makes absolutely clear, despite the best hopes of some, it’s this: the foundation of the international system is governed by force, capability, and interest.

“That’s the reality we should be guided by in approaching this conflict, and it’s the reality we should be guided by when it comes to American power more generally.

“As I have argued before, this President has eroded American credibility in the world:

‘[It starts] with the arbitrary deadlines for military withdrawal ... and the triumphant declaration that Guantanamo would be closed within a year, without any plan for what to do with its detainees…there were the executive orders that ended the Central Intelligence Agency’s detention and interrogation programs…

‘We all saw the so-called reset with Russia, and how the President’s stated commitment to a world without nuclear weapons led him to hastily sign an arms treaty with Russia that did nothing to substantially reduce its nuclear stockpile, or its tactical nuclear weapons.

‘We saw the President announce a strategic pivot to the Asia-Pacific, without any real plan to fund it, and an effort to end the capture, interrogation, and detention of terrorists, as well as the return of the old idea that terrorism should be treated as a law-enforcement matter.

‘After a decade-long counterinsurgency in Afghanistan, we’ve seen the President’s failure to invest in the kind of strategic modernization that’s needed to make his pivot to Asia meaningful.

‘Specifically, his failure to make the kind of investments that are needed to maintain our dominance in the Asia Pacific theatre, in the kind of naval, air, and Marine Corps forces that we’ll need there in the years ahead, could have tragic consequences down the road.’

“So let’s be clear: Whether it’s recent reports suggesting the Obama Administration knew for years about potential Russian violations of the treaty that regulates medium-range missiles, or whether it’s Russia’s refusal to negotiate a reduction in tactical nuclear weapons, its shipment of arms to the Syrian government, or its invasion of Crimea, we can now put to rest for good any notion that the relationship with Russia has been reset.

“President Putin sees himself as the authoritarian ruler of a great power – and one who is determined to preserve his regime. That’s how we should understand him.

“In invading Crimea, he clearly concluded that protecting Russia’s sphere of influence there was worth the risk of Russian lives, and of any response on the part of the United States and Europe. We and our allies pay a price when our capabilities diminish. That’s why I have continually advocated for investments in the modernization of our forces, for marrying our commitments to our capabilities, and for a recognition that receding from the world comes with consequences – mainly bad ones.

“We remain a member of NATO and have treaty commitments to our fellow members. We also know that in Asia, China has pursued a policy of coercing its neighbors and exploiting territorial disputes. American military might is the backbone of the international order, but when we diminish our capabilities we must understand that regional powers will fill the void.

“Our President is still the Leader of the Free World. We’ll support him however we can to ensure a satisfactory outcome for the Ukrainian people, and to prevent this conflict from escalating into a wider war. They deserve our support.

“But this is a moment when President Obama is going to have to lead.”

Recent Press Releases

Senator McConnell Holds Listening Session in Kentucky to Discuss State’s Heroin Epidemic

‘It’s appropriate that we’re holding this listening session here in Florence, because unfortunately, as you know, this wonderful and vibrant community of northern Kentucky is the epicenter of a serious heroin epidemic in the Commonwealth. I’m here to hear from you how to fix it.’

March 7, 2014

McConnell Statement on Latest Administration Effort to Manipulate Obamacare Coverage Requirements

March 5, 2014

McConnell on the Ukraine Crisis: ‘This is a moment when President Obama is going to have to lead’

‘We can now put to rest for good any notion that the relationship with Russia has been reset.’

March 5, 2014