Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. I rise today in support of this bill that I proudly cosponsored. I also thank my colleagues, Representatives Caraveo and Collins, for leading this legislation, as well as Chairman Lucas for his support. I also thank Senators Peter Welch and Ted Cruz over in the other body for their work. Synthetic opioids, such as fentanyl, have taken a terrible toll on communities across this country, including in my own district. Fentanyl is now involved in more deaths of Americans under 50 than any other cause of death. This epidemic is a horrifying ordeal, and now our communities must deal with various chemicals being added to these drugs to enhance their effects and also make them harder to detect. One chemical that criminals have started to use is a common animal tranquilizer called xylazine. When added to fentanyl, this animal tranquilizer can have terrible side effects, including horrible wounds at the injection site. These additives are also consequential to our first responders and law enforcement as they deal with these drugs on the street. Drug mixtures usually contain a very small amount of synthetic opioids, which makes it very difficult to detect and hard to identify new variants. Even small amounts of some substances can be dangerous for law enforcement and public health officials to handle. H.R.…”