[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 82 (Wednesday, June 19, 2002)]
[House]
[Pages H3702-H3703]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   PHARMACEUTICAL COMPANIES HONORED GUESTS AT GOP FUND-RAISING EVENT

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Oregon (Mr. DeFazio) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. DeFAZIO. Mr. Speaker, those who are watching might be puzzled, 
because it does not seem there are too many Members on the floor of the 
House, and that is because the House has completed its work day. It is 
about 3 o'clock. Now, why is the House out of session at 3 o'clock when 
it has yet to do a single appropriations bill, when many other 
important measures and needs of the American people have yet to be met?
  Well, it could be because tonight is the biggest fundraising gala, 
perhaps the largest single fundraising event in the history of the 
United States. Downtown, the Republican Party is holding a special 
fundraising event, and the chair, the fundraising chair of that event 
is a guy named Robert Ingram.
  Why is that relevant? Well, he happens to be the chief operating 
officer of GlaxoSmithKline, which happens to be the largest drug 
manufacturing pharmaceutical firm in the world.
  Now, why would he give $250,000 and agree to raise millions of other 
dollars from other pharmaceutical companies who are also contributing: 
Pfizer, Eli Lilly, Bayer AG, Merck & Company, they are cheapskates, 
they are only ponying up 50,000 bucks each for a table, but then PhRMA, 
their organization, is ponying up $250,000.
  Now, you have to give it to the Republicans. I mean they, the 
Republican leadership, either has the most incredible sense of irony 
and humor, or no shame. Here we are at a time when we are supposedly 
about to consider legislation to provide or not provide a meaningful 
prescription drug benefit to seniors in the United States of America, 
54 percent of whom pay more than $1,000 a year out of pocket for their 
drugs; who are charged the highest prices of any customers of the 
pharmaceutical companies; the uninsured seniors are charged the highest 
price, prices that exceed those of Canada by 100 percent and other 
developed nations. Of course, many of those drugs were manufactured in 
the United States by these very same firms who are throwing this big 
gala tonight and contributing millions to the Republican Party.
  So we have to wonder if there is any connection between the draft of 
the Republican proposal and the timing of it, because they are 
considering it right now, and tonight's event.
  The Republican proposal is a free market approach. Of course, we have 
had the free market; it has not been serving our seniors very well, and 
prescription drug costs have been going up at 2\1/2\ times the rate of 
inflation. Many seniors have to make critical decisions about getting 
their prescriptions filled. I have actually met seniors, couples who 
had to decide who was going to get their prescription one month and who 
was not, even though they are all necessary and prescribed. These are 
real problems.
  The Republicans have decided they cannot ignore this issue anymore, 
so

[[Page H3703]]

they have gone to their sponsors, the pharmaceutical companies, the 
insurance companies, who say, look, how about we phony up a bill that 
continues the status quo and we pretend it is a new benefit for 
seniors, and the pharmaceutical companies love it. That is why they are 
giving a quarter of a million bucks from this one company and millions 
in addition to that at tonight's gala.
  There is no guaranteed benefit under the Republican plan. Mr. 
Speaker, $20 billion over 10 years would go to the pharmaceutical 
companies as an inducement for them to offer free market, private 
policies. God forbid we should extend Medicare. They do not want to do 
that. No, they are very worried about that, because they know if we 
extend a Medicare benefit to the seniors, then we might begin to 
question the absolutely obscene prices they are charging for some of 
their drugs and we might even take steps to rein in those costs like 
Canada, Great Britain, France, Italy, Spain, Mexico. In fact, every 
other industrialized country on Earth has taken steps to rein in their 
obscene pharmaceutical charges. No, but not the United States. We are 
going to take a free market approach. First give them the $20 billion 
as an incentive to maybe offer a program and under this ``maybe'' 
program, this is what the Republicans estimate they would provide, a 
benefit that would total, of the first $1,000 of drug expenses, which 
is half the seniors in America spend $1,000, they would get a $182 
benefit after their premium, their deductibles, and their out-of-pocket 
costs.

  Wow. Wow, $182. Now, that is really going to help out the seniors who 
are having trouble today meeting these costs. Of course, remember, this 
is only recommended. It is not required. God forbid we should put a 
mandate on the insurance companies. No, no, no, no, no requirement. 
This is just a suggestion, a suggestion, as opposed to a real Medicare 
benefit that the Democrats are providing as an alternative. The emperor 
has no clothes here. Have a good fundraising dinner tonight, guys, but 
I think in the end the champagne you are toasting tonight might taste 
like vinegar.

                          ____________________