When America’s War on Drugs was reaching its zenith in the 1980s, the solutions seemed so much simpler. The slogan “Just Say No” was plastered everywhere, and made it seem like solving America’s dependence on dangerous drugs was as easy as a simple denial. Sadly, as America’s drug problem continued to creep into the next millennium, it has once again exploded in the form of prescription painkillers and other opioid drugs. “No” is no longer enough.

On Thursday, President Trump gave a speech declaring the opioid crisis in America a national public health emergency:

More people are dying from drug overdoses today than from gun homicides and motor vehicles combined. Think of it — motor vehicle crashes, gun homicides, more people by far from drug overdoses.

These overdoses are driven by a massive increase in addiction to prescription painkillers, heroin, and other opioids. Last year, almost one million Americans used heroin, and more than 11 million abused prescription opioids. The United States is by far the largest consumer of these drugs, using more opioid pills per person than any other country by far in the world. Opioid overdose deaths have quadrupled since 1999 and now account for the majority of fatal drug overdoses. Who would have thought?

Indeed, who would have thought? The truth is that nearly all of us know someone who has been impacted by this crisis. I’m thankful that the president is addressing this issue. Throughout my career I’ve encountered people and families who have been affected by the abuse of opioid drugs. This is a crisis that destroys families, and as the president said, “Addressing it will require all of our effort and it will require us to confront the crisis in all of its very real complexity.”

The president was right when he said that we need “to prevent our citizens from becoming addicted to drugs in the first place.” But just saying no is no longer enough, and the truth is, it never was. Drug abuse is as much a spiritual struggle as it is a medical problem. Complete healing will never take place without God’s intervention, and one of God’s most prevalent means of intervention is through churches and other faith-based entities which focus on healing the whole person. The Daily Signal reported recently on studies showing that the use of illicit drugs strongly correlates with lack of religious attendance: “A large and growing body of evidence shows that not only can religion help prevent people from using illicit drugs, but it also plays a strong role in effective treatment programs.”

The Trump administration has already shown unprecedented attention to listening to faith communities in his short presidency, and I’m hopeful that he’ll continue to seek that input with this epidemic. I’m thankful that the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is already seeking connection with faith communities to aid in this crisis with a number of resources, and I look forward to further efforts to utilize all the resources that faith-based organizations can offer.

President Trump said, “Ending the epidemic will require mobilization of government, local communities, and private organizations. It will require the resolve of our entire country.” The church’s role in that resolve is paramount. As Kathryn Butler, a trauma and critical care surgeon, wrote earlier this year in a powerful essay on the issue, “The opioid epidemic concerns not only the national consciousness, but also each of us as individuals within the body of Christ. Christ calls us to carry our joy beyond the safe boundaries of our churches each week and care for our neighbors (Luke 10:25-37).” She’s right — to impact lives, people of faith can’t be merely reactive. The church doesn’t have the option of sitting on the sidelines in this life-or-death crisis.

Originally published here.

Senate Seeks No Vacancy for Courts

President Donald Trump is determined that judicial confirmations will be one of the hallmarks of his presidency, as evidenced by the successful replacement of Justice Antonin Scalia with a strong constitutionalist in Justice Neil Gorsuch. But the effort to fill vacancies at the Circuit Court and District court level continues despite the continued obstructionism from Senate Democrats. In a press conference with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) last week, the president referred to the number of nominations his administration has made — a number totaling over 65 — as one of his administration’s “unsung victories.”

The most notable judicial victory in the Trump administration to date is undoubtedly the confirmation of Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch, whose installation to the highest court of the land was the fulfillment of one of the president’s critical campaign promises to fill the vacancy on the court left by the death of conservative Justice Antonin Scalia.

However, in the months since Gorsuch’s confirmation, there remains a massive backlog of judicial nominees still languishing in the Senate’s confirmation process. There are currently 149 judicial vacancies, 120 district court, 21 circuit court, and eight other court vacancies. The Judicial Crisis Network points out that if the Senate were to continue to confirm judges at the snails’ pace with which they have been moving, then it will take 10 years to fill those seats.

The painfully slow creep of confirmations is due in large part to the convoluted Senate process, which is vulnerable at all stages to partisan opposition. Democrats have thus far used these procedural hurdles to effectively run the clock and waste floor time on up to 30 hours of debate for the confirmation of even the most uncontroversial district judges, even when they have overwhelming bipartisan support.

As of Thursday, Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA), chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, successfully reported out eight more judicial nominees, two for circuit courts and six for district courts, and they now await votes on the Senate floor. Sen. McConnell has vowed that the Senate will confirm these nominees despite minority opposition. “We’re not going to let these mindless attempts to slow progress stop us from confirming the president’s nominees to the judiciary… You can count on it.”

Putting actions behind his announcement Sen. McConnell filed cloture Thursday on four Circuit Court nominees, whose confirmations will be voted on next week. Among them is Notre Dame law professor Amy Barrett, a nominee for the 7th Circuit Court, whose recent committee hearing made headlines last month when Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) unleashed an unconstitutional religious litmus test against Barrett saying the “dogma lives loudly within [her].” Ms. Barrett and others deserve fair consideration on the Senate floor. We will score in favor of the vote to proceed to Ms. Barrett’s confirmation, as no senator should target a judicial nomination for her faith. As a country based on the rule of law, we need judges who will impartially and fairly apply the law, not craft it according to their ideology or political views. Indeed, the very writings Feinstein used to criticize Ms. Barrett clearly demonstrate that she will adhere to the rule of law, and fairly and neutrally decide the cases before her. The president is doing his job nominating sound judges who will do their job and not engage in activism, and the Senate must, despite Democrat obstructionism, continue to do one of its most important jobs and confirm these judges.

Originally published here.

This is a publication of the Family Research Council. Mr. Perkins is president of FRC.