Political Quotes

“I think it is very impactful for us to be discussing today a problem that has hit all of our States. Senator Blunt, in his great work not just on the Appropriations Committee but in his State of Missouri, has been very active. I think we all have. It is a problem that knows no political boundaries. Certainly, my State of West Virginia has one of the deepest, strongest, and toughest problem. We have the highest rate of opioid- related deaths per capita. It is not something we wear proudly, but it is something that has really forced us to try many innovative things and to try to be the leader in the solutions. That is a lot of what I am going to talk about today because a lot of what we have seen in the SUPPORT Act, from all of our individual States, has been incorporated into a national response to what is an epidemic around our country that is frightening, scary, and, in my view, could almost lead us to losing a generation. This powerful reaction we have had to the three pieces of legislation is absolutely critical. We passed the SUPPORT Act. It was signed into law a little bit over a year ago. That was really as an add-on to the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act that we passed several years before that, but as my part of this discussion today, I want to share the successes that have worked in our State and how I think they have been able to be incorporated around the country.…”