Political Quotes

“I wish to speak about this issue of opioids and the crisis our country faces. Just in the last couple of weeks we have gotten reports from the Centers for Disease Control from last year's data on overdoses and deaths: 72,000 Americans lost their lives to overdoses last year from drugs. Most of those were from opioids. This is heroin, prescription drugs, and, now, these synthetic opioids--72,000 Americans. In the wake of that, it is encouraging to me to hear the Senate talking about the possibility of bringing a package of legislation to the floor that will help to push back against this crisis and begin to turn the tide. We have to do it--not just talk about it. We have to act because this crisis is upon us and is very real. These new efforts that we should move forward on would build on what this Senate has already done with regard to the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act, or the CARA legislation, which is now being implemented in my State of Ohio and around the country. There is also the Cures legislation, or the 21st Century Cures Act. It has some additional provisions that allow States to take funding and use it to fight this opioid addiction. That is smart. There are smart ways for us to fight this opioid epidemic. We know that, and we are beginning to do that. At the Federal level we can play a role in this, among other things, by taking better practices from around the country and ensuring they are being used back home in our States.…”