Frank Pallone

But, frankly, I believe that we should continually seek to improve Medicare for beneficiaries and taxpayers.

In fact, the savings were part of the Republican budgets written by the House Budget Chair, Paul Ryan, in 2011, 2012, and 2013.

There is a better way. Adopting my Part D Drug Rebate Bill, the Medicare Drug Savings Act would be a much sounder and beneficiary-friendly approach.

It makes sense for both the patient and the taxpayer that CMS address these matters.

CMS proposes to allow any pharmacy who can meet the plan's prices to participate.

We improved the Part D law, but there are still adjustments we can make to strengthen the program for both beneficiaries and taxpayers, improving transparency and addressing fraud and abuse.

Rather, we should move forward on how best to achieve our objectives for a Part D program that serves its beneficiaries as best as possible.

It frustrates me that the Republicans are politicizing this issue using alarmists and exaggerated rhetoric to make a politically motivated point.

Unlike my Republican colleagues' tactics towards the Affordable Care Act, my initial opposition to the Part D law has not stopped me from working to improve and strengthen the program for seniors.

The absence of user fee revenue affect the agency's ability to continue to implement FSMA?

I am concerned that you will have a hard time making full use of them without added resources.

I continue to urge FDA to enact final FSMA rules as expeditiously as possible because the safety of U.S. consumers' food supply should not be put at risk.

Food safety is and should be a bipartisan issue, and I hope we in this committee will continue to do what we can to support progress in the modernization of our food safety system.

I think accountability is still in order, but it needs to reflect the data better.

The draft legislation we are examining includes flexibility in the rebuilding timeline for stocks, something I have been advocating for years.

I hope that we can work together after today to ensure that our committee puts forth a strong bipartisan reauthorization bill.

I agree with you that the Magnuson-Stevens Act requires changes, and that in its current form it is not working for fishermen.

Simply because it is the Federal agency which has responsibility for other important resources along our coasts.

I have been pushing for those recommendations to be adopted. We are not getting much help--well, any help really--from the Republicans in the majority to accomplish that.

Can you tell me whether the Department will wait until the guidelines have been finalized and fully considered before issuing the final PEIS?

It is foolish to rush to open new areas to offshore drilling before we have heeded the lessons of the last disaster.

We on the Atlantic Coast can't afford the inevitable environmental and economic costs that offshore drilling has proven to inflict on Americans.

It is highly irresponsible for us to consider expanding offshore drilling and putting these important industries in jeopardy.

It is foolish to discuss opening new areas to offshore drilling before we have heeded the lessons of the last disaster.

We should not be risking our fishing and tourism industries, sustainable industries that bring in over $45 billion each year and support half a million jobs in New Jersey alone.