Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, I could not have said it better myself. I thank my friend for those comments. Mr. Speaker, what Mr. Griffith is explaining there is the magnitude of this crisis, and I have a number of colleagues here tonight who will speak to it. Illegal drug overdoses recently became the leading cause of death for Americans age 18-45; the leading cause of death. Today in America illegal drug overdoses are killing more people at this age demographic than car accidents, obviously, than cancer, more than COVID. In my home State of Louisiana alone, opioid deaths increased in 2021 by 40 percent; 40 percent in one year; mostly driven by an increase in illicit fentanyl. What is fentanyl? Fentanyl is this synthetic opioid that is 80 to 100 times stronger than morphine. It is created with chemicals shipped from China to Mexico. It is trafficked across our southern border. Its potency means the smallest amount, even to fit on the tip of a pencil, is considered a lethal dose, and now it is fueling one of the worst drug epidemics in American history. Mr. Speaker, the Biden administration's response has been nothing, passivity. They have been passive about securing our border, the entry point for all these drugs coming into our communities. They have been passive about prosecuting drug offenders. Many Democrat-led jurisdictions are lowering felony offenses to misdemeanors. They have been passive about preventing drug abuse.…”