[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 193 (Wednesday, November 3, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Page S7688]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                        Build Back Better Agenda

  Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, yesterday, Democrats continued making 
great progress toward finalizing President Biden's Build Back Better 
plan.
  The challenges American families and workers are facing today are 
enormous, and President Biden's agenda is the remedy to much of their 
hardships. It is just what the American people want and what they need, 
and it is exactly why we need to focus on getting the job done to 
finalize and pass this legislation and deliver help for the American 
people.
  Last night, I held another round of talks going past midnight with a 
number of my colleagues as we approach final agreement--talks with the 
White House, the Speaker, my Senate colleagues and chairs, and Members 
of the House. We continue to make very good progress each day. Passing 
such transformative legislation is not easy, but the long hours we are 
putting into it will be well worth it for the American people.
  Over the last 24 hours, the hard work has yielded important new 
development. Yesterday, I announced the Democrats had reached an 
agreement to include provisions in Build Back Better that will lower 
prescription drug prices for seniors and for American families. This is 
a big deal.
  For years, skyrocketing costs of prescription drugs have plagued 
millions of seniors and American families to the point that Americans 
spend far more on prescription drugs per capita than other wealthy 
nations. It is one of the largest out-of-pocket medical expenses that 
families have and it has gotten worse over the last few years.
  For too many Americans, all it takes is a sudden serious illness and 
you can find yourself spending hundreds, if not thousands, and several 
thousands of dollars per year just to afford things like insulin or 
vitally needed cancer treatments. It is profoundly unfair and wholly 
un-American.
  Imagine the strain you can face if someone--you or a loved one--is 
ill and you can't afford the medicine. You see them, their condition 
getting worse and worse. I can't think of things that are worse than 
that, though I guess there may be a few.
  Yesterday, we took a large step forward in helping alleviate that 
problem. For the first time ever, Medicare will be empowered to 
directly negotiate prices in Part B and Part D. This will directly 
reduce out-of-pocket drug spending for millions of patients every time 
they visit a pharmacy or a doctor.
  Our agreement does other things as well. It will cap out-of-pocket 
spending at $2,000 per year, ending the dilemma I just spoke about, 
where a life-changing diagnosis could mean thousands upon thousands of 
dollars in new expenses that an individual can't afford.
  This agreement will lower insulin prices so that Americans with 
diabetes don't pay more than $35 per month for their insulin. Let me 
repeat that because it is amazing how the cost of insulin used to be so 
reasonable, then skyrocketed over the last few years with very little 
reasonable, justifiable explanation. This agreement will lower insulin 
prices so that Americans with diabetes don't pay more than $35 per 
month for their insulin.
  And it will reform the pharmaceutical industry to stop price gouging 
and make sure our country's drug pricing system benefits patients, not 
corporations.
  It is not everything all of us wanted, but it is a major, major step 
in the right direction as we work to help the American people afford 
their better prescription drugs. We are going to keep working to make 
it even better, but this is a really good start and a major, major 
announcement.
  I want to thank all my colleagues who had a hand in putting this 
agreement together: Senator Wyden, Senator Klobuchar, Senator Murphy, 
Senator Cortez Masto, Senator Bennet, and Senator Kelly. I also want to 
sincerely thank Senator Sinema for working with us to reach this 
agreement.
  We are going to build on this success as we continue making progress 
on the rest of Build Back Better. We are close. We are determined. We 
are confident that we will succeed in rewarding the trust that the 
American people have placed in us.