“This drug does not care who you are, where you live, anything about you – it is lethal.”

WASHINGTON, DC – On Monday evening, Congressmen Gabe Amo (D-RI-01) and Addison McDowell (R-NC-06) addressed The Ripon Society and Franklin Center for Global Policy Exchange, discussing their legislative efforts to reduce overdose deaths, including the Having Overdose Protection Equipment (HOPE) Act.

“The evidence is clear that with action, we can respond to the opioid overdose crisis and save lives,” Congressman Amo stated. “Between 2022 and 2024, my home state of Rhode Island saw a 36% decrease in fatal opioid overdoses. That’s massive.

“CDC and NIH data suggests very clearly that wider distribution of Naloxone is part of getting results like that,” he continued. “In my state we distributed 60,000 kits in 2024. This legislation is fairly straightforward. The HOPE Act is using an already functioning stream—the State Opioid Grants Program—and making it clearly authorize that these funds should and can be used for wider proliferation of Naloxone around communities. We have to spread this wide in order for us to not only deal with an individual circumstance but broaden public awareness.”

“We also have to look at how we keep people on that path. Because in a nation that believes in second chances, sometimes third chances, sometimes fourth chances, we’re going to help get Americans to the place they need to be, and that is a healthy life.”

McDowell, who lost his brother to fentanyl poisoning in 2016, brought a deeply personal perspective to the discussion.

“This drug does not care who you are, where you live, anything about you – it is lethal. This is the same drug that killed Prince. It’s the same drug that killed Tom Petty, and it’s the same drug that killed my brother. It does not care who you are, and we’ve got to make it harder for people to get a hold of this and make it harder to reach our communities in the first place.

“We want to make the tools accessible when they’re needed, but we also need to stop the flow of this into our country. We have done that at our southern border. The pipeline that the cartels used is pretty much under control. But what’s happening is very sinister. This is a multi-billion-dollar industry, and the drug cartels and everyone else who’s dealing in the trafficking of this stuff, are not just going to stop because we secured our southern border. We have three other borders that they are currently trying to bring this drug in through.”

The North Carolina Congressman also discussed another piece of legislation he is working on to target the cartels: the PRESS Act. The bill, introduced last month, would stop foreign drug traffickers from importing pill press machines used to develop illegal fentanyl pills.

“We want to have stronger enforcement on the front end, and lifesaving tools on the back end. If we can address this from every side, we can actually make a difference.”

Later on, the pair of lawmakers fielded a number of questions, including one about whether the drop in overdoses was due to public policy or greater awareness.

“It’s all of the above,” Amo stated. “I also think there’s a heightened awareness. Whether it’s people using recreational drugs and having testing strips and that sort of stuff available to just a broader consciousness.”

“I think Gabe’s right that the general awareness that you take a recreational drug,” added McDowell, “it very well could kill you, scares people, not necessarily enough to make them stop using drugs altogether, but they can test to see if what they’ve bought has fentanyl in it and that has helped.”

They were also asked about key lessons they have learned in their effort to get the HOPE Act to President’s desk.

“As fellow young lawmakers, we’re in a hurry, not because we want to get out of here, but because we came here at a time of our lives where we’re in the peak of our ability to act on our intentions for the world,” answered Amo. “This is one where I think it should be noble on both sides regardless of the process, with a laser focus on the outcome that’s fewer lives lost, less pain, more second chances and possibilities at tomorrows.”

To view the remarks of Reps. Amo and McDowell before The Ripon Society and Franklin Center this past Monday night, please click the link below:

The Ripon Society is a public policy organization that was founded in 1962 and takes its name from the town where the Republican Party was born in 1854 – Ripon, Wisconsin. One of the main goals of The Ripon Society is to promote the ideas and principles that have made America great and contributed to the GOP’s success. These ideas include keeping our nation secure, keeping taxes low and having a federal government that is smaller, smarter and more accountable to the people.

Founded in 1978, The Franklin Center for Global Policy Exchange is a non-partisan, non-profit 501(c)(3) organization committed to enhancing global understanding of important international issues. The Franklin Center brings together Members of the U.S. Congress and their international parliamentary counterparts as well as experts from the Diplomatic corps, foreign officials, senior private sector representatives, scholars, and other public policy experts. Through regular conferences and events where leading international opinion leaders share ideas, the Franklin Center promotes enlightened, balanced, and unbiased international policy discussion on major international issues.