Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, I thank Congressman Thompson, and I know the people of his district are well served by him. I thank him for his service on our committee, on the Agriculture Committee, and all that he does to help us write good legislation and pass good legislation. As Congressman Thompson said, unfortunately, this problem with opioids affects people at all ages and in all walks of life, at every income level, every category of people--male, female, old, young--but we particularly grieve over the young people. We have heard about babies becoming addicted because their mothers were addicted and of the work that is done to help those babies become free from opioid addiction. We have heard about the veterans who become addicted because of the treatment that they have received. We know nobody is attempting to get anyone addicted to opioids or anything else, for that matter, but we realize that over the years, we have had stronger use of these drugs than we probably should have had used. There are many ways to approach pain relief and pain management, and, unfortunately, in the past, too often it has been the path of least resistance. We do hear over and over the stories about young people who suddenly get addicted because of surgery or an injury, and it happens sometimes very, very quickly. As Representative Thompson has said, it has a huge impact on jobs.…”