Today, the Judiciary Committee will consider H.R. 2260, the Pain Relief Promotion Act. Its Senate companion, S. 1272, was introduced by the Senate Assistant Majority Leader, Don Nickles.

Similar legislation has been considered by this Committee in the past. During the 105th Congress, the Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing on S. 2151 and reported it to the Senate. This Congress, the Pain Relief Promotion Act was approved by the House of Representatives late last year. In addition, the Senate HELP Committee held a hearing on this legislation last fall. And, on Tuesday, our Committee held yet another hearing on the legislation.

The legislation before the Committee today addresses two vital end of life issues that confront society and health providers. First, it strongly emphasizes improved palliative care for those who are terminally ill or in chronic pain. Second, it corrects a seriously flawed ruling by Attorney General Janet Reno and explicitly states that federally regulated drugs cannot be used to assist in a suicide.

In my judgment, terminally ill patients deserve better pain control management because their lives have the same worth and dignity as all other human beings. I am extremely troubled by laws that single out these patients as candidates for assisted-suicide. By doing this, I believe society is denying the value of their lives, and thereby, showing a lack of respect for their dignity and their legitimate needs, especially their need for the best possible palliative care.

By accepting assisted-suicide, we are, in essence, telling terminally ill patients that we are unwilling to help them alleviate their suffering, that they should give up because society has given up on them. This bill promotes improved knowledge of palliative care and pain management and, at the same time, prevents assisted suicide from becoming a legally sanctioned medical practice.

Let me make it perfectly clear that this bill does not direct DEA to launch a major investigatory initiative into the pain management arena. In fact, to address the concerns of health care providers, especially physicians, the substitute bill that will be offered by me later contains a provision that is neither in the House bill nor the Senate companion bill. The new provision establishes the higher clear and convincing evidentiary standard for DEA administrative hearings involving allegations of assisted suicide or euthanasia. I believe it is proper for Congress to make a strong statement about the need for state of the art pain management and palliative care and restore the drug laws to their original intent as far as assisted suicide is concerned.

In addition, my amendment includes a findings section at the beginning of the bill which is similar to what was passed by our Committee last Congress. Finally, it also designates the decade beginning January 1, 2001 as the Decade of Pain Control and Research and states that the Attorney General cannot issue federal standards on pain care management.

Several groups that adamantly opposed the bill from the 105th Congress now support it. These groups include the National Hospice Organization, the Hospice Association of America, the American Academy of Pain Management, the American Society of Anesthesiologists, the Pain Care Coalition, and the American Medical Association.

H.R. 2260 promotes palliative care as an integral part of good health. It also prevents federal support for a practice that is abhorrent to me – the deliberate use of controlled substances in order to intentionally cause a patient’s death. I believe that my substitute amendment accomplishes the goals that we sought to achieve at the beginning of this process – providing terminally ill patients with necessary palliative care in order to prevent needless suffering and prohibiting the use of controlled substances for assisted suicide. The compassionate answer to people who are ill is to expand the safety net of care and protection and to extend more emotional and psychological support.

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