Resolution, to Remove United States Armed Forces From Hostilities with Presidentially Designated Terrorist Organizations in the Western Hemisphere

Floor Speech

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Mr. McCORMICK. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong opposition to this resolution. I am an ER doctor who served many years just before coming to Congress, which was not that long ago, where I saw multiple overdoses every single night during a time where we had over 100,000 deaths per year in the United States, far more civilian casualties than any war we have ever experienced in the history of the United States. That is an average of well over 250 deaths per day.

Imagine the worst mass shooting we have ever had and multiply that times five times a day for every day during the year for 3 years running. That is what we are dealing with. That is the emergency we have. That is an emergency.

This opioid crisis is fundamentally different from any past drug epidemic. These substances are engineered to be highly lethal. The amount that you can fit on a pinhead could kill a person. Unknown exposure just from somebody coming to assist somebody could kill somebody. These are weapons of mass destruction.

It is different from anything we have ever experienced in the history of the United States or the world, for that matter.

If a foreign actor released a chemical agent that killed tens of thousands of Americans, the response would be immediate, unified, and decisive.

We can and must act immediately to save American lives.

This is not unprecedented. Every President in my lifetime, in my adult lifetime, has used the military to this end, to protect the people of the United States, which is the President's first and most important charge as President.

Therefore, I continue to have strong opposition to this resolution.

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