Kyrsten Sinema was met with tough headlines in Arizona this morning, after she decided she had better things to do than sit through a hearing on border security and the opioid crisis in Phoenix yesterday. Sinema packed up early and left yesterday’s hearing “less than 30 minutes after it began,” even though other members of Arizona’s congressional delegation found time to stay through the rest of the two-hour meeting.
Talk about a failure in leadership… just take a look.
Martha McSally heads opioid hearing in Phoenix; Kyrsten Sinema leaves it early
AZ Central
May 30, 2018
https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/politics/arizona/2018/05/30/martha-mcsally-heads-opioid-hearing-kyrsten-sinema-left-early/653523002/
Congress held a rare field hearing in Phoenix, ostensibly to discuss the nation’s opioid problem and how Arizona’s leaders are combating it.
But Arizona’s U.S. Senate race cast a long shadow over the event.
The border-security hearing featured U.S. Reps. Martha McSally and Kyrsten Sinema, both of whom are running in Arizona’s open Senate race. But the event, which lasted more than two hours discussing a problem that has cost tens of thousands of lives nationwide, took on a more political tone after Sinema left the hearing less than 30 minutes after it began.
Sinema, a Democrat, left after hearing testimony from Gov. Doug Ducey about the state’s stepped-up efforts on bringing down abusive prescriptions and overdoses and before hearing from members of law enforcement and social workers.
The political undercurrents of the hearing, heavily covered by Arizona media, took on outsized importance in a race that many expect to be one of the most competitive nationally to determine control of the Senate.
Sinema, of Phoenix, is considered the front-runner to win the Democratic nomination and McSally, of Tucson, has led in recent polling for the GOP nomination.
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Sinema’s brief stay stood in contrast to the lengthy stay by four other members of the Arizona congressional delegation. Those were U.S. Reps. Ruben Gallego, Raúl Grijalva, Debbie Lesko and David Schweikert. Schweikert left about 15 minutes early.
Republicans seized on Sinema’s brief appearance, suggesting she gave the issue short shrift.
“Arizonans deserve more than lip service from Kyrsten Sinema on addressing our porous border and stopping the dangerous flow of opiates into this nation,” said Calvin Moore, a spokesman for the National Republican Senatorial Committee. “These are real problems that require real leadership, but Sinema would rather pack up early and just go home. If Kyrsten Sinema won’t stand up and fight for Arizona, then maybe she should reconsider asking voters for a promotion.”
Afterward, McSally weighed in.
“I appreciate my other colleagues on both sides of the aisle spending significant time to focus on this really important issue for our state and our country,” McSally said. “You’ll have to ask Sinema why she had other priorities that she felt were higher. But I think the priorities for the others that stayed were clear.”
Owens rejected any suggestion that Sinema isn’t committed to action on the opioid issue.
He noted that Sinema began her career as a social worker, an indication of her commitment to helping battle drugs and similar social ills.
Sinema’s office pointed to at least 11 different bills she supported that did, or would, provide more resources to combat opioid abuse.
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Sinema used her time at the hearing to note that she and McSally both supported bills to “help stop the flow of dangerous drugs into our communities.”
“It’s important that we put politics aside so we can protect and help Arizona’s communities and families. Our work should support efforts at the state level to win this fight,” she said.
Sinema praised the “great work done by Gov. Ducey and the state Legislature” in fighting opioids in Arizona.
Ducey used the hearing to tout efforts that included limits on new opioid prescriptions to five days and providing the overdose-reversal drug Naloxone to county health officials and law-enforcement support staff to administer as needed.
He also noted a joint “border strike force” with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security that grew out of collaboration with the federal agency during the 2015 Super Bowl under Jeh Johnson, who headed the agency under the Obama administration.
Ducey said the number of opioid prescriptions in March and April this year had fallen by a third compared with the same months a year ago. He sees it as a sign of progress in fighting drug abuse.
“We have certainly made progress, but we know that the fight remains deadly and that it is far from over,” he said.