[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 163 (Wednesday, October 16, 2019)]
[House]
[Page H8153]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     LOWER PRESCRIPTION DRUG PRICES

  (Ms. ADAMS asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. ADAMS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to speak on the alarming rise in 
prescription drug costs. America is the richest, most developed nation 
in the world, yet one in four Americans has a hard time affording 
lifesaving prescriptions. Families are making impossible choices 
between paying the mortgage, putting food on their tables, or buying 
lifesaving medications.
  We turned a blind eye to the prescription drug ecosystem, and now the 
system has become unsustainable. Americans are getting ripped off while 
other countries pay far less for the same drugs.
  In 2017, the U.S. spent $333 billion on prescription medication, up 
from $236 billion in 2007, an increase of more than 40 percent over 10 
years. That is unacceptable.
  I have listened to my constituents who struggle to afford the 
prescriptions they need, and they want us to act. This isn't a partisan 
issue. It is a people issue.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support legislation like H.R. 3 
so that the American people no longer are left with false choices.

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