On the recordDecember 12, 2019
The gentleman is correct that there are many provisions in the amendment that do have strong bipartisan support, including, for example, making permanent the medical expense tax deduction. The problem with the amendment is it doesn't tackle the fundamental problem, which is reducing drug prices. This amendment fails to solve the main problem of actually lowering drug prices. This is why Senator Grassley has been a sponsor on the Republican side in the Senate of the kinds of things I have worked on that are included in this bill that would address price gouging, the ability of pharmaceutical companies to raise prices multiple times in a single year. This bill, H.R. 3, would let us capture the taxpayer savings from that. The GAO found that fewer than one in five new drugs are truly innovative. It is true that we need new cures, new cures for Alzheimer's, new cures for ALS, but H.R. 3 makes sure not just that we have new cures by increasing science research, but makes sure that those new cures are going to be affordable and can actually get into the hands of Americans. Mr. Chair, I reserve the balance of my time.
