Political Quotes

“I thank Ranking Member Pallone for yielding and thank both Chairman Walden and Chairman Burgess for their leadership in bringing this bill to the floor. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of my legislation, H.R. 5002, the ACE Research Act, which I am proud to author with my dear friend and colleague from Michigan, Fred Upton. I have lived on all sides of the opioid epidemic. My father was addicted to opioids before anyone knew what it was or before anybody talked about it. My sister died of a drug overdose. My husband lives in chronic pain, and because there are no alternative drugs that are safe for him to take, he requires opioids for his debilitating pain. We cannot let the pendulum swing too far in either direction, and we need to find medication for those who need it. Mr. Speaker, 25 million Americans suffer from pain every single day. While pain may not be the fifth vital sign, it is still a major issue that needs to be addressed in modern medicine. We cannot stigmatize people who legitimately suffer from real pain. That will only make the opioid epidemic worse. If you have lived with someone in chronic pain like I have, you know how complicated this is. People in chronic pain are being stigmatized now for seeking treatment that will allow them to live a decent life. People are coming up to me with metastatic cancer, concerned that they are not going to be able to get medicine to take care of their pain.…”