On the House floor, Ways and Means Republicans, Rep. Adrian Smith (R-NE)  warned against Democrats’ partisan insulin bill, which puts Washington in control of Americans’ medical decisions and fails to help Americans struggling with high health care costs. 

CLICK HERE to watch Rep. Smith’s remarks.

Rep. Smith’s full remarks as prepared for delivery appear below.

Thank you, Madame Speaker,

 

This issue is so important, I don’t think we should just automatically accept a partisan proposal that doesn’t even get to the heart of the problem.

Today, we could be voting on H.R. 19, the Lower Costs, More Cures Act, a bipartisan bill that would not only address the root causes of high insulin prices, but lower costs for all patients.

Instead, sadly, we’re voting on a partisan messaging bill to give Washington a greater say in Americans’ medical decisions while raising premiums on seniors and the millions of Americans with private health insurance.

This is nothing more than an attempt by my colleagues on the other side  to pass piece by piece their cures-killing socialist takeover of the entire innovation sector. And worse, despite the misleading title of this current bill, it does nothing to lower the actual price of insulin. Instead it uses budget games and regulations to disguise the cost of insulin for all consumers.

This is just another instance of misguided health and economic policies, coming at a time when more than half of Americans are worried about rising prices and the economy.

And of course, like the President’s Budget released this week, this bill too is only “paid for” with gimmicks, adding to our deficit and the core causes of inflation.

We can and should do more for the American people who are struggling. The American people expect us to work together – we could be doing that.

 

READ: The TRUTH About the Democrats’ Insulin Bill: It Revives Their Tax and Spend Agenda.