Political Quotes

“I just want to say that after listening to both my colleagues, who are passionate about this issue, they are both right. They are both right. If we had a tax plan--a competitive tax plan--that took care of our priorities based on our values, they would both be funded properly. That is what we have to get to. We have to get past picking and choosing and basically take care of the values we have as Americans, so I hope we can come together on that. Opioid Epidemic Mr. President, I am rising today because we have reached another crisis point in our country. In 2014 we had almost 19,000 people die due to opioid prescription drug overdose. These are legal prescriptions. These are by companies that basically developed products legally. We have the FDA that basically said that we should use it, that it is good for us, and our doctors were saying this is what we should do. So basically we have an epidemic on our hands from products we all believed were going to help us. We had 16 percent more people die in 2014 than in 2013. We have lost 200,000 Americans since 1999-- 200,000. If that is not an epidemic, I don't know what is. I really don't know. Unfortunately, a major barrier to those suffering opioid addiction-- these are legal prescription drugs--is insufficient access to substance abuse treatment centers. Between 2009 and 2013, only 22 percent of those who were suffering from addiction could find treatment--only 22 percent.…”