Political Quotes

“Madam President, this body has a long record of coming together to improve healthcare for Americans. In 2003, when I was chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, we worked in a bipartisan manner to establish the Medicare Part D benefit. More recently, I have worked with my colleagues on the Finance Committee on oversight and investigations to hold EpiPen manufacturers accountable that were misusing taxpayer dollars and insulin manufacturers and PBMs accountable that were unfairly increasing the list price of insulin. We can work together and meaningfully improve healthcare. This Congress, I have worked with my Democratic colleagues to pass five of my bills out of committee in a bipartisan way. These bills will lower drug prices, create more competition, while holding Big Pharma and PBMs accountable. Unfortunately, the leader hasn't brought any of these bills up for a vote, even though they would easily pass the U.S. Senate. But this hasn't stopped me from trying to find other ways to help bring down the cost of medications. In 2019, as Finance Committee chairman, I began a bipartisan committee process with the ranking member from Oregon to lower the costs of prescription drugs. That bill is entitled the ``Prescription Drug Pricing Reduction Act.'' We held three committee hearings to learn from policymakers and advocates, while also holding Big Pharma and PBMs accountable. We held a committee markup, where the bill passed 19 to 9 on a bipartisan basis.…”