[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 17]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 22768]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                25TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE WAXMAN-HATCH ACT

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                          HON. HENRY A. WAXMAN

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                       Friday, September 25, 2009

  Mr. WAXMAN. Madam Speaker, twenty-five years ago, President Ronald 
Reagan signed the landmark Waxman-Hatch law, delivering generic drug 
competition to the American marketplace. Since that time, generic drugs 
have provided millions of American consumers with access to low-cost, 
yet safe and effective drugs. In the last decade alone, generics have 
saved consumers, businesses, and state and federal governments $734 
billion. American consumers fill more than six of every ten 
prescriptions with safe and effective generic medicines. During these 
difficult economic times, generic pharmaceuticals are critical to 
assuring that patients continue to have access to lifesaving medicines. 
Making sure that Americans have access to, and can afford, life-saving 
medicines has been one of my chief goals as a Member of Congress, and I 
am proud of the success of generic competition in helping achieve that 
goal.
  Since passage of the Hatch-Waxman law, we have seen a shift in the 
pharmaceutical marketplace to permit greater competition and 
innovation--a win-win for purchasers and manufacturers alike. As a 
result, millions of Americans have access to safe and affordable 
generic medicines and our health care bill is much lower than it 
otherwise would have been. There is still much more we can do to 
increase savings from generic drugs. We should not only celebrate the 
25th anniversary of Hatch-Waxman, but we should use it as motivation to 
ensure there is real generic competition for biotech medications. Let 
us show Americans that we understand that they deserve access to 
affordable medicine and give them a pathway that provides reasonable 
incentives for innovation, but does not pose unnecessary barriers to 
competition.

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