access comprehensive treatment and care and when it comes to the bad actors that fuel the crisis, like mckenzie, i've used this gavel to hold them accountable for their actions. this hearing comes at a difficult moment for our nation. overdose deaths in america have been rising for more than two decades and during the coronavirus pandemic, fatal overdoses skyrocketed to historic levels, tragically, overdose test increased by 30% in 2,020 and 15% in 2,020 one. more than 100,000 lives were lost, the biden/harris administration and democrats in congress have taken aggressive action to address the supply and demand factors contributed to this crisis. since president biden took office, stopping fentanyl at the border more than ever before. this administration has increased drug interceptions, seizing roughly 800 pounds of fentanyl each month. this represents a fourfold increase in fentanyl interdiction over the previous administration's efforts in 2019. to build on this progress president biden's 2023 budget calls for 10% in additional funding in interdiction efforts, a request i hope all my colleagues will support. at the same time the biden harris administration and congress have made significant progress in treating addiction as the disease that it is by expanding access to treatment and wraparound services. the american rescue plan allocated nearly $4 billion to services for mental health and substance abuse disorder. that law also created the first federal fund for harm reduction services. additionally the administration's overdose prevention strategy invested tens of millions in initiatives to reach underserved communities to combat stigma and expand access to lifesaving treatment. these stabilized and i'm grateful this administration has prioritized that. today we will hear from doctor rahul gupta, director of the white house office of national drug control policy. who will testify about the biden administration's 2022 drug control strategy. this national strategy focuses on what works, uses evidence-based strategy to build on progress already made by the administration and outlines the plan to invest in communities, prevent substance abuse and increase access to treatment and recovery services. the national strategy takes bold steps to ensure medication to reverse overdoses is available to anyone in a moment of crisis. strong bipartisan priority that will save lives, strategy that for most axis to fentanyl, test strips which are a vital tool for overdose protection especially among young adults, the national strategy also builds on the administration's progress to disrupt supply of dangerous substances into the west by targeting transnational criminal organizations that are manufacturing and trafficking fentanyl, the seer's national strategy goes further than any prior drug control strategy to address structural inequities that lead people in some communities with insufficient access to healthcare and makes the more likely to be pulled into the criminal justice system as a result of drug misuse. the overdose crisis affects every community represented by our committee members here today, democrats and republicans, we owe it to our constituents to do everything we can to build on the administration's progress and work together to advance solutions to this public health crisis. that includes setting to the president's desk a strong substance abuse disorder package that the house approved last week. it also means passing hr 6311, the care act, a bill i offered and introduced with senator elizabeth warren and others that advances the objectives of the national drug control strategy by providing crucial resources to the local community on the front lines of this public health crisis. i think director rahul gupta for appearing today and for the biden/harris's commitment to ending our nation's overdose crisis. i now yield to my good friend, ranking member comeer for his opening statement. >> thank you, chairwoman for calling this hearing today. our committee's mission is govern efficiency and effectiveness which are committee's mission is to prevent taxpayer dollars from government fraud, waste, and abuse. are committee's mission is to hold government officials accountable. republicans on this committee have been pushing for months to hold hearings on the many pressing crises felt by the biden administration. i'm pleased we finally have a top-level biden official testifying today, i must say this is long past due. i urge the chairwoman to hold more hearings like this where we can examine the many crises impacting america today. thank you, rahul gupta, for testifying today. in january republicans on the energy and commerce committee launched an investigation into america's fentanyl crisis. we sent letters to the office of drug control policy, customs and border protection in the dea seeking information about the plan to address the crisis at the southern border and overdose epidemic, we appreciated the response from your agency but many important questions remain unanswered. one of these outstanding questions is how president biden's border crisis and this administration's open border policies aided and abetted practicing of illicit drugs like fentanyl in our country which is being smuggled across the southwest border at unprecedented rates. u.s. customs and border protection seized 11,000 pounds of fentanyl in fiscal year 2021, more fentanyl seized in one fiscal year than 2020-2019 combined. the standard overdose of fentanyl is two milligrams. 11,000 pounds of fentanyl is 5 billion milligrams. we seized 2. 5 billion lethal doses of fentanyl in one fiscal year. that does not include all the fentanyl we know has been smuggled across our borders and detected. cartels are overwhelming agents, a steady supply for dealers and users alike. a primary question is what is president biden going to do to secure the border and cut off the free flow of illicit drugs into our country. we also wrote an open letter to law enforcement seeking information how the fentanyl crisis is impacting local communities. we received distressing responses from communities across the country telling us the devastating effects fentanyl has had of young lives lost and families destroyed. madame chairwoman i ask unanimous consent to submit these response letters into the record. >> without objection. >> thank you. on top of the crises at the southern border democrat lockdowns and school closures caused increased stress and mental health complications for teens and adults leading to historic overdose rates. according to pulmonary data from the cdc more than one hundred 7,000 