U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard took to the floor of the House of Representatives Thursday to urge the U.S. Surgeon General to make combating opioid abuse a priority this year.

According to her office, Gabbard, a Democrat, said that 2.1 million people “suffer from dependency and addiction to prescription opioid drugs in the United States. Eighty percent of the world’s pain pills are consumed in the U.S., even though we only have 5 percent of the world’s population. This is an epidemic that reaches every corner of our nation.”

The congresswoman noted that the House is considering 15 measures regarding the use of painkillers.

“But as we look at treatment options and support for those dealing with this addiction, it’s important that we actually focus on the root cause of the problem,” she said. “We have seen for decades how major pharmaceutical companies have misled the FDA, doctors, and patients about the safety and risks of opioid dependency on commonly prescribed prescription drugs in their efforts to sell more drugs.”

Gabbard said that in Hawaii the rate of pain medicine abuse is more than 10 percent above the national average, and that opioid-related deaths have increased 133 percent over the past six years.

Military veterans, she added, are “disproportionately impacted by this epidemic.”