Political Quotes

“Madam Speaker, I rise before the House today as the Member from eastern Connecticut having the honor to represent the Second Congressional District to report on some encouraging news on probably one of the most gut-wrenching, disheartening problems that our Nation faces, which is the epidemic of opioid overdoses. In the State of Connecticut, like other parts of the country, the rise of opioid deaths from 2012 up until 2021, 2022, has been 300 percent. People are more likely to die from opioid overdoses than they are from motor vehicle accidents, and eastern Connecticut was no exception. Again, in 2021, the number of opioid deaths in New London County, which takes up the largest portion of eastern Connecticut by population, peaked at 134 deaths. Starting at that point, people decided it was time to get serious about trying to come up with ways to create more prevention and also remediation and recovery for people suffering from addiction. In 2022, that number dropped from 134 to 125. A couple days ago, the 2023 numbers were reported, and it dropped to 71 deaths. This did not happen by itself.…”