Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of this bipartisan bill and in strong support of our continued efforts to combat this terrible opioid epidemic that has ravaged virtually every community across the country and so many families as well. We all know someone who is impacted and affected by this epidemic, and certainly my corner of the State is no different than any other part of the country. We are struggling. There have been real bipartisan efforts, wins, in recent years, to address the problem. CARA, as Chairman Walden said a little bit earlier, as part of 21st Century Cures, provided billions of dollars for communities across the country and is delivering real results to those who are suffering. Clearly, more work is demanded and remains. This bill, the ACE Research Act, is part of that work. It is a bipartisan bill that I have had the pleasure to work on with my good colleague and friend from Michigan, Debbie Dingell. It is a balanced bill that better allows the National Institutes of Health to partner with innovative companies doing cutting-edge research to get nonaddictive pain medication to those in need. That is what this bill does. It is essential in combating the opioid epidemic. During the hearings that we held in the Energy and Commerce Committee, Francis Collins, the director of the NIH, requested that the NIH be given more flexibility to pursue these new avenues.…”