[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 145 (1999), Part 10]
[House]
[Page 13826]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]


[[Page 13826]]

                     PRESCRIPTION DRUG FAIRNESS ACT

  (Mr. BROWN of Ohio asked and was given permission to address the 
House for 1 minute.)
  Mr. BROWN of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, many Democrats in the House of 
Representatives are working together to


lower the cost of prescription drugs. We are asking this Congress to 
pass the Prescription Drug Fairness Act.
  Unfortunately, the drug companies and my friends on the other side of 
the aisle do not seem much interested in letting this pass.

                              {time}  1415

  The drug companies will give lower prices to HMOs, they will give 
lower drug prices to hospitals, they will give lower drug prices to 
insurance companies and to the VA, but they charge senior citizens out 
of pocket literally twice as much in many cases for prescription drugs 
than they do these preferred buyers.
  The prescription drug companies are banding together to oppose the 
Prescription Drug Fairness Act on the House floor. They say that this 
legislation will stifle innovation and hurt research. They say it will 
cost them so much money they will not be able to continue to develop 
new drugs. They do not say anything, Mr. Speaker, about huge executive 
drug companies' salaries. They do not say anything about record $22 
billion drug company profits. They do not say anything about marketing, 
about salespeople and about the multimillion-dollar lobbying company 
campaign they are foisting upon us.

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