Political Quotes

“I want to talk today about the opioid epidemic that has gripped my State of Ohio and so many other States represented by Members of the Chamber. This is now the No. 1 killer in Ohio. It has surpassed car accidents. It is the No. 1 cause of death for Americans under the age of 50. Unfortunately, although some are saying we have turned the corner, we haven't turned the corner in a lot of parts of my State. In fact, there are areas of my State where there have been more overdose deaths this year than there were last year. As tragic as last year was--and there was a big increase from the year before--I do believe that in this Chamber, we have made progress in passing legislation, which is beginning to make a difference. I will talk a little bit about that today. I also believe we have much more to do. In the last couple of years, Congress has gotten busy on this issue. In 2016, we passed legislation called the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act. It was the culmination of 4 years' worth of work-- conferences here in Washington; bringing together some of the best minds from around the country; looking at some of the best practices to say ``How do you actually focus on this issue of the opioid epidemic in a comprehensive way?'' because we know that is what has to be done. It was about evidence-based prevention, strategies, evidence-based treatment, and longer term recovery.…”