Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, every day I hear from my constituents in Pennsylvania's Ninth Congressional District about the skyrocketing costs of prescription drugs. Families should not have to dedicate such a high percentage of their disposable income on prescription drugs, and families should certainly not be forced to choose between buying medication or putting food on their table. Over 70 percent of Americans think that lowering prescription drugs prices should be a top priority for Congress. Delivering for the American people will require a bipartisan approach with proposals that can actually pass the House and the Senate and be signed into law. Unfortunately, Speaker Pelosi's prescription drug pricing proposal, H.R. 3, was crafted without any Republican input and will be dead on arrival in the Senate. A key component of H.R. 3 involves the Federal Government mandating pricing for prescription drugs. While supporters of H.R. 3 describe this as ``voluntary negotiation,'' manufacturers who decline to participate in the process are taxed up to 95 percent of the medicine's gross sales. That is 95 percent of the gross sales price. This is not a negotiation. This is a heavyhanded government at its worst. It is ridiculous. It is take this price or else. It is, figuratively and literally, a poison pill provision to this bill. Government, command central price setting is not only un-American, it is ineffective.…”