[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 151 (Tuesday, September 20, 2022)]
[House]
[Page H7976]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       CELEBRATING RECOVERY MONTH

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from 
Pennsylvania (Ms. Scanlon) for 5 minutes.
  Ms. SCANLON. Mr. Speaker, every September, we observe Recovery Month 
to celebrate the millions of Americans in recovery from substance use 
disorders, and we reaffirm our commitment to passing policies to combat 
the impact of addiction in our communities.
  The impact of addiction is tragically far reaching, extending far 
beyond the individual suffering, impacting entire families, especially 
children.
  The opioid epidemic has forced increasing numbers of kinship 
caregivers, most of whom are grandparents, to take over the role of 
primary caregivers for children impacted by the crisis. Grandparents 
like Susan, a grandmother I spoke with recently at an opioid awareness 
vigil, who had stepped up to be her grandchildren's primary caregiver 
but is struggling to make ends meet, unable to access services that 
would be available if her grandchildren were instead placed in foster 
care.
  I introduced the Help Grandfamilies Prevent Child Abuse Act to help 
ensure that grandfamilies like Susan's have access to the critical 
services and support needed to keep kids safe and keep them with their 
own families.
  Combating addiction will take all of us working together to support 
our loved ones and community members. We can't let our families fight 
this fight alone.


               Supporting and Defending the Constitution

  Ms. SCANLON. Mr. Speaker, as I walked up the Capitol steps this 
morning, I was stopped by a reporter who wanted to know if it was a 
priority of the Democratic Party to pass the Presidential Election 
Reform Act, which we will consider in the House this week. I was 
stunned by the assumption in that question that protecting the peaceful 
transfer of power in the United States of America could ever be a 
partisan issue. In fact, the legislation under consideration is a 
bipartisan bill.
  I don't care if you are a Democrat, a Republican, a conservative, a 
liberal, an Independent, if you love this country and believe in a 
government by the people, for the people, of the people, we all have an 
obligation to confront the dangers posed by radical extremists who 
would undermine our elections, abandon the peaceful transfer of power 
and the rule of law for their own personal or political gain.
  I look forward to working with my colleagues of all political stripes 
to strengthen the guardrails of our democracy and to support and defend 
our Constitution.

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