Tim Ryan: “If I may make a couple of points. I agree with the gentlewoman so much and this 30-something Group has really improved…”

“If I may make a couple of points. I agree with the gentlewoman so much and this 30-something Group has really improved since the gentlewoman has gotten here. I just want to make two points. One is the Davis-Bacon provision, the prevailing wage issue. Davis and Bacon were both Republicans, so this is not a Democratic issue. This is just something that seems to be fair. If Federal money is going to a certain area, they should pay the worker the wage that is prevalent in that area. That is number one. And, two, and I know we have all talked about this, the disparity in income between those people in this country who have and those people who have not is tremendous. I hope that the good that we can derive from Katrina is that. And, third, and the most specific point that I want to make, is that this has shown that our government has gone backwards as far as administration and execution; and we see it every day here. We pass a prescription drug bill that is spending $700 billion worth of the taxpayers' money and does nothing to allow for reimportation that would drive drug costs down or does not allow the Secretary of Health and Human Services to buy in bulk because the pharmaceutical industry has a strangle-hold on this place. We do not see the proper reforms on distribution of health care. We do not see the proper investments in medical information technology that would help drive down the cost of medical care.…”