Political Quotes

“I thank the ranking member and congratulate him for the good work today on this legislation. There are a couple of amendments that are part of the bill I want to speak about. First is on prescription drug abuse--a problem we all face as representatives of our States. I particularly thank Senator Whitehouse for his partnership on this important bill. In the last decade, unfortunately, prescription drug abuse has reached epidemic proportions in States such as Ohio, and in so many other States around the country. In doing so, it has devastated the lives of so many individuals but also the well-being of our communities, and of course affected their families, affected our economy, and it has caused a big spike in crimes, including theft, as addicts look for ways to support their addictions. This crime, of course, has doubly strained law enforcement, which has already had to contend with the increase in drug trafficking with constrained budgets. It has also served as a gateway to other drug use, including heroin use, which tends to be less expensive and causes additional public health challenges. Amazingly, since 2007, drug overdoses have now moved ahead of car accidents as the leading cause of accidental death in my home State of Ohio. Again, we have seen this, unfortunately, too often around the country. We have had record levels of hepatitis C infection from needle sharing.…”