Political Quotes

“I guess we are all mistaken, but I would like to recount for a moment how this drug legislation passed this House of Representatives. Back in June we worked on a markup on a bill that the drug companies were totally in support of. There was a fundraiser that had been scheduled for one evening. We stopped the markup so that Republicans could troop off to the fundraiser with the President and the Vice President which raised $30 million, $3 million of it from drug companies. The sponsor of the fundraiser, the chairman of it, was the CEO of a British drug company, GlaxoSmithKline, which gave $300,000 to the Republican campaign coffers. The next day we came back, passed a bill, defeated every amendment on a partisan vote that was a proconsumer, prosenior amendment. The bill then passed in a partisan vote. And then in the most cynical move I have seen in 10 years in Congress, the drug companies spent literally millions of dollars advertising on television, thanking the Republicans for passing their drug bill. The only thing was, Mr. Speaker, they did not say 'paid for by' Pfizer or Merck or Eli Lilly or Pharmacia or Glaxo. They said paid for by United Seniors Association or paid for by 60 Plus.”