Political Quotes

“I want to associate myself with the comments that were just made by the Senator from Texas on the important issue of lowering the cost of prescription drugs. Not only the Finance Committee and the Judiciary Committee but also the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee have all reported good bills that would help provide relief from the ever-escalating costs of prescription drugs. Like the Senator from Texas, I, too, have introduced a bipartisan bill with Senator Tim Kaine to prevent the gaming of the patent system in which a brand-name pharmaceutical company will wait until the last moment and then erect a thicket of new patents precisely to prevent a lower cost generic or biosimilar from coming to the market. It is a shame that apparently the minority leader is blocking bills from coming to the floor in this area despite their widespread bipartisan support, according to what the Senator from Texas has just said. This is an issue we should address. Ninety percent of our seniors take at least 1 prescription drug, and 36 percent of them take 4 or more in a month's time, and they are particularly burdened by the high cost of prescription drugs. I, too, have looked at the manufacture of HUMIRA, the best-selling drug in the world--a drug that brings some $18 billion in profit to AbbVie, the manufacturer.…”