Aug 21, 2015 3 min read

Following a recent upswing in overdose deaths in Washington County and a continuing problem across the commonwealth and country, U.S. Sen. Bob Casey said Friday he doesn’t believe there’s a sweeping federal program that would be able bring heroin under control.

“I don’t think you can legislate your way out of it,” Casey explained during a visit to the offices of Community Action Southwest Friday morning. “We can put a spotlight on it … I don’t have a grand strategy.”

Pennsylvania’s senior U.S. senator, did, however, say heroin use, and the abuse of other drugs, could be combated through greater access to early childhood education, the reason for Casey’s visit to the social service agency’s Washington headquarters. Casey is calling for a boost in funding for Head Start, which he says has suffered as a result of budget sequestration. Since the across-the-board budget cuts went into effect in 2013, Head Start has lost $375 million, Casey said, leading to reductions in the number of children that can be served.

“We haven’t made the investment that we should in the program,” Casey said. He criticized the “indiscriminate budget cutting” that has occurred as a result of sequestration: “That’s a mistake. How is the country better off if 52,000 children don’t get Head Start?” Casey has also called for an end to the tax loophole that allows American corporations to plant a flag in foreign locales in order to avoid taxes, with the funds being used to help fund prekindergarten programs.

On other subjects, Casey said he is still undecided on whether he will support the Iranian nuclear deal. He has received briefings from both President Obama and Secretrary of State John Kerry, and said he is leaning in a particular direction, though he declined to say what that is. “There are very strong opinions on both sides of that,” he said. “One day you think you’re leaning in one direction, and then you’re pulled back. Just when I thought I had it figured out, there’s more to learn.”

A Scranton native, Casey also said he would not rethink his support for Hillary Clinton being the Democrats’ 2016 standard-bearer if Vice President Joseph Biden, also Scranton-raised, ends up entering the presidential race. He explained that after seeing the first debate between the passel of Republican presidential candidates on the Fox News Channel Aug. 6, “I don’t think there’s any comparison at all. I think she’s very well-prepared, and she would be the strongest candidate.”

He also declined to say if he had a favorite between Katie McGinty, the former chief of staff to Gov. Tom Wolf, or former U.S. Rep. Joe Sestak, to be the Democrats’ nominee next year to take on Pennsylvania’s other U.S. senator, Republican Pat Toomey.

“I’m assessing that,” he said.