people died from drug overdose in the us in 2021. that is a nearly 15% increase over 2020 which is already a 30 one% increase over 2019. our nation's mental health crisis continues to worsen due to the economic hardship and supply chain crises caused by president biden's disastrous policies. studies have shown that stress over money and make people 20 times more likely to attempt suicide. inflation remains at a 4-year high, gas prices the highest in american history and many families are stressed wondering how they are going to make legals meet, tragically fentanyl overdoses are becoming the leading cause of death for americans age 18 to 45. more than covid, car accidents, gun violence, breast cancer or suicide. teenagers and young adults turning to snapchat, tick-tock and other social media apps to find xanax and other pills many of which are counterfeit and laced with fentanyl. fentanyl has been found in marijuana. we must act now to secure the southern border to stem the flow of illicit fentanyl. it is heartbreaking to see how desperately people have tried to escape the impacts of president biden's policies. this administration has flooded the market with illicit drugs so they can do just that. thank you, madam chair and i yield back. >> gentleman yields back, thank you and i would note in response to your statement that we have already held more than 25 hearings this congress, the biden administration officials and other government witnesses, today is the 20 sixth. i have a list of these hearings. without objection i will enter it into the record and now i will introduce our witness. we will hear from doctor rahul gupta, director of national drug control strategy, the witness will be an muted so we can swear him in. raise your right hand. i don't see him up there. is he on? >> i am on. >> i see you now. please raise your right hand, do you swear or affirm the testimony you are about to give is the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth so help you god? >> i do. >> lector the records show the witness answered in the affirmative. thank you. without objection your written statement will be made part of the record. with that you are recognized for your testimony. >> members of the committee, thank you for inviting me to testify about president biden's strategy. this strategy was released in a time of unprecedented challenges. for far too many years, the crisis has been unraveling the social fabric of the nation and destroying american lives and livelihoods. the centers for disease control and prevention estimates overdoses of claimed more than one million lives in the past two decades. in 2021 alone we lost 107,000 americans, one life lost every 5 minutes. these are friends, family members, coworkers, neighbors. this 2015 overdose deaths in america have doubled and the covid 19 pandemic has amplified the difficulties in accessing treatment or substance abuse disorders. as a practicing physician for the last 25 years i have treated many patients with addiction who have gone on to lead successful lives but i have also seen too many patients succumbed to their disease and i have attended far too many funerals. working in the emergency room i have experienced weeks and months working overdose every shift. behind these overdoses there are millions of individuals experiencing nonfatal overdoses overwhelming first responders and the healthcare system. underneath these overdoses are tens of millions of americans suffering substance abuse disorder. there are other facts. research estimates economic cost of the epidemic could be a staggering $1 trillion a year and after 26% of the laws in lois that if us labor force participation can be attributed to addiction. addiction and overdose epidemic is a nonpartisan issue which is evidenced by the fact that it touches everyone regardless of where you live or how you vote and this is why ending the opioid epidemic is part of president biden's unity agenda and why it has strong support across the country and across political parties for finding comprehensive and meaningful solutions. as the office of national drug control policy developed this strategy we focus on the fact that this epidemic is being driven largely by untreated addiction and drug trafficking. this strategy focuses on reducing overdose deaths and supply of illicit substances and increasing prevention, reduction, treatment and recovery efforts and finally improving ways the, justice system addresses substance abuse disorder so people get the help they need before it is too late. also four key priorities across the strategy at a time when 3 or 4 overdoses involve opioids it is critical we are making sure everyone can access them. we are looking to ensure everyone gets the treatment, disrupting drug trafficking operations, united states has a fundamental responsibility to protect its borders and this is what the biden administration is doing and we are improving data collection particularly for nonfatal overdoses as they are good indicator of someone encountering a future failover those. taken together these goals usher in a new era of drug policy that is comprehensive, holistic and targeted at saving lives first. our nation is at an inflection point. our actions must rise to the occasion by being bold and innovative but also compassionate and consequential. the biden/harris administration drug control strategy is an unprecedented, evidence-based blueprint designed to save lives immediately, build infrastructure for treating addiction that the nation needs and disrupting drug trafficking and the process that fuels it. all the while ensuring the federal government is accountable and serves as a good steward of taxpayer dollars, saving lives which i believe every life is precious and worth saving. ..his strategy is implemented as intended, we could be saving 164,000 lives over the next three years and help tens of millions of people get into treatment. the president and i are committed to seeing this through because american lives depend on it. because american lives depend on it. thank you for your continued efforts to make our country safer, and as president biden said, let's come together to beat this. i look forward to your questions. >> the gentleman yields back. i now recognize muscle for five minutes for questions. thank you very much, director group to, for coming before the committee to defend her leadership and thank you for your tireless commitment to ending thehe overdose crisis whh has devastated so many families in our country. i know this is been a top priority of the biden-harris administration since day one. director