Peter Welch

At the heart of this is a question whether this was--the one faced by the President, is an Iran without nuclear weapons better for our national security, for the Middle East and for the world than an Iran with nuclear weapons?

But you know what? That's out of reach for more and more Americans and this economy can't support it.

I really was upset about the lack of urgency on the part of some of the witnesses here to what I think is a very urgent problem.

Should they be charging $1,000 a day to a patient or to the taxpayers that have no recourse whatsoever but have a desperate need for the medication?

The market is broken and the cost that the pharmaceutical companies are charging is starting to kill patients they're trying to save

I share the concern about cutting to the bone the providers but there is no transparency whatsoever in what medical care costs are.

I actually buy into the argument that a lot of my Republican colleagues make about local control.

Let us be fair. None of us really know.

I am trying to figure out today what I do tomorrow.

Explain to me what the plan is for mental health. Explain to me what the plan is for cognitive disabilities.

Thank you very much.

I was hearing from my farmers and it got me concerned, I was hearing from our consumers, it got me concerned, and when they wrecked my chainsaw, I had to get involved.

Those food costs are a good deal higher, and studies I have seen say that our chains spend about $18,000 to $28,000 more per unit.

It is not good if you are a dairy farmer. You are paying higher feed costs.

My view is that after we have seen this operate as long as we have, it is time to acknowledge it is a well-intended flop.

I am delighted that you are having this hearing, and I really appreciate you waving me on.

I thank the gentleman. Mr. Chairman, it is just what we should be doing here so we can look at things that have good intentions, like the Medicaid program, and find where there are holes in it and try to close them so that the program runs…

Whatever one thinks about coal, those coal workers have kept the lights on in this country for generations.

I want to focus attention on the parts of your budget that are going to help coal country out.

To someone else, it is a dodge. That is all it is. It is us trying to fool the American people with a game of three-card Monte where we are pretending that the problem that we are decrying had somehow mysteriously evolved out of nowhere. I…

There is a real challenge for us, as members who represent the public who are getting hammered with this, to deal with that broken market.

But the bottom line here is, we have a broken market.

But the bottom line here is that we know prescription drugs are life-extending and pain-relieving. They are good. But we are getting killed with the price.

I hope, Mr. Chairman, Mr. Ranking Member, we can have an action plan to include what Mr. Duncan is talking about.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thanks for calling this hearing to go over this astonishing and unsustainable situation with the price of prescription drugs.