Reps. Dan Crenshaw (R-TX) and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) said Thursday they expect their bipartisan legislation to create a pathway for clinical trials for psychedelic drugs to treat post-traumatic stress disorder to pass the House in a floor vote on Friday.

Ocasio-Cortez said in a joint press conference with Crenshaw that they aim to "celebrate the enormous amount of progress being made in the study and advancement of psychedelics research and application for PTSD, our veterans community, as well as many other survivors across the country."

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Crenshaw called the group a "wild coalition" of supporters backing the legislation spanning the ideological spectrum. "Everybody is on the same page because there's a realization that these therapies are working," he said.

"When we find something we can agree on, we just get it done," said Crenshaw. "I still can't find one member of Congress who is actually opposed to this."

Crenshaw introduced legislation in June that would create a federal grant program through the National Defense Authorization Act for research into the use of psychedelics for active duty military service members suffering from a traumatic brain injury or PTSD due to their service. The bill authorizes $15 million through the Department of Defense for trials each fiscal year using psilocybin, DMT, MDMA, and ibogaine.

Ocasio-Cortez first introduced a bill in 2019 to legalize psychedelic clinical trials for all Americans, which she said "failed a lot" at the time. Since then, however, there has been significant support from various groups that have seen benefits from psychedelics in treating a variety of medical issues.

Crenshaw said at the press conference that clinical trials across the globe have shown promise for survivors of sexual assault, drug addiction, and depression. Effective July 1, Australia became the first country to legalize MDMA for PTSD and psilocybin for depression which has been resistant to other treatment options.

Recreational psychedelic drug use has surged in the U.S., more than doubling among 18- to 30-year-olds during the COVID-19 pandemic. Some researchers suggest that these drugs have been used as a coping mechanism to deal with lockdowns and corresponding financial and psychological pressure.

Ocasio-Cortez said that there is a "moral responsibility" to increase scientific experimentation for therapies that can help survivors of both mental and physical trauma through exploratory psychedelics research. "We desperately need more resources to treat PTSD, [traumatic brain injury], and depression," said Ocasio-Cortez.

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When asked if this would be a step toward the legalization of psychedelics, Ocasio-Cortez said that more data is needed on these "powerful" substances to determine if they should be completely removed from the Schedule I drug classification list.

Ocasio-Cortez indicated that although she, Crenshaw, and the coalition of supporters in the House believe that it will pass the floor vote, the group expects the provision to have problems passing the Senate.