Medicare Prescription Drug Price Negotiation Act of 2007
MEDICARE PRESCRIPTION DRUG PRICE NEGOTIATION ACT OF 2007 -- (House of Representatives - January 12, 2007)
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Mr. DOGGETT. Mr. Speaker, today's bill is a genuine prescription for lower prices for our seniors that should have been adopted a long time ago. Too often, our seniors hit the donut hole paying higher premiums with no drug coverage while the big drug companies run off with all the dough.
During my service on the Ways and Means Committee, at every opportunity, I have offered an amendment for the same purpose as the bill we have today, to negotiate to protect our seniors and our taxpayers. But due to the power of the mighty pharmaceutical lobby and some late night shenanigans that happened right here on this floor and kept the Congress up all night to serve the interests of the pharmaceutical interests under the old Republican Congress, for the first time in this unique situation, we tell seniors and individuals with disabilities the government won't help.
Indeed, I asked the Congressional Research Service to look at every statute on the federal books, and, boy, that is a lot of them. And they looked, and they were unable to find any language anywhere in any federal law like this that says to the government, you can't negotiate better prices for taxpayers and for seniors.
So, today we should repeal that unreasonable one-of-a-kind limitation. For these Republicans to come out here who passed legislation to deny the choice of the government to negotiate to help seniors and today declare themselves to be ``pro-choice' takes great audacity. To harm our community pharmacists the way their bill has harmed community pharmacists and now come and claim they are on the side of the neighborhoods takes real audacity. But audacity is something that is never in short supply from these folks.
They ought not to be afraid to do something to help our seniors and disabled just because Big Pharma says ``no.' Put seniors and taxpayers first. Break the stranglehold of the pharmaceutical lobby and enact this legislation.
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