Political Quotes

“Mr. President, I thank the Senator from Minnesota. Many have already heard these statistics: Our Nation is experiencing more deaths from drug overdoses than from gun violence or auto accidents. Nearly 30,000 people in the United States died from an opioid overdose in 2015. Approximately 1,300 of those were in Massachusetts. Fentanyl, the drug that killed the musician Prince from the State of the Senator from Minnesota, is flowing in from China and Mexico and is laying waste to our communities. It is 50 times more powerful than heroin and 100 times more potent than morphine. Approximately 2.5 million Americans abused or were dependent on opioids in 2012, but fewer than 1 million received treatment for their condition. If we do not provide the resources and enact the policies required to change the momentum of this epidemic, we are poised to lose future generations to addiction and death. We need the money for treatment. With that, I would like to yield the floor to my good friend and great Senator from New Hampshire, who has led the fight here on the Senate floor for funding for opioid use disorder treatment and recovery, Mrs. Jeanne Shaheen. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from New Hampshire.”