Political Quotes

“Madam President, as chairman of the Senate Armed Services Subcommittee on Readiness, I would like to make a statement for the record regarding an item of special interest inserted into the committee report on the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2018 related to the Department of Defense's use of its intellectual property rights of certain medical products. The committee report includes language that purports to direct the Department of Defense to exercise its rights under the Bayh-Dole Act ``to authorize third parties to use inventions that benefited from DOD funding whenever the price of a drug, vaccine, or other medical technology is higher in the United States'' as compared to prices in foreign countries. I am concerned that the report language is inconsistent with the original intent of Bayh-Dole and could hinder critical medical developments. Americans, including our men and women in uniform, must have access to affordable healthcare, including prescription drugs and medical technologies. However, I fear the committee report directive in question will slow future innovation, lead to a more complex and burdensome regulatory scheme, and make it less likely that our military personnel will be able to access cutting-edge medicines in the future, while doing nothing meaningful to address healthcare costs.…”