Sen. Rob Portman Robert (Rob) Jones PortmanRomney undecided on authorizing subpoenas for GOP Obama-era probes Congress needs to prioritize government digital service delivery House passes B bill to boost Postal Service MORE (R-Ohio) on Friday criticized a reported White House proposal to cut nearly the entire budget for the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP).

“I’ve known and worked with our drug czars for more than 20 years and this agency is critical to our efforts to combat drug abuse in general, and this opioid epidemic, in particular," Portman said in a statement.

Portman noted the ONDCP supports the Drug Free Communities Act, legislation he authored in 1997.

It has "provided more than $1 billion to community drug coalitions around the country over the last 20 years, as well as the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas program, which has helped states like Ohio that are ground zero for this problem," he said.

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"We have a heroin and prescription drug crisis in this country," he said, "and we should be supporting efforts to reverse this tide, not proposing drastic cuts to those who serve on the front lines of this epidemic."

Reports surfaced last week the the White House is proposing slashing funding to the the ONDCP by about 95 percent, according to a lobbyist familiar with the plan.

The agency, created in 1988, is informally known as the drug czar's office. It is charged with advising the president on drug-related issues, coordinating efforts to reduce drug use and creating an annual national drug control strategy.

The White House in a statement called the budget process a "complex one with many moving parts."