Debbie Dingell: “I can understand how my Republican colleagues are distressed about this legislation. But I would remind them, first of…”

“I can understand how my Republican colleagues are distressed about this legislation. But I would remind them, first of all, that we are simply taking steps to correct earlier abuses of the most outrageous sort. This legislation part D was crafted in the dark of night, and it was done by Republican Members and by lobbyists for the insurance companies and the pharmaceutical houses. That is why it is here. And now I can understand why my Republican colleagues are so distressed, because we are going to take all of those wonderful goodies away, or some of them, from the drug houses that so carefully saw that they got them without a single Democratic Member appointed by our then-Republican Speaker to appear here in the Capitol to address the question of what went into that. Now, we have been getting a lot of excuses from our Republican colleagues. They tell us the bill is working well. Simple fact of the matter is it is not. One Federal program pays 60 percent more than other Federal programs for procurement of prescription pharmaceuticals, that is, part D pays more than the VA pays for the same prescription pharmaceuticals. But the reason is no one is able to negotiate on behalf of the citizens.”