David Thomas: “we are moving on today, I am pleased to note, to deal with this business of pharmaceuticals. It is a very important…”

“we are moving on today, I am pleased to note, to deal with this business of pharmaceuticals. It is a very important issue, one that we have struggled with for some time. I am not particularly impressed with the system we have used. I am afraid it pretty much spells out the fact that it is going to be very difficult for us to come together with any real meaningful legislation with regard to pharmaceuticals. There are a couple of reasons for that. I think we could have done it a little differently. One, of course, is we do not have a budget. We have not brought up a budget resolution. So the question of funding always comes up. That is the reason for the votes this morning to try and waive a point of order on the budget. Not only does it affect this issue, of course, but the effect is that it is irresponsible not to have a budget for this coming year and be able to have the protections that a budget provides. We have been talking a long time about the failure of business to do things properly. This is certainly a failure, it seems to me, of the Congress not to have a budget resolution.”