Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of this bill, the Office of National Drug Control Policy Reauthorization Act. We have a drug overdose crisis in this country. It is unacceptable and intolerable. In 2019, roughly 70,000 people in the United States died of an overdose. In 2021, that number rose to over 106,000, and in 2022, to over 111,000 deaths. In 2023, overdose deaths remained over 100,000 with 107,000 Americans dying of an overdose. Overdose deaths remain near record highs. This is an ongoing, deadly national emergency that affects every community in our Nation. The Office of National Drug Control Policy, or ONDCP, was established in the Executive Office of the President with the specific mission to coordinate the government-wide resources to combat the loss of life and human misery caused by illicit narcotics and overdoses. This bill, the Office of National Drug Control Policy Reauthorization Act of 2024, will reauthorize ONDCP and two critical grant programs the office administers at current spending levels for the next 7 years. Specifically, the bill will reauthorize the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas Program, which helps local law enforcement coordinate efforts to take down drug traffickers, and the Drug Free Communities Program, which works in communities across the country to prevent young people from ever trying drugs in the first place.…”