Frank Pallone Jr.

I think the figures show that when State governors work to expand Medicaid and work to make sure their own citizens get coverage, they make a big difference.

I never cease to be amazed how the GOP uses tactics to try to scare people.

I would like to thank lawmakers and the President for representing those of us who only have little voices and had the courage to make this coverage available through the Affordable Care Act.

We have to fix it, not nix it.

Improving and strengthening Medicare so that the program can serve as a reliable resource for seniors and the disabled for years to come is critically important.

But with more than 20,000 deaths occurring each year due to the misuse and abuse of prescription drugs, we must ensure that our research, education, and prevention efforts are addressing this major public health and safety concern.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, prescription drug abuse is an epidemic.

I fought hard to make sure that the expansion of Medicaid was included in the Affordable Care Act.

Let us face the realities at hand and not myths.

Providing affordable health coverage is crucial not only to protect the vulnerable population but also to keep health care costs down.

The Medicaid program operates with efficiency. Medicaid costs are nearly four times lower than average private plans.

It just seems to me that what you are proposing sounds nice in theory, but I think much of the testimony seems to indicate it doesn't work out practically.

If patients are to have confidence in the safety and quality of these drugs, we must ensure that compounders meet safety and quality standards.

Access to compounding drugs is crucial for patients who have unique medical needs.

I urge my colleagues to use this as an opportunity to move forward to determine what changes are needed rather than looking back and casting blame.

I am pleased that we are having this hearing today because drug distribution security is critical to public health and safety.

It is going to be very difficult in that poisoned atmosphere to talk about constructive reforms.

It is time to focus more attention on improving mental health services to make sure troubled kids don't fall through the cracks.

This constant notion that the priority is to repeal the ACA... makes it very difficult for us to sit down on a bipartisan level.

I am disappointed that the funding proposal for the Children's Hospital Graduate Medical Education program is only $88 million, a two-thirds cut from the fiscal year 2012 level.

I regret that my State, New Jersey, is one of the 26 States that will rely on federal exchanges rather than run its own.

Improving and strengthening Medicare for generations to come is a primary goal of mine.

The Affordable Care Act begins those improvements. It reduces Medicare spending, extends solvency, and brings growth in per-patient costs to record lows.

It is no exaggeration to say that Medicare alone is the most successful health care and anti-poverty program ever.

Budgets are about more than numbers and dollars. They are real-life expressions of priorities, of choices, and of values.