Washington, D.C. – At a Senate Agriculture Committee hearing today, U.S. Senator Joe Donnelly received a commitment from Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue for USDA to continue its work on opioid addiction prevention and treatment efforts in rural communities.

Donnelly said, “I want to ask you for your continued commitment to addressing this issue – to work with us as we write a farm bill that ensures USDA can continue to use the Community Facilities Program, Telemedicine and Distance Learning Program, and Rural Health and Safety Education Grants to address the scourge of addiction. Can we have that commitment from you, Mr. Secretary?”

Perdue responded, “Yes, sir. We’re very serious about rural quality of life and rural prosperity.”

Watch Donnelly’s questioning of Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue by clicking the image above or here.

Senator Donnelly greeting Secretary Perdue at the hearing today. For an HD version, click here. 

As part of his work to combat the opioid epidemic, Donnelly has successfully advanced efforts to address the opioid epidemic in rural and underserved communities:

• The recent government funding legislation, which Donnelly supported, included funding dedicated to addressing opioid addiction through the Rural Health and Safety Education Program and the Telemedicine and Distance Learning Services Program. Donnelly discussed those programs with Secretary Perdue in the hearing today.
• Following enactment of the government funding legislation, USDA announced their plans to prioritize funding to address the opioid crisis in rural America through two key grant programs, the Distance Learning and Telemedicine Grant (DLT) Program and the Community Facilities Grant Program, which Donnelly discussed with Secretary Perdue at today’s hearing. This strategy from USDA is based, in part, on Donnelly’s rural opioids legislative package, which he introduced in 2017 with Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Pat Roberts (R-KS) and then-Senator Luther Strange (R-AL), as well as with Senator John Hoeven (R-ND).
• The government funding bill also included resources to support the addiction treatment workforce through National Health Service Corps, which Donnelly advocated for as part of his Strengthening the Addiction Treatment Workforce Act, bipartisan legislation he introduced with Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK). That funding will help recruit more substance use disorder providers to serve in underserved communities.

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