On the recordJanuary 12, 2007
Rising drug prices have created an escalating crisis for seniors in my home in the 19th District of New York in the Hudson Valley and the rest of the country. This passage of H.R. 4 will represent another promise kept in our 100 hours with which we begin the 110th Congress. When the House passed the bill creating the Medicare drug benefit in the dead of night, it took the audacious step of prohibiting Medicare from negotiating for the best price. It is unconscionable that a government agency serving 43 million seniors was not given the same consumer rights as other agencies and private companies. The drug companies have reaped record profits, the taxpayers have been shortchanged, and seniors have been forced to break the bank to pay for drugs. Today we are moving to change that. Most importantly, we will make sure that our seniors, not the drug companies, get the best deal.
Source
govinfo.gov
