Political Quotes

“Mr. President, at some point this evening, we expect the House of Representatives to send the Senate a bill that would keep the Federal Government open for another few weeks before our heading home for Christmas. For most families, the holidays are an opportunity to take a break away from our busy lives and enjoy time with the people we love. It is safe to say, however, that will not be the case for tens of thousands of American families who have lost a loved one this year due to a drug overdose. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released two important new reports this week. First, they found that life expectancy decreased in the United States for the second year in a row. Second, the likely cause of that decrease in 2016 is that over 63,000 people died of drug overdoses. That is more than 144 deaths per day, and it is a 21-percent increase from 2015. This is a crisis. People are dying in communities across this country every single day. Congress must do much more to address this scourge. Here in Washington, we have talked at length about the massive size and scope of the problem. Last year, we passed bipartisan legislation that was signed into law and is providing our local communities with more tools to fight the epidemic, and we approved initial funding to begin to support these and other efforts. I was proud to help bring nearly $11 million of that funding to Indiana.…”