Political Quotes

“I thank the gentleman, who chairs our Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee and is so passionate in not only finding a solution to the opioid epidemic, but also his great work on mental health reform as well, as was passed into law in the 21st Century Cures legislation. As you know, the year before, the Energy and Commerce Committee also passed legislation to begin to address this issue. We will be doing a lot of work, going forward, to look at what is working on the ground and what is not. Addiction, as you well know from your clinical experience, is an equal opportunity destroyer. It is a crisis that doesn't pick parties. It doesn't pick people because of their race, age, or socioeconomic status. We all know someone impacted by the opioid epidemic. It has literally touched every corner of our country and every community in our States. The epidemic has hit close to home in my home State of Oregon, where more people now die from drug overdoses than from deaths in automobile accidents. I have met with community leaders, first responders, doctors, police officers, patients, and those on the front lines of this fight against opioid addiction. At roundtables throughout the Second District of Oregon, I have heard firsthand accounts of the impact of the opioid epidemic. It didn't matter if I was in a rural eastern Oregon community or a more populated city in southern Oregon. The tragic stories were all too similar and all too familiar.…”