Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, this is, again, a topic that is impacting so many Americans. I recall the CARA Act that the Judiciary Committee passed out some 2 years ago, a miraculous piece of legislation because we did not criminalize, we sought to help those who have been badly addicted to drugs. I rise in support of H.R. 6029, the REGROUP Act. This bill increases the funding authorized for the Department of Justice's Comprehensive Opioid Abuse Grant Program from $103 million per year to $330 million per year through the fiscal year 2023. The opioid crisis is a national emergency, and we should certainly expend the resources to prevent opioid abuse and treat those who have become addicted. We have found that the overcriminalization of these persons who are addicted has not served us well. They have generated a whole population of persons who have been labeled under the topic, but realistically it is impacting their lives: mass incarceration. In the United States, drug overdoses are the leading cause of accidental death, with opioids being involved in nearly two-thirds of overdose deaths. Overall, the number of drug overdose deaths has nearly quadrupled over the past 20 years. Although effective for the treatment of pain, prescription opioids are highly addictive, and nearly half of all U.S. opioid overdose deaths involve a prescription opioid.…”