Chuck Grassley: “my remarks were written 3 days ago, and the purpose of writing those remarks 3 days ago was to come to the floor and…”

“my remarks were written 3 days ago, and the purpose of writing those remarks 3 days ago was to come to the floor and tell you about a person that I think should not be working for the Federal Government. Then the next day, I found out somebody in government was smart enough to see that this guy was fired. But I would like to now tell the Senate why I think people like this shouldn't be working for the Federal Government and why I obviously thought he should be fired. This refers to Dr. Vinay Prasad. Recently, the Wall Street Journal published an article on this person. Until Tuesday, Dr. Prasad served as the Food and Drug Administration's--FDA--Chief Medical and Scientific Officer and as the Director of the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research. I wonder how he got the job in the first place, and you will understand through my remarks why I wonder how he got that job. He was appointed by the FDA Commissioner to this position. According to media reports, Dr. Prasad left the Agency. The Wall Street Journal said the position he held at FDA was ``one of the most powerful officials in the federal government,'' and gets to determine ``whether patients get access to many life-saving medicines. Or not.'' Sadly, Dr. Prasad believes the Federal Government should restrict access to new treatments that could extend your life. Dr. Prasad wrote a 2016 article entitled ``The case for rationing: Why we should limit public spending on cancer drugs.''”