Brown, Portman praise Trump’s decision to address crisis

WASHINGTON — Ohio’s two U.S. senators offered their thoughts Thursday on President Donald Trump’s declaration of the opioid epidemic as a national emergency.

Portman called on action by Congress on the matter.

“While Congress has made some progress in addressing this crisis by enacting the Comprehensive Addiction & Recovery Act and the 21st Century CURES Act last year, we can and must do more,” he said.

Republican Rob Portman, who was in attendance for the president’s speech, called the declaration a positive first step.

“There is no doubt that this heroin and prescription drug epidemic is a national crisis, and it’s getting worse, not better,” Portman said in a news release. “The president’s decision to declare this epidemic a public health emergency is a positive step forward, and I’m hopeful it will lead to a better coordinated federal response to this crisis.”

Democrat Sherrod Brown, noting he has called on Trump to issue a declaration in the past, praised the decision and called on the president to follow through with “immediate action.”

“This declaration is an important step – but it is long overdue and will mean nothing if it isn’t followed with immediate actions,” Brown said in a news release. “We need to make it just as easy for Ohioans to seek treatment as it is for them to find opioids and heroin on the streets.”

“That means President Trump must use this declaration to boost treatment, invest in the people and programs that fight this every day, and make treatment more affordable,” he said.