Political Quotes

“Last week, Mr. Speaker, the Wall Street Journal reported on some cozy deals between nonprofit medical research institutes and for-profit companies. It works this way: a nonprofit institute wins millions in research dollars from the National Institutes of Health. The director of the institute also happens to own a for-profit company that has exclusive rights to the institute's research. The for-profit company turns that research into a marketable product and makes millions. Everyone is flush, except for American taxpayers. Does this raise conflict-of-interest issues? You bet. Why is the Federal Government using our tax dollars to give for-profit companies a free ride? Good question. Why do Americans pay the highest prescription drug prices in the world, when billions of U.S. tax dollars go into the development of these drugs? Because Congress is not doing its job. The U.S. invests more than any other nation in medical research. The drug industry feeds off our tax dollars to develop outrageously profitable drugs, and then they 'thank' American taxpayers by charging us the highest prices in the world. It is a racket, and it must stop. Drug companies must compensate taxpayers fairly through lower prices or royalty payments for our front-end investment in their products.”