Political Quotes

“I do rise in opposition to the amendment. I would like to make a couple of points. According to the Office of Personnel Management, OPM, the FEHB program, the Federal Employee Health Benefits program, is, in fact, the largest employer-sponsored group health insurance program in the world. It covers nearly 9 million--9 million--Federal employees and their families. This amendment says that any private health plan that chooses to offer coverage in the FEHB program must accept the government price controls for prescription drugs established under this bill, H.R. 3. So, clearly, we are not satisfied in this amendment with only setting prices for Medicare and private businesses. It also creates another harmful mandate and expands the already-radical scope of H.R. 3 to other programs as well. As my colleagues have noted again and again today and yesterday, governments don't negotiate; they dictate. Taxing up to 95 percent of a drug manufacturer's revenue if it refuses to agree with a government- mandated price is not free market negotiation. And, as we have heard from both the CBO--nonpartisan body, Congressional Budget Office--and the CEA, they tell us that we are going to lose drugs that will solve cures, as they just won't happen with this bill.…”