Political Quotes

“I rise today to speak in support of the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act of 2015, which is bipartisan, I might add, and to discuss several amendments that I have submitted. Mr. President, our country is facing a prescription drug epidemic, and today is a good step toward addressing this crisis. This is a crisis I have been dealing with since my days as Governor of the great State of West Virginia. Opioid abuse is ravaging my State of West Virginia and many other States. I know the Presiding Officer has the same problem in Utah. Our State has been hit harder than any other State in the country. Drug overdose deaths have soared more than 700 percent since 1999. We lost 627 West Virginians to opioids last year alone. Mr. President, 61,000 West Virginians used prescription pain medication for nonmedical purposes in 2014. This includes 6,000 teenagers. Our State is not unique. Every day in our country, 51 Americans die from opioid abuse. Since 1999 we have lost almost 200,000 Americans to prescription opioid abuse. The fact that we have with the bill in front of us is simply this: It is an important first step. It will authorize $77.9 million in grant funding for prevention and recovery efforts, which we need, and expand prevention and education efforts particularly aimed at teens, parents and other caretakers, and aging populations. It will also prevent the abuse of opioids and heroin and promote treatment and recovery.…”