[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 36 (Wednesday, March 1, 2017)]
[House]
[Page H1401]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  REDUCING PRICE OF PRESCRIPTION DRUGS

  (Mr. BILIRAKIS asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. BILIRAKIS. Madam Speaker, as President Trump remarked in his 
joint address, we must work to bring down the high price of 
prescription drugs. Too often we have seen the price of lifesaving 
medication skyrocket due to bad actors taking advantage of monopolies 
in the market. We witnessed it in 2015 when Turing Pharmaceuticals 
hiked the price of Daraprim, a drug to treat HIV patients. We saw it 
again with Mylan Pharmaceuticals raising the cost of the EpiPen by 400 
percent.
  We cannot allow this to continue.
  I am proud to join my colleague, Congressman Kurt Schrader, to 
introduce the Lower Drug Costs Through Competition Act. Our bill is a 
bipartisan approach to tackle the issue of high drug costs head-on. Our 
legislation uses the free market to incentivize competition among drug 
makers, encouraging them to bring new generic drugs to market.
  My constituents in Florida and folks nationwide need relief. Let's 
get this done.

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