Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding, and I am grateful to Ranking Member Pallone, Chair Rodgers, Ranking Member Schakowsky, Chairman Bilirakis, and members of the Energy and Commerce Committee for their unanimous support for this bipartisan, bicameral legislation. Mr. Speaker, the Youth Poisoning Protection Act is urgently needed to limit consumer access to high concentrations of a dangerous toxic chemical that is being promoted online as a method to die by suicide. Two years ago, an investigation by The New York Times exposed online suicide assistance forums, websites that operate in the shadows of the internet. These platforms are home to many users who present themselves as a community dedicated to helping others experiencing suicidal ideation, but who instead encourage those in dire need of help to end their lives and even help facilitate their attempt to do so. Their activities have contributed to a rise in suicides using the chemical sodium nitrite, which in low concentrations is safe and often used to cure meat and fish. However, in high concentrations, sodium nitrite is toxic at levels comparable to cyanide. If that is not bad enough, it gets worse. While those same anonymous users promote the poison as a painless way to die by suicide, survivors tell a very different story, detailing experiences of nausea, vomiting, intense stomach pain, and heart palpitations as the substance chokes off oxygen to critical organs.…”