Political Quotes

“I want to thank my colleague, Representative Murphy, for holding this Special Order on such a critically important topic. And you mention that my district borders the State of Pennsylvania, and it does. And I have had so many incidents of engagement with my constituents on the opioid addiction issue. Several of them really stick out. Representative Murphy, one of those happened in Pennsylvania. Occasionally, because my district goes all the way up to the top into northeast Ohio, occasionally I fly in and out of Pennsylvania. I was there a couple of years ago, and I was sitting in the lounge waiting for a flight. I happened to be on a phone call, and I noticed that a gentleman began to look my direction. He very patiently waited until I got off the telephone, and then he came over, introduced himself. He recognized me, and he said: I am not one of your constituents, but I know that you represent a district just across the border in Ohio. He said: But I want to implore you, to beg you and your colleagues in Congress, please do something about the opioid addiction. He said: Our 21-year-old son died of an overdose in January. He had just gotten out of a rehab, was doing well, had gotten a job. He came home one Friday night, said he was going out with some friends. The next morning his mother and I found him dead in his room. I hear stories like that all of the time.…”