[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 192 (Tuesday, November 2, 2021)]
[House]
[Pages H6074-H6075]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  LOWERING COSTS OF PRESCRIPTION DRUGS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from 
Minnesota (Ms. Craig) for 5 minutes.
  Ms. CRAIG. Mr. Speaker, years ago, I began running for Congress 
because I believed that hardworking Americans shouldn't have to pay 
three times what people in other countries pay for the same exact 
medicines.
  I ran for Congress because I believed that none of our constituents 
should have to pay $20,000 a year for insulin, a medication they quite 
literally cannot live without.
  I ran for Congress because I believe that Minnesotans deserve a 
Representative who will fight to lower the cost of drugs, even in the 
face of millions of dollars in attack ads funded by Big Pharma.
  My fellow colleagues, this week we have a real opportunity to make a 
difference in our constituents' lives, to save American families 
thousands of hard-earned dollars every single year, while finally 
standing up to an industry that has raked in record-breaking profits at 
the expense of hardworking Americans.

                              {time}  1015

  We cannot allow this opportunity to pass us by.
  Empowering Medicare to negotiate drug prices would not only grant 
long overdue relief to struggling constituents but save the American 
taxpayers billions of dollars annually.

[[Page H6075]]

  We may not get everything we wanted in this package, but we must take 
the power back from Big Pharma. Big Pharma has had way too much power 
over this town for way too long. This is our opportunity to demonstrate 
to our constituents that we work for them, not for Big Pharma. We 
cannot return to our districts without delivering on our promise to 
lower the cost of prescription drugs.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to do what is right and fight for 
these critical provisions in the Build Back Better Act.

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