Political Quotes

“first, I express my appreciation to the chairman of the Committee on Finance, Senator Grassley, not only for his leadership but also for his persistence on an issue that affects so many Americans, and that is the soaring price of prescription drugs. Three committees--the Committee on Finance, the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, and the Committee on the Judiciary-- have all advanced bipartisan legislation to reform our broken drug pricing system. The Aging Committee, which I chair, has held eight drug pricing hearings which have highlighted the burden of soaring prices and the manipulation of the market by individuals like the infamous Martin Shkreli. It is now past time for us to move forward to the Senate floor to debate these bills that have bipartisan support and that have garnered the approval of three major committees. The Finance bill, which Senator Grassley has crafted with Senator Wyden and others and of which I am proud to be a cosponsor, makes crucial improvements to Medicare Part D, such as protecting seniors with an out-of-pocket spending cap as well as including cost control measures, such as an inflationary cap to limit pharmaceutical price hikes. In one of the hearings that the Aging Committee held, it heard testimony that was heartbreaking from a former teacher with multiple myeloma who had to refinance her home in order to cover the cost of her $250,000 cancer medication. We heard example after example.…”