WASHINGTON DC (December 12, 2019) — Senate Finance Committee Chairman Charles "Chuck" Grassley today released the following statement regarding passage in the House of Representatives of legislation to lower prescription drug prices.
“While this legislation misses the mark, I’m glad the House has acted and I applaud both Democrats and Republicans in the chamber for recognizing the need to address this issue,” Sen Grassley said. “According to the independent CBO, the House bill would result in dozens fewer potentially life-saving or life-extending drugs being developed. That could include the cure to Alzheimer’s disease or cancer. Congress must fix this broken system, but not at the cost of critical innovation that could save and improve countless American lives. Big Pharma is spending millions of dollars opposing any reforms that will cut into their billions of dollars of profits. Any solution must be bipartisan if it’s going to stand a chance of becoming law. Right now, the only significant, bipartisan proposal in the Senate is the Prescription Drug Pricing Reduction Act that I authored with Democratic Sen Ron Wyden. I know some Democrats would prefer a different approach, as would some Republicans. But the moment is ripe for compromise. Americans are quite literally sick of not being able to afford their prescription medications. The House has acted, and now the Senate must act.”
