WASHINGTON - January 26, 2011 - Senator Chuck Grassley is an original cosponsor of a bill by Senator David Vitter of Louisiana which permanently eliminates the automatic pay raise for members of Congress that exists in current law.

"There is definitely a lack of accountability to the American people when members of Congress receive an automatic pay raise without a yes-or-no vote," Grassley said. "If members of Congress think they deserve a raise, they should have the guts to vote publicly for it."

Grassley has consistently worked to stop automatic pay raises for members of Congress since he has been in Congress.  Grassley has also recently been part of the successful efforts to block the scheduled congressional pay raise for 2010 and 2011.

The legislation would eliminate the automatic pay increase and require any provision included in a bill that would increase congressional pay to receive a roll-call vote in the Senate before it can pass. Under current law, members of Congress automatically receive an increase each year based on a cost-of-living-adjustment, unless the Congress takes action otherwise, as it did for 2010 and 2011.

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KOHL, GRASSLEY: STOPPING "PAY-FOR-DELAY" DEALS ESSENTIAL TO LOWERING RX DRUG COSTS

Bipartisan effort to speed less expensive generic prescription drugs to market

WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Senators Herb Kohl and Chuck Grassley have reintroduced legislation limiting pay-for-delay settlements used to keep lower-cost generic drugs off pharmacy shelves.  Under these pay-off agreements, brand name drug companies settle patent disputes by paying the generic drug manufacturer in exchange for a promise that it will keep its generic version of the drug off the market. Kohl and Grassley's "Preserve Access to Affordable Generics Act" will stop this anti-consumer practice by presuming these deals illegal, and giving the FTC the authority to stop them.

"Generic drugs save consumers and the federal government money, to the tune of billions of dollars a year. But in order to freeze out competition and delay entry of low cost generic drugs for consumers, brand-name drug companies pay-off generic manufactures to keep their products off the market.  It is past time to put an end to these backroom deals and pass this bipartisan legislation," Kohl said.

"These agreements between generic and brand name pharmaceutical manufacturers are only serving to line the pockets of the companies.  When people across the country are having a hard time making ends meet, this wheeling and dealing simply delays the entry of lower priced medicines into the marketplace, leaving consumers on the short end of the stick," Grassley said.

A compromise version of this legislation passed the Judiciary Committee in late 2009 and was included in the Financial Services and General Government Appropriations bill reported out of the Senate Appropriations Committee last year. Final passage of the bill stalled when the House and Senate failed to agree on an Omnibus Appropriations package last month.

The Federal Trade Commission has estimated that stopping these types of settlement agreements would save consumers at least $35 billion over the next ten years, and provide significant cost savings in the amount of $12 billion over ten years for the federal government, which pays approximately one-third of all prescription drug costs. A recent CBO report estimates that the federal government could save $2.68 billion over ten years, should this bill become law

Despite the FTC's opposition to pay-for-delay patent settlements, two 2005 appellate court decisions have permitted these payoffs.  In the two years after these two decisions, the FTC has found nearly half of all patent settlements involved payments from the brand name from the generic manufacturer in return for an agreement by the generic to keep its drug off the market.  According to a study by Pharmaceutical Care Management Association (PCMA), health plans and consumers could save $26.4 billion over the next five years by using the generic versions of 14 popular drugs that are scheduled to lose their patent protections before 2010.

Brand-name drug companies and generic manufacturers routinely enter into settlement agreements to end drug patent litigation, but until 2005, none of them included pay-for-delay provisions. From 2000 to 2004, companies assumed such agreements violated antitrust law.  But in 2005, following three courts of appeals decisions that prevented the FTC from taking action on behalf of consumers, pay-for-delay settlements became commonplace. In the four years following these court decisions 63 out of 194 patent settlements had provisions in which the brand name drug company made payments to the generic manufacturer in exchange for the generic manufacturer agreeing to delay entry of generic competition.  In 2009, there were a record 19 pay-for-delay settlement agreements that kept generics off the market.

Last Congress, Kohl served as chairman of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Antitrust, Competition Policy, and Consumer Rights. Grassley is the incoming Ranking Member of the Judiciary Committee.

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Amana - A flirty bridesmaid who has a thing for the groom, an over-the-top wedding planner and an unsolved murder would spell disaster for any other wedding. But, in The Old Creamery' s production of Marriage Can Be Murder, it only brings on more laughs.

Marriage Can Be Murder, by James Daab opens Friday, Feb. 11 at the Ox Yoke Inn and runs through Feb. 27. The cast consists of Old Creamery regulars Kamille Zbanek of Ely; T.J. Besler of Manchester; Tom Milligan and Deborah Kennedy of East Amana; Jackie McCall and Sean McCall of Marengo; and Nicholas Hodge of Marion.

The evening includes a savory Ox Yoke Inn meal with choice of entrée, beverage and dessert. Performance times are 6:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and 5 p.m. on Sundays. Seating begins half an hour prior to performances. Cost is $40 per person for dinner and the show and includes all gratuity and tax. Because the action takes place during dinner, there are no " show only" tickets available.

For reservations, call the Ox Yoke Inn, Amana at 800-233-3441. It' s sure to be a wedding you' ll never forget!

The Old Creamery Theatre Company is a not-for-profit professional theatre founded in 1971 in Garrison, Iowa. The company is celebrating 40 years of bringing live, professional theatre to the people of Iowa and the Midwest. We thank KGAN and Fox 28, our 2011 season media sponsor.

WASHINGTON - January, 26, 2011 - Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa, with Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.), today announced they introduced legislation to create job opportunities for veterans returning home from war and help businesses create jobs.

"These men and women are extremely capable," Grassley said.  "They have a lot of skills to offer in the workplace.  This legislation will clear some bureaucratic hurdles and add a financial incentive to encourage employers to seek out veterans.  These steps are a logical follow-up to my effort to increase the IRS' hiring of veterans.  The IRS saw the value of this pool of potential workers and followed through on increased hiring of veterans.  Other employers, including small businesses, should have similar opportunities."

This Veterans Employment Transition Act, or the VETs Jobs bill, would reward employers for hiring qualified veterans who have recently completed their service in the military with a tax credit of up to $2,400 per veteran.  A previous version of this credit, which was part of the Work Opportunity Tax Credit, was designed to help employers hire veterans but expired at the end of 2010.  The new version of the legislation would reinstate the tax credit and make it easier for veterans and small businesses to use.  As a result, servicemen and women who have been recently discharged would be able to provide documentation directly from the Department of Defense without having to go through the tax credit's current certification process

Any veteran who has left active duty in the past five years who has discharge paperwork showing 180 days of qualified active duty would be eligible for the credit. This would include those men and women who were activated by their states as members of the National Guard.  The bill also helps service members market themselves to prospective employers by requiring the military to educate service members about how the credit works

Noting that the unemployment rate for veterans is higher than for non-veterans nationwide, the senators first introduced the VETs Jobs bill last May.  The Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, the Veterans of Foreign Wars and other veteran service organizations are strong supporters of the legislation.

The text of the legislation can be found at http://finance.senate.gov/legislation/.

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