[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 163 (2017), Part 10]
[House]
[Page 13868]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                 HONORING THE MEMORY OF NICHOLAS LAFOND

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from New 
York (Mr. Zeldin) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. ZELDIN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to the memory of 
Nicholas Lafond, a young man from Miller Place, in New York's First 
Congressional District, who, just a couple weeks back, was taken from 
us far too soon due to the disease of addiction.
  A bright, intelligent, and talented young man, Nick was loved by all 
who knew him. He was an honor student who was accepted to Stony Brook 
University with the intention of pursuing a career in education.
  However, from a young age, Nick struggled with anxiety, which, sadly, 
led him down the path of heroin addiction as a teenager. He fought this 
addiction tirelessly with the love and support of his family and 
friends, and he sought several forms of treatment. Tragically, just 
last month, Nick lost his battle with addiction at the age of 25.
  On August 31, I attended a press conference in recognition of 
International Overdose Awareness Day, where I met Nick's parents, 
Francine and Leonard, and discussed their son, who had been laid to 
rest only 2 days prior. The courage of these heartbroken parents, to 
come to this event and talk about Nick so soon after his passing, is 
absolutely incredible.
  As a father, the thought of losing a child is unbearable. Through my 
discussion with Mr. and Mrs. Lafond, you could feel their commitment to 
fighting this terrible epidemic so that no other parent would have to 
go through their experience.
  Shortly after our discussion, I received a letter from the Lafonds 
detailing Nick's story and outlining so many of the steps we can take 
as a community to make drug addiction a thing of the past. From their 
words, you can feel their passion for this cause.
  Though it is too late to save their son, Francine and Leonard have 
dedicated themselves to easing the grip of addiction upon our society. 
Their selflessness and bravery in the face of unthinkable tragedy is 
truly beyond compare.
  Mr. Speaker, I am honored to stand here and share Nick's story with 
you and the American people and to discuss this critical priority. 
Every single day, Americans like this young man fall to drug addiction. 
It is one of the absolute greatest threats we face as a nation, and it 
will not subside unless we continue to act.
  Here in my home county of Suffolk, heroin and opioid abuse is an 
especially deadly and destructive scourge. There is no one solution to 
ending the drug epidemic. This is a complex issue involving all levels 
of government, our community leaders, law enforcement, schools, 
churches, and everyday Americans.
  We must form a collaborative effort to discuss and develop localized 
community-based solutions to tackle this crisis by increasing 
treatment, recovery services, and education. Simple incarceration is 
not and will never be the lone answer to this crisis.
  In the last Congress, I was proud to have cosponsored and help pass 
into law the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act, or CARA, which 
provides a total of $8.33 billion in funding over 5 years to help 
combat the heroin and opioid abuse epidemic and funds many initiatives 
on the local level. While this is a step in the right direction, it is 
not enough to truly end this plague upon our Nation.
  As Francine wrote to me in her letter, ``To make headway against this 
awful epidemic, the approach must be multifocal, swift, and forceful. 
We not only need dollars to be put toward law enforcement and 
treatment, both of which we know have limited effect, we also need to 
concentrate on addressing the underlying psychological issues that lead 
to opioid abuse. These are not drugs one uses to party. They are 
extremely strong and effective painkillers one uses to escape life. The 
world is a harsh place for kids today, so much different than when I or 
even you were young.''
  The complexity of this issue is unrivaled, and we cannot turn a blind 
eye to any potential effort. This needs to be a highest priority to 
resolve. We cannot rest until tragic incidents like what happened to 
Nick Lafond become a thing of the past.
  I would like to read a poem Nick wrote while in rehab, only weeks 
before his passing, which describes his tragic struggle:

       Anxiety is life to me. Mixed with some sobriety; throw in 
     notoriety, this is my anxiety.
       Always looking over my shoulder. Will this get better as I 
     get older? Carrying it around like a boulder, this is my 
     anxiety.
       Dark holes and deep depression, popping pill after pill in 
     rapid succession. How did I not see the progression? This is 
     my anxiety.
       Days to weeks, weeks to months, and months to years, why is 
     my head constantly filled with tears?
       Keep a straight face, don't shed any tears; this is my 
     anxiety.
       Waking up to go to sleep, climbing this mountain seems so 
     steep. Close to the edge, I'll surely leap. This is my 
     anxiety.

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