Transitional Housing for Recovery in Viable Environments Demonstration Program Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. BUDD. Mr. Chairman, I want to first thank my friend from Kentucky for his leadership on this bill. The THRIVE Act is an important piece of legislation, and I am proud to cosponsor it.

The National Institute on Drug Abuse has found that we lose about 115 Americans each and every day to the opioid crisis. These are our brothers, our sisters, our friends, and our coworkers. This is a national crisis, and inaction just won't change a single thing.

I have met with a number of people back home who told me that we need to think about more than just the prevention and the treatment stage of the opioid crisis, and they are exactly right.

When you hear people tell me this, it reminds me of a conversation I had recently with David Kessler, who lives in my district and started an organization called GRIP It based in Mocksville. Group classes, one- on-one coaching, and assistance with detox programs are just three of the things that this group offers.

David has found evidence of a ``cultural method'' that works, and it goes to show us that there are many different things that we could be trying.

This brings me to the bill that we are voting on today, the THRIVE Act, which is part and parcel of this approach. It would expand housing options for individuals who are transitioning out of addiction treatments and require continued support.

This is exactly the kind of policy that we need to be considering. Housing is part of a foundation that helps former addicts get off the streets and into a place that they can rise above poverty and addiction.

Mr. Chairman, I want to make a larger point on this issue before I close. There has always been and still is a stigma around drug addiction. But if we want to make real progress on battling this epidemic, we need to change the way we look at those who are suffering. Rather than seeing them as liabilities, we need to see them as assets.

The THRIVE Act, by helping people transition from recovery to a home, will do just that. And when they have a home, they will be more likely to get a job and get back to being a contributing member of society.

Bold ideas are needed in the public space, and there is no doubt that Mr. Barr's bill falls into this category.

I think Ronald Reagan said it best when he said: ``That what is right will always eventually triumph. And there's purpose and worth to each and every life.''

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