Remarks by President Trump in Meeting on Opioids | Eastern North Carolina Now

Press Release:

White House Roosevelt Room  •  Washington D.C.  •  June 12  •  3:30 P.M. EDT
    THE PRESIDENT: Thank you very much. And I think what we do - this is a meeting on opioid and the tremendous effect that's taken place over the last little period of time. And I'm very proud of it and the people working so hard on it.

    But I thought what I'd do is ask Secretary Wilkie to give a statement as to what just happened with respect to Choice and the VA, because I think it's a very, very big deal.

    Robert?

    SECRETARY WILKIE: Thank you, sir. June 6th was a doubly important day. You were celebrating the 75th anniversary of the Normandy landings. And for VA, we began to implement the Mission Act, which you signed last year.

    On that day, 44,000 veterans came to us to ask for greater choice in their healthcare on day one. And we began to open up that aperture and provide them, for the first time, with urgent care across the country. So they now have what their fellow citizens have had for many years.

    And we expect them to take greater advantage of it as we go along. We've contacted over 9 million veterans to tell them this is now available to them. And it is one of the great transformative steps in the history of our department.

    THE PRESIDENT: Yes, it is. It's Choice.

    SECRETARY WILKIE: And it's off to a very good - very good start.

    THE PRESIDENT: VA Choice.

    SECRETARY WILKIE: Yes, sir.

    THE PRESIDENT: So, for 44 years, they've been trying to get it, and we got it. And they're loving it, I hear.

    SECRETARY WILKIE: Yes. Yes, sir. With that many on the first day, that's a testament to -

    THE PRESIDENT: That's a tremendous testament.

    SECRETARY WILKIE: Yes, sir.


    THE PRESIDENT: Congratulations.

    SECRETARY WILKIE: Thank you, sir.

    THE PRESIDENT: Come here. I'm proud of you. That's a fantastic job.

    SECRETARY WILKIE: Thank you, sir. Thank you very much.

    THE PRESIDENT: I'm proud of you. Thank you very much.

    Kellyanne?

    MS. CONWAY: Mr. President, thank you. The focus that the First Lady and you have placed on the opioid and drug demand, drug supply crisis roiling our nation is starting to produce positive results.

    We are all aware of the harrowing statistics - the tens of thousands of lives lost every year, and other lives ruined. But today, we wanted to present to you - through members of your Cabinet and your administration, sir - a progress report.

    And I have some graphs here for you to look at as well. I will tell you that, since you declared the public health emergency and since you have introduced the three-pronged approach to focus on prevention education, treatment and recovery, and law enforcement and interdiction, all three of those areas have produced very positive results.

    There's a lot of work to be done. Battleships like this turn very slowly. We didn't get here overnight and we won't get out of it overnight. But it really does show how the whole-of-government approach, focusing on treatment and recovery of the whole person, is bearing fruit.

    Mr. President, in your opioid announcement in Manchester, in March of 2018, where the First Lady and you talked about your vision and what to do in the opioid crisis, you called for a one -third reduction, over the next three years, in first-time prescriptions. I'm happy to report that you achieved that number in the first year alone. And that is owing in large part to enhanced awareness and education by both the prescribers and the consumers.

    People - there are just fewer people using these opioids now. Your takeback days that are led by Administrator Dhillon have produced 4.7 million pounds of pills in the five takeback days - the last Saturdays in April and October. This is 4.7 million pounds of pills. Had you said 4.7 million pills, that would be impressive - but pounds of tiny pills that are just in the supply that people aren't using. They're unused. They're unnecessary. They're expired. That's enough to fill up 20 Boeing 757s with pills. So that's out of the supply chain.


    1.2 billion lethal doses of fentanyl were interdicted by our Department of Homeland Security - that includes ICE and CBP, of course - in the last fiscal year alone. I'd like to say to you, Mrs. Trump and Mr. President, that is at the points of entry - the 26 points of entry - but that's also between the points of entry. And we don't always hear that. This is just what we know about. We don't know how much we're missing. But that is literally saving lives. It was enough fentanyl to kill every American three-plus times over.

    In addition, the big ad campaign that you've asked your administration to put forward, we've had 1.4 billion views of all of the advertising and marketing materials. About 58 percent of our target market - young people - the halo effect of 15-to-30-year-olds - have seen these. And I'm happy to report that the long-form ad that we had out won the Emmy this year for the long-form ad. And that's pretty exciting.

    THE PRESIDENT: I heard that.

    MS. CONWAY: More overdose-reversing naloxone. Your Surgeon General put out the first Surgeon General's Advisory in 13 years last year, and it was about making naloxone - Narcan - more available to we, the people, and allowing us to feel comfortable to administer that either through a mist or a simple injection for those around us. This is literally saving lives.

    And then, of course, Secretary Wilkie will expound upon this, but you have 117 - roughly 118,000 fewer veterans being prescribed opioids. I think what the VA and you have done, Mr. President, is make clear that pain management need not mean pain medication. There are other alternatives to try first.

    There's a lot of progress. I'd like to invite different members of the administration to weigh in. But before I do, I would just like to say that probably the most remarkable bipartisan piece of legislation that you signed in your time as President was H.R.6. This is the single largest piece of legislation ever signed, in the history of our country, on a drug crisis at one time.

    It ended up being a compilation of 50 different pieces of legislation. Usually, when you add them together, you lose support. And we actually gained support. Every single Democrat voted for H.R.6, including all the ones running for President.

    THE PRESIDENT: That's great.

    MS. CONWAY: And I think they see the need in their own communities. It's an overwhelming bipartisan piece of legislation.


    Among other things, H.R.6 included the CRIB Act, and this is an issue that our First Lady has really brought to the attention of the nation: that they understand 1 in 100 babies born every day - roughly, 150 newborns every day in our country - are born already addicted, already chemically dependent. And the First Lady has raised awareness and resources that allows Medicaid reimbursement for counseling services and other health provision so that we're keeping the mother and the newborn together - better for the newborn, much better for the mother.

    The First Lady's efforts are also busting through the silence and the stigma that attaches with a youth involvement in drugs. And we also are very happy to report that, as part of H.R.6, the STOP Act has led to about a six-times increase in the number of packages that are being examined coming from foreign sources. That, literally, is cutting off the flow of drugs getting in our community.

    There is much more to report, but I'd like to begin with our Director, Jim Carroll, of ONDCP, to give you a report. We were just briefed on our success in China with fentanyl.

    THE PRESIDENT: Good, Jim.

    MS. CONWAY: And he's been traveling around the globe. Jim?

    THE PRESIDENT: Great job. Thank you, Kellyanne.

    DIRECTOR CARROLL: Good afternoon. As you'll recall, you did - the work at the G20 last year led to China scheduling fentanyl for the first time ever. The early reports are they've taken this seriously and they're beginning to implement the enforcement actions that we need to see. I've now rescheduled the trip to China, and I will be going at the end of the summer.

    What's important to note is that we really do have a whole-of-government approach on this. For the first time ever, we have a government that is united against this. We have 200 Americans dying a day. I've implemented your vision, as Kellyanne spoke, of the three-pronged approach. And it's beginning to pay off. You're going to hear from the other members of the administration today about the successes domestically, but also it's key to note, internationally, we are setting the bar for going after this.

    THE PRESIDENT: Have you noticed a change in China since the trade negotiations broke off? A change with regard to the fentanyl?