[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 95 (Wednesday, June 30, 1999)]
[House]
[Page H5099]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       PRICE CONTROLS DO NOT WORK

  (Mr. WELDON of Florida asked and was given permission to address the 
House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. WELDON of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I would like to respond to my 
Democratic colleagues who are demonizing yet another entire industry; 
this time the pharmaceutical industry, the companies who produce life-
saving drugs and truly miraculous drugs which allow us to live longer 
and healthier lives. Sometimes one just has to wonder if liberals have 
worked a single day in the real world, the world of commerce, the world 
where jobs are created and results are the only thing that count.
  For many drug companies, we can break down how much money goes into 
the manufacture of a pill: 2 percent for ingredients; 5 percent for 
labor; 3 percent for distribution; 5 percent for profits and the 
remaining 85 percent research, development, taxes, regulation and 
litigation.
  Price controls have been tried many times. They never work, never 
work. Every time they are tried, they are a miserable failure. They 
lead to shortages, inferior products, black market and goods which 
never make it to the market. I despair at the thought that this lesson 
has never been learned. Let us not try price controls.

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