Top Republican on the Ways and Means Committee Rep. Kevin Brady (R-TX) opened a republican meeting warning against Democrats’ dangerous socialist drug price proposals which will destroy lifesaving cures in research and development by saying:

“The Democrats’ policies set up a dangerous trade-off: lower prices for some drugs for some people in the short-term in exchange for hundreds of fewer cures in the long-term.

 

“It also puts Washington in control of Americans’ medical decisions. As Republicans, we reject that premise.”

 

Rep. Brady’s remarks as prepared for delivery appear below.

Thank you, Mr. Crowley, for sharing your story with us today. Your work and dedication are inspirational.

 

For families like your own— this policy debate isn’t political, it’s a real threat to the hope of new cures.

 

The Democrats’ policies set up a dangerous trade-off: lower prices for some drugs for some people in the short-term in exchange for hundreds of fewer cures in the long-term.

 

It also puts Washington in control of Americans’ medical decisions. As Republicans, we reject that premise.

 

Every analysis of this price setting policy says it will result in Americans getting fewer cures. Every single analysis.

 

According to the University of Chicago, Democrats’ price setting scheme would destroy up to 60 percent or, to put a number on it, 342 cures in research and development, including for devastating diseases like Alzheimers, Parkinson’s, ALS, and diabetes. The very diseases that every family is acquainted with in some way, and I think all are praying and hoping for a cure.

 

The truth is — one lost cure is one too many.

 

Unfortunately, Ways and Means Democrats rejected amendments during this whole process to preserve access to cures for rare diseases and cures to help alleviate the racial health disparities that were so apparent during the COVID-19 pandemic.

 

The real risk in Pelosi’s drug pricing scheme cannot be overstated: it will make us more dependent on China, it will ship investment and jobs overseas, and it will stifle the research and development pipeline, and it’s an expensive one. It’s a huge commitment that keeps our seniors healthy.

 

Thankfully, some Democrats are waking up to that reality: Three Democrats at the Energy and Commerce Committee rejected the Speaker’s price control approach. Senators are also raising objections to their leadership and to President Biden at the White House.

 

They are rejecting fewer cures.

 

They are, like us, rejecting killing the hopes of families, praying for a medical miracle.

 

They’re rejecting letting a Baltimore bureaucrat put a dollar amount on a year of a senior’s life.

 

Yet, many in their own party are dismissing their concerns, blaming it on drug industry donations.

 

Today, we’re here to set the record straight on Democrats’ drug pricing scheme – and it’s a dangerous one – and to outline a better way to address the high price of drugs, without sacrificing innovation.

 

And with that, I’d like to kick it over to my friend, the Republican Leader of the Health Subcommittee, Congressman Devin