Preventing Overdose Deaths with Education and Tools

Floor Speech

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Ms. CRAIG. Mr. Speaker, too many American families know the immense heartbreak of losing a loved one to an overdose, but overdose deaths are preventable, and we have a responsibility to do everything we can in this body to save lives.

That is why I introduced my bill, the bipartisan RECONNECTIONS Act, to get overdose education and prevention tools like naloxone into the hands of all of those who need it and to ensure that the opioid crisis is treated like the public health crisis it truly is.

I am proud that my colleagues have recognized the urgent need to expand access to these lifesaving overdose prevention resources, but we must continue our bipartisan work to keep our community safe.

Mr. Speaker, I thank so much my mental health and substance use advisory council, a group of law enforcement officers, educators, parents and community members who I work with regularly to find ways to address the opioid crisis in our home communities and across this great country.

Your stories, and especially the memories of your loved ones, that you have shared with me over the years have truly touched my heart. It is these stories and memories that have informed the policies that we champion here and are at the top of my mind as this bill stands on the House floor today.

Thank you for your tireless drive and dedication. You are helping to make our community safer.

We have so much more work ahead of us as a community in Minnesota 2 and as a Nation. If it helps to save just one life, it is worth doing the work.

Thank you to the Members who are coming together on both sides of the aisle today to support this important bill.

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