[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 86 (Tuesday, June 25, 2002)]
[House]
[Pages H3862-H3863]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  MEDICARE PRESCRIPTION DRUG COVERAGE

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the order of the House of 
January 23, 2002, the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Brown) is recognized 
during morning hour debates for 5 minutes.
  Mr. BROWN of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, I wanted to follow up on the comments 
of my friend, the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Pallone), about the 
prescription drug industry, the unwillingness of this Congress, which 
is so captured by corporate prescription drug company special interests 
and the Republican leadership ties to those large corporate drug 
company interests, and why this Congress will not move forward on 
providing a prescription drug benefit inside America for America's 
seniors and doing something about the outrageous price scheme that 
prescription drug companies inflict on this country.

[[Page H3863]]

  We are talking about an industry that has been one of the most 
profitable industries in America, return on investment, return on 
sales, return on equity, for almost every one of the last 20 years. We 
are also talking about an industry, the prescription drug industry, 
which has the lowest tax rate of any industry in America. We are also 
talking about an industry where half of the research and development 
that flows to new prescription drugs is given by taxpayers through the 
National Institutes of Health and foundations and others. Yet Americans 
are rewarded by paying more for their prescription drugs than people in 
any other country in the world.
  America's seniors pay two and three times what seniors in Canada and 
France and Germany and Israel and Japan and nations all over the globe 
pay. The reason for that, Mr. Speaker, is in large part because of the 
lobbying force, the lobbying strength, the prowess of the prescription 
drug industry.
  There are more than 600 lobbyists for the prescription drug industry 
that lobby this Congress, more than 600 people. There are very close 
ties between the prescription drug industry and the President of the 
United States. There are very close ties between the prescription drug 
industry and the Republican leadership in this Congress.
  All you had to do was watch last week in the Committee on Energy and 
Commerce, watch vote after vote after vote on the prescription drug 
legislation, where many of us were saying we want a Medicare 
prescription drug benefit, we wanted to do something about prices, we 
believe that senior citizens should have as good a benefit as Members 
of Congress. Every amendment we had to do that, Republicans down the 
line in every case voted no.
  I had an amendment to the legislation that said no senior should get 
a prescription drug benefit less than any Member of Congress. That was 
voted down on a party-line vote. Other Democrats had amendments to try 
to control prices, to try to bring prices down, to try to bring 
competition into the prescription drug business so we would see prices 
drop. Those were voted down on party-line votes. But when it came to 
subsidizing insurance companies for prescription drug benefit, that is 
what the Republicans supported.
  Let me compare the two pieces of legislation, the Democratic plan and 
the Republican plan; and you can see the influence that the 
prescription drug industry had over Republican leaders.
  The Democratic plan has a $25-a-month premium. The Republican plan 
has a premium that will be set by the insurance companies, somewhere 
between $35 and $85 a month. The Democratic plan had a $100 deductible. 
The Republican plan had a deductible, again set by the insurance 
industry, but probably upwards of $250.
  The Democratic plan had for the first $1,000 of costs, out-of-pocket 
costs for seniors, they would only pay 20 percent, the first $1,000; 20 
percent of the second $1,000; and the government would pick up the cost 
beyond that. In the Republican plan, the seniors will reach into their 
pockets and pay thousands of dollars more than under the Democratic 
plan.
  As the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Pallone) said earlier, the 
Republican plan does nothing to restrain prices so that Americans will 
continue to pay two and three and four times for their prescriptions 
what people in every other country in the world pay.
  Now, not coincidentally, last week we stopped our markup in the 
middle of the day one day so the Republican Members could go to a 
fundraiser underwritten by the prescription drug industry. The Chair of 
the fundraiser was the CEO of a British prescription drug company 
GlaxoWellcome. He and his company contributed $250,000 to get 
Republicans elected to Congress. Other drug companies gave $150,000 and 
$250,000 to this event.
  The next day after this event, which raised millions and millions of 
dollars for Republicans, millions of which, several hundred thousand, 
millions of which actually came from drug companies, the next day this 
committee voted down the line over and over again, with Republicans 
supporting the drug industry.
  It should come as no surprise as you watch this drug debate unfold 
this week, or maybe when we come back through the month of July, you 
will see Republicans continue to do the bidding of the prescription 
drug industry. That is one reason the Democratic plan should pass, 
which is written for and by seniors over the Republican plan, which is 
written for and by the drug companies.

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