Political Quotes

“I know we are waiting for other colleagues to come to the floor to speak to the Energy bill itself or perhaps to offer amendments. I certainly would encourage that, as we are trying to get the process going with the Energy Policy Modernization Act. Before my colleague from West Virginia leaves the floor, I want to thank him for his leadership on this issue. We have had conversations. I traveled to West Virginia at his invitation to view how West Virginia deals with its energy issues. They have a little bit of everything there in West Virginia, and I was able to see that. One of the sad stories I learned, though, is what we were seeing in his State as it relates to opioid abuse--OxyContin and meth at that time. Our States share some similarities in that there are very rural characteristics in both West Virginia and Alaska. Even though we are far removed from most of the other States in this country, we are not immune or insulated from what we are seeing with this epidemic of opioid abuse brought on initially by access to prescription drugs and now being replaced in a horrible way with heroin that is impacting our kids, young people, and folks who are ages that would surprise many. It is deeply troubling. When you use words like ``epidemic'' or ``pandemic,'' those are very strong words, but I think that is what we are seeing in this country, and it is reaching from one end of the country to the other.…”