[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 175 (Monday, December 8, 2003)]
[House]
[Pages H12879-H12880]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         MERRY CHRISTMAS, PhRMA

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Brown) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. BROWN of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, President Bush signed the Medicare 
bill today, ending an ugly legislative process driven by the interests 
of a constituency near and dear to the Republican leadership in this 
House. Not America's seniors. I am talking about the prescription drug 
industry.
  The vast quantities of time and money that the drug companies 
invested in selling this bill were well spent. This bill is a Christmas 
wish come true for every drug manufacturer in our Nation. Under the new 
bill, drug industry profits are expected to increase by $140 billion, a 
40 percent increase in already the world's most profitable industry.
  This industry, the world's most profitable industry, successfully 
used its

[[Page H12880]]

675 lobbyists in this town, about 1.3 lobbyist for every Member of the 
House, and used its tens of millions of dollars of campaign 
contributions to win a giant increase in profits at the expense of 
taxpayers in this country and at the expense of America's senior 
citizens. The drug companies on this year's Fortune 500 list posted 
profits of 17 percent, 5\1/2\ times the average profit margin of other 
Fortune 500 firms.
  Not only does the Medicare bill signed today by President Bush 
dramatically expand the drug industry's market, it ensures that drug 
companies will be able to charge American taxpayers almost any price 
they want for medicines covered by Medicare. The word on the street in 
Washington is that the drug industry, PhRMA, Pharmaceutical Research 
and Manufacturers Association, PhRMA, is going to contribute $100 
million to President Bush's reelection campaign.
  That is why this bill specifically prohibits the government from 
negotiating fair prices for press medicines. That is right, the Federal 
Government is not allowed under this bill to even bargain for better 
drug prices on behalf of seniors or on behalf of American taxpayers. It 
is what the drug industry wants. And the drug industry in this body 
always gets what it wants.
  The bill the President signed into law relies on the same price 
discount mechanisms private insurers use, the same mechanisms that have 
led to double-digit increases in prescription drug costs year after 
year after year. It is what the drug industry wants. And the drug 
industry always gets what it wants in the Republican-controlled U.S. 
House of Representatives. In the private market, prescription drug 
costs are the fastest-growing component of health care cost increases. 
Prescription drug costs in the private market increased over 18 percent 
last year.
  The bill rejects also the bipartisan will of a commanding majority in 
this House, who actually did stand up against a Republican leadership 
and against President Bush, who actually stood up to the drug lobby in 
July. Two hundred forty-three of us, many from that sides of the aisle, 
the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Paul) and many others, voted to give 
American consumers the choice to buy safe, effective and much more 
affordable medicine imported from Canada. The legislation that 
President Bush signed today not only ignores that vote; it negates it. 
It drives a nail in the coffin of prescription drug importation. Why? 
It is what the drug industry wanted, and the drug industry always gets 
what it wants in this institution.
  Once again, American consumers lose; the drug industry wins. Drug 
companies routinely charge American consumers three, four, five times 
what they charge Canadian customers for the same medicine. As I said 
earlier, the world on the street in Washington is that PhRMA, the 
Prescription drug trade association, is going to give $100 million to 
the Bush-Cheney reelection effort.
  The drug industry is already 5\1/2\ times more profitable than the 
Fortune 500 average, yet they would have us believe any reduction in 
prices would jeopardize their research and development. The level of 
U.S. drug prices are not necessary; they are highway robbery. This bill 
helps to ensure that American consumers, American employers, and 
American taxpayers keep paying those high prices.
  Merry Christmas, PhRMA.

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