Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 1076, the Preventing the Financing of Illegal Synthetic Drugs Act sponsored by the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. De La Cruz), a bill that I am pleased to cosponsor and co-lead. Thanks to collaboration on both sides of the aisle, this bill offers a well-written study focused on the financing and proceeds of the illicit synthetic drug trade that is victimizing communities across the country. By following the money behind the multibillion-dollar drug trade, we are able to understand the traffickers' operations and improve our ability to disrupt their activities. The effects of this trafficking have been staggering. Deaths involving synthetic opioids, such as illicit fentanyl and methamphetamine, increased by 22 percent in 2021, resulting in the deaths of more than 100,000 of our family members and neighbors. In 2022, there were also nearly 200,000 nonfatal opioid overdoses in the U.S. In 2021, overdose death rates increased 44 percent for Black people and 39 percent for American Indian and Alaska Natives, showing troubling trends and widening disparities among population groups. Combating the opioid epidemic is one of the reasons why I ran for Congress. Like too many Americans, my family has been impacted by the opioid crisis.…”