Political Quotes

“I would like to begin my statement first of all by congratulating Carla Hayden, who was just confirmed as the 14th Librarian of Congress. I know she will do a good job. I am very proud of her and I look forward to working with her and the Library. Mr. President, earlier today I was proud to support cloture for the CARA bill. It puts us on track to reverse this epidemic and promises to provide help to so many who are impacted by addiction. We will be hearing also from my friend and colleague Senator Baldwin because we both believe strongly that our veterans are one of those many groups this bill seeks to assist. A little over a year ago, under the leadership of Senator Baldwin-- and I thank her for that--the two of us introduced the Jason Simcakoski Memorial Opioid Safety Act, which provides safer and more effective pain management for our Nation's veterans. This legislation, named after U.S. Marine veteran Jason Simcakoski of Wisconsin, who died at the Tomah Veterans Affairs Medical Center as a result of a mixed drug toxicity, is included in the CARA bill. In fact, title IX of the bill is titled the Jason Simcakoski Memorial and Promise Act. Tragically, stories like Jason's exist all around the country, including my own State of West Virginia. Andrew White, another marine, returned home to West Virginia only to be placed on a cocktail of drugs, including anti-psychotics, over twice the recommended dosage. Andrew died in his sleep at the age of 23.…”