Political Quotes

“Let me thank the gentleman from Illinois and the gentlewoman from Florida for the opportunity to speak. I absolutely thank my colleague from the great State of Ohio for bringing this issue to the forefront and having a press conference this afternoon to discuss this dreaded disease. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to address the problem of diabetes in Black communities nationwide. It is an honor to do it during National Diabetes Awareness Month. As a diabetic, daily life is a constant challenge. I will have to get up at 4 clock tomorrow morning to go to dialysis, a treatment that I need three times a week to survive. That means I risk exposure to the coronavirus or any other ailment when I receive treatments in rooms full of other patients. It is a problem that many of America's 37 million diabetics face every day, and that figure includes 5 million Black Americans with diabetes. In addition, almost 80 million Americans could develop diabetes due to poor diet and health or family history of diabetes. That is one reason that diabetes is the most expensive chronic health condition in our Nation. These health issues are even worse for Black Americans. We are 60 percent more likely to develop diabetes than our White counterparts, and we are twice as likely to die from it than our White counterparts.…”