gupta, in addition to issuing this is national drug control strategy, what progress has the administration made so far and expanding access to services and care to prevent overdoses and treat addiction? >> thank you, madam chairwoman. we have had significant progress made. in fact, now that telehealth provisionsns that allow provides to treat addiction across the countrys especially in wirral areas under subcommunities and behind the walls. telehealth including consultation is a crucial aspect of expanding treatment. we know less than one out of ten people today are getting the treatment they need. we have also allowed, dea has mobile vans for methadone as well as take-home methadone. these aspects are helping us improve and expand treatment at a time when people are dying without treatment. we are also make efforts to make sure everyone can get a lock so which is the antidote for opioid overdosef reversal. at the same time we we're alg more and more physicians and providers, others to be able to prescriptions through practice guideline changes so they are able to get more treatment across. so our goal of treating untreated addiction, creating the infrastructure, the american rescue plan has invested $4 billion unprecedented amount and the president has now called for an increase in $3.2 billion, $.75 of the dollar of that increase of the $42 billion budget goes towards making sure expanding treatment, expanding prevention, and expanding recovery services. >> the coronavirus pandemic strain every aspect of the american healthcare system with a disproportionate burden falling on people with addiction and the providers whoho treat them. one way the federal government responded toal this crisis was y promoting the use of telehealth to increase american access to addiction treatment. dr. gupta, doeshe the administration support the continued use of telehealth flexibilities addiction treatment beyond the coronavirus pandemic and can you expand on how it is made available to people, how are they made aware that they can have this type of treatment? >> thank you, chairwoman. it is extremely important for president biden, , for this administration to ensure that telehealth services are available and are t made availae beyond the public health emergency. the reason for that is that especially people in rural areas like my home state of west virginia, who are often not able to drive, not able to take the effort to getta where it's needd because of the plurality, these telehealth services allow much more efforts to be provided to people. it's a time but we need to meet people where they are, and telehealth including phone consultation allows us to do just that. the same goes for people especially in communities of color who already have a difficult time and a delay time accessing services. this is another service that will help us expand treatment. >> last december i led nearly 100 of my colleagues on the democratic side in reintroducing the care act, landmark legislation that would provide 125 million in new federal funding directly to communities that care providers over ten years over, the overdose crisis. director gupta, do you agree we need to provide sustained, comprehensive investment and treatment and care to communities at the front lines ofto this crisis as our care act would do wax why or why not? >> thank you,, chairwoman. it is one of the critical aspects of this particular crisis that i we provide these types of services to folks not just for treatment but be on treatment to provide thatnd support, comprehensive support. so it is important that we think about the ability to get people to help when they need it, where they need it, and efforts like this help us get there quicker and ultimately save lives. >> thank you. i commend the administration for its work to overcome this crisis and reduce the harm it inflicts on our society, and i am a proud partner with you in this work, and you bring invaluable experience to the country from your work in west virginia. i now call on representative norman. >> thank you, chairwoman maloney. doctor, i thank you for taking the time to come, now, , i was listening to your opening words. younk said that biden administration had a topop priority for protecting americans, protecting the border. is this -- did you say that? am i right, he has done a great job of protecting thejo border? >> thank you, congressman for the question. we believe strongly it is an important part of every nation to secure and protect its border. there are a number of things going on in this area is that a think are important to note. as i visit, i speak to the women and men on the board -- >> i don't mean, i've got a limited amount of time. has he taken the steps to close the border? is that what i understand you to mean? >> congressman, thank yout, aga, and the president has taken steps to make sure that our board remains secured. part of -- >> okay. doctor,, okay, this is two different universes. you are saying that the numbers, i assume you agree with the numbers of the illegals come across. we are going to average 585,000 a month. we are up to, what is this, 1.6 apprehensions. donald trump had this, with the wall, had this solved. we had 50, during the three prior years, those on the terror watch list were basically zero. this past year it is sick he on the terrorist watch list. how can you sit there and say that this administration has a goal of protecting americans? i am in the construction business. we had a leak on one of our projects. you stop the leak in the pipe. we had a band that had a leak in the dan. you stop the leak. i mean, really, this is a mischaracterization at best for you to sayn this administration, even if the numbers are completely false. we are getting an unprecedented number of people coming across. we already got three threo 5 million illegals in this country. so i guess we don't want words and we don't want hearings. we want action. all he has to do is build a wall and have designated point of entry. how many times has a vice president been to the border, that you know a? she was supposed to be the biggs are heading to set their county time such actually been to the border to see what's going on? >> i believe that to the vice president to answer. what i can tell you is -- >> zero, zero. she is giggling. she's laughing about it. how many times have you understaffed into the border? >> thank you for the question again. my first week in office i i actually went to our southwest border and it went to mexico. recently last month i went to that border in san diego. i was able to spend a considerable a