[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 145 (1999), Part 20]
[House]
[Page 28506]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



          LOWERING THE COSTS OF PRESCRIPTION DRUGS FOR SENIORS

  (Mrs. THURMAN asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Mrs. THURMAN. Mr. Speaker, I was reading the newspaper this morning 
and I came across an ad that just stopped me cold. The ad put out by 
the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America highlights the 
new medicines they are coming out with to help stroke victims, breast 
cancer patients, people with osteoporosis and other common ailments.
  The industry says the new drugs save the country and employers 
billions of dollars by doing away with missed workdays, expensive 
rehabilitation costs and other forms of care. This may be true, but 
what good is it if millions of seniors who need the drugs to live 
cannot afford to buy them?
  I also want to point out that the pharmaceutical companies also 
receive significant government dollars from the National Institutes of 
Health to conduct the innovative research and to find the cures. So is 
it then appropriate to price them out of the reach of the people who 
need them? PHRMA just does not get it, and I do not think the 
Republican majority gets it.
  A couple of weeks ago, I joined with my Democratic colleagues on the 
Committee on Ways and Means to lower the cost of prescription drugs, 
and they voted against it.

                          ____________________