Anna Eshoo: “Our Nation has major challenges that have kept me awake at night. The clarion call from young climate activists…”

“Our Nation has major challenges that have kept me awake at night. The clarion call from young climate activists concerned they won't have a planet to grow old on. I've heard seniors describe their inability to afford their prescription drugs. Today, we change all this by the largest and boldest effort to address climate change in American history. It honors our commitments under the Paris Agreement by investing $369 billion in tax credits, loans, and grants to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 40 percent by 2030. For seniors, the Inflation Reduction Act reduces prescription drug costs through policies developed by the Health Subcommittee I chair. Over the past three years, we held six hearings focused on this challenge. The hearings brought forward the fact that our Nation has been held back for 20 years by a law that prohibits Medicare from negotiating directly with drug companies. Not anymore. The bill also ensures Medicare beneficiaries won't pay more than $2,000 annually for prescription drugs, and no more than $35 for insulin every month. This legislation also lowers health care premiums by strengthening the Affordable Care Act to save an average of $800 per year for 13 million people. Finally, the entire legislation is paid for by making billion-dollar companies pay their fair share and lowers the federal deficit by more than $300 billion.…”