Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, I rise today because the opioid abuse epidemic continues to worsen across this country. In Florida alone, heroin and fentanyl deaths have risen by nearly 80 percent. Local governments in Florida are responding as best they can with their limited resources, but they cannot solve the problem alone. The 18th District of Florida includes parts of Palm Beach County, where my colleague, Lois Frankel, resides, which is one of the hardest hit counties in the State. In 2016, the county received more than 4,000 overdose calls, and there were approximately 500 opioid-related deaths. Mr. Speaker, our Nation's veterans are uniquely vulnerable to this crisis. We must never forget our responsibility to these brave men and women to ensure that, when they leave the battlefield overseas, they aren't left to fight their personal battles here at home all alone. I commend Congress for passing legislation last year to combat this epidemic, but we have to do more. I urge my colleagues to pass the bipartisan STOP Act to crack down on illicit opioid shipments into the U.S., and I also hope that we can continue to work together in other ways to fight this epidemic. Only by working together at the Federal, State, and local government levels can we defeat this terrible scourge that is creating new tragedies daily. ____________________”