[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 18]
[Senate]
[Pages 24718-24719]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                    MEDICARE PRESCRIPTION DRUG COSTS

  Mr. WYDEN. Mr. President, it has been a long day in the Senate, 
especially for our capable and dedicated staff. I wish to take a couple 
of minutes to say thank you to the Senators who, a bit ago, supported 
the Snowe-Wyden legislation to hold down the cost of prescription 
medicine.
  Tonight a majority of the Senate voted to make the Federal Government 
a smart shopper when it comes to prescription drugs. For the first 
time, the Senate voted to remove an error of commission: the 
authorization of a provision in the prescription drug law that bars the 
Federal Government from negotiating to hold down the cost of 
prescription drugs.
  For the life of me, at a time when the Federal budget is 
hemorrhaging, when the Government must pay for the costs of Katrina, I 
do not see how you can argue against the Snowe-Wyden amendment that was 
offered tonight. It prohibits price controls--that is certainly 
critical--so we can encourage innovation and research in the 
pharmaceutical area, but what the Snowe-Wyden amendment does is ensure 
that the Federal Government is going to do what everybody does in the 
marketplace--and that is use its bargaining power to hold down the 
costs. That is what the Federal Emergency Management Agency does when 
it buys cots, what every Federal agency does to make sure taxpayers and 
our citizens have their concerns addressed responsibly.
  Now, tonight, Senator Snowe and I had to get a supermajority to 
prevail. I want it understood that no matter how many procedural 
hurdles are put in front of us, no matter how many roadblocks are put 
up, we are going to keep coming back on this issue again and again and 
again until the needs of seniors and our taxpayers are met.
  The older people of this country are insisting that an offensive 
piece of special interest legislation, one that defies common sense, 
get changed. The AARP made the case when they backed our bipartisan 
bill. They pointed out that drugs seniors use, such as Lipitor, are 
going up more than twice the rate of inflation. Seniors want that 
changed. They will not abide it. Taxpayers will not abide it. And 
Senator Snowe and I are going to stay at it until Medicare is liberated 
and can act as a smart shopper.
  Fifty-one Senators--a majority of this body--said tonight it is time 
to get serious about holding down the cost of medicine in the United 
States. Fifty-one votes is not the supermajority we needed, but Senator 
Snowe and I are going to stay at it until we get justice done for our 
older people.
  Finally, I want to say a special thanks to our bipartisan group of 
sponsors and particularly thank Senator Stabenow, Senator McCain, and 
Senator Feinstein. They are all Senators who got this from the get-go. 
They understood this was a question of making sure that, at a time when 
the Federal Government begins the biggest expansion of entitlement 
health care in years, we take steps to protect the interests of 
taxpayers and the interests of older people who, right now, are 
beginning to sign up for the program and will, in fact, start 
participating formally next year.
  We believed it was important tonight to offer this amendment. We wish 
we had more time to discuss it this evening. I went into it at some 
length yesterday, but I am pleased we made real progress. For the first 
time, a majority of the Senate says that this provision that keeps the 
Federal Government from being a smart shopper simply does not add up. 
It does not make sense. It defies logic. It is contrary to what 
everybody else does in the marketplace across the country. I wish we 
could have gotten the 60 votes needed to prevail tonight, but for the 
first time we got a majority, and we are going to come back again and 
again and again. We are going to do it because the older people of this 
country deserve a fair shake. They are going to insist we keep coming 
back.
  I close my comments tonight by thanking the Presiding Officer, as 
well, for his support in this effort.
  Mr. President, with that, I yield the floor and suggest the absence 
of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

[[Page 24719]]



                          ____________________