Blackburn: ‘Absolutely absurd’ to suggest she was influenced by opioid-related contributions

U.S. Rep. Marsha Blackburn gets a mention in a Washington Post report on political consequences facing members of Congress who supported 2016 legislation “that hampered the Drug Enforcement Administration’s enforcement efforts against the opioid industry.”

Twenty-six lawmakers sponsored or co-sponsored versions of the legislation in the House and the Senate, 23 of them Republicans, three of them Democrats. While some are retiring, and others are not up for reelection, 15 sponsors and co-sponsors — 12 Republicans and all three Democrats — are running for reelection or seeking higher office during a volatile political cycle that defies prediction.

…In the House, Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) was one of the staunchest backers of the legislation. She accepted more than $92,000 in contributions from opioid-related companies. Blackburn is now running for the seat vacated by retiring Republican Sen. Bob Corker.

Her opponent in the general election is Phil Bredesen, a former mayor of Nashville and former governor of Tennessee. Bredesen has not raised Blackburn’s cosponsorship, allowing the Democratic Party to attack the congresswoman. The party has called on Blackburn to return the contributions and launched a website that calls Blackburn “BigPharma Marsha.”

Blackburn, who declined an interview request, said in a statement that it was “absolutely absurd” to suggest that contributions played a role in her cosponsorship.

“The House and Senate — Republicans and Democrats — President Obama — all thought they had struck the appropriate balance between enforcement and access when the Ensuring Patient Access and Effective Drug Enforcement Act was signed into law in April 2016,” she said. “Congress does not always get it right, and if there are unintended consequences, we will fix them.”

Note: The referenced Blackburn-bashing website is HERE. Her comment in the Post article echoes a comment used in a previous 2017 post, HERE.