Political Quotes

John Mica: Oh, good. So I can tell this story, Madam Chairman. This reminds me of sitting on a committee coming here, and this took…

On the recordJune 26, 2008
Oh, good. So I can tell this story, Madam Chairman. This reminds me of sitting on a committee coming here, and this took over some time. We always hear about high drug prices, and I sat on the committee, and everyone was railing about the price of vaccination drugs. So we dragged in the drug companies to sit them down, and I remember this guy who represented a drug company, and this was an investigative hearing. And he showed a little vial, and he said, this vial of vaccine, this medicine, only costs about $2 to produce. So we hammered him. It only cost $2 to produce, but he said that the liability on it was reaching $30, so $30 and increasing. So then we dragged in the insurance company. 'You're charging them $30 for this vaccine?' We hammered them. So they left. And then the next thing we knew was we weren't producing any vaccine in the United States because no one would insure it. So the next hearing we held--remember this, now, folks--the next hearing we held was on its now being produced in Great Britain and we had some bad batches. Well, we hadn't sent enough FDA inspectors over to inspects the batches there. Folks, these aren't the answers: additional taxation, additional regulation, chasing business off our shores. And the same thing isn't going to happen with energy. The American people get it. I just read the poll. It doesn't take a lot, folks. They know if you increase the supply, the price will go down. And we have the capability of doing that.
Said by
John Mica
Republican · Florida

Editor's note · Context

Discussing the impact of regulation and insurance on vaccine production and its implications for energy policy.

Share

More from John Mica

Sep 8, 2016

This is not an acceptable solution.

congress.gov
Dec 1, 2016

I assure you, Mr. Evans, it will have repercussions up here among your allies and your partners.

congress.gov
Sep 20, 2016

Sounds like you're doing pretty well on this.

congress.gov
Sep 21, 2016

We have got a few rotten apples in the barrel, and they are still in the barrel, and to me it is disgraceful that we haven't fixed the system that allows you to do your duty to clear the deck of people who need to be fired, removed, and…

congress.gov

Other voices in this conversation