[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 149 (2003), Part 10]
[House]
[Page 13469]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




           MONEY: THE PHARMACEUTICAL INDUSTRY'S MIRACLE DRUG

  Mr. BROWN of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, PhRMA, the lobbying shop for 
America's drug companies, has a problematical condition. It is 
suffering from that most debilitating of special interest deficiencies: 
sickly message. PhRMA has to come in with a straight face and tell 
public officials: if you support efforts to lower the cost of 
prescription drugs, we will not have the resources to develop the next 
generation of miracle medicines.
  Now, anyone who knows even a little about the drug industry knows 
that that argument does not hold water. We know that with profit 
margins consistently pushing 20 percent, the drug companies are the 
most profitable industry in America for 20 years running. They have the 
lowest tax rate in America. Half of all the drugs developed in this 
country, half of all the research and development for drugs in this 
country is done by taxpayers. But without a shot in the arm, PhRMA, the 
drug industry's lobbying arm, PhRMA's case of anemic message might 
result in an acute loss of profits.
  Fortunately for the drug industry, it has found a miracle cure of its 
own, a very effective drug called money, and they are using it to 
change the way America thinks. Here in Washington you see the drug 
companies' money everywhere. They spend untold millions on high-priced 
inside-the-Beltway lawyers to tell the administration and Congress that 
State initiatives to control drug costs violate the law by putting 
Medicaid beneficiaries at risk.
  And they spend big money, really big money to sell this message to 
Congress and the White House. The drug companies spent over $70 million 
lobbying House and Senate Members during the last election cycle. They 
spent almost $90 million on political campaign ads. They know where 
their bread is buttered. They know who their friends are. Almost 90 
percent of their campaign spending was on behalf of Republicans. And 
they were especially generous to President Bush in his 2000 race and 
already for his 2004 race.
  And by any standard, the money that drug companies have spent on 
Republicans is well spent. Rather than use its influence to bring down 
prices in the United States, the Bush administration, infused with all 
kinds of drug industry campaign dollars, is using its power to prevent 
Americans from purchasing the same medicine in Canada for one-half, 
one-third, and one-fourth the price. The Medicare prescription drug 
bill passed last year by the Republican-led House does nothing to curb 
the ever-escalating price of drugs. In fact, the Republican bill throws 
more money, more government dollars, more taxpayer funds at the drug 
companies.
  For the 1\1/4\ million people in my State of Ohio without health 
insurance, and for the tens of millions throughout this country, the 
problem is not whether the giant multinational drug companies will be 
able to afford to develop another version of Viagra or another ``Me 
Too'' drug. For working Ohio families and seniors struggling to make 
ends meet, the problem is they cannot afford the drugs that are 
available today.
  In Ohio, as in other parts of the country, seniors have grown tired 
of waiting for the Federal Government to address the high price of 
prescription drugs. They know they cannot count on President Bush, who 
receives millions of drug company dollars. They know they cannot count 
on the Republican leadership. The Ohio Coalition for Affordable Drugs 
wants to let the citizens of Ohio decide for themselves; and PhRMA, the 
drug industry's lobbying arm, is pulling out all the stops to block 
their plan.
  Millions of Ohioans would benefit from this plan. Savings are 
estimated as high as 50 percent. That is why PhRMA is working so hard 
to make sure the proposal never makes it to the ballot in Ohio. PhRMA 
sued over the language of the proposal. After that failed to stop the 
initiative, they challenged petitions trying to get people's signatures 
disqualified because they had moved or because they have not voted for 
a couple of years.
  But the complete absence of a valid argument has never slowed the 
drug industry's friends down. No, PhRMA marches relentlessly on in its 
efforts to derail the Ohio prescription drug savings issue. PhRMA plans 
to spend $16 million, more than the total amount of money spent on the 
Governor's race last year in Ohio. The drug industry plans to spend $16 
million to keep the issue off the ballot; and if it gets on the ballot, 
millions of dollars to defeat it. That is money they did not spend 
researching medical breakthroughs. It is money they are not spending 
helping families afford the latest generation in miracle drugs.
  No, the drug industry is spending that $16 million to delay and to 
deny the citizens of Ohio an opportunity to exercise their right to 
vote on whether prescription drug prices should come down. PhRMA is not 
engaging in a debate or arguing against the merits of the plan; they 
are smart enough to know a losing campaign when they see one. Instead, 
they are trying to get the election called on a technicality.
  PhRMA, the drug industry, and the Republicans are counting on PhRMA's 
money, the miracle pill that has worked before, to make its problems go 
away. I do not know if that trusty remedy will work this time. There is 
a growing understanding in Ohio, and I think there is throughout the 
country, that when push comes to shove the drug industry's priority is 
profit, not patient safety. If the drug company's real priority is 
patient safety, why are they spending so much money to ensure that we 
cannot afford the medicine that so many of us need?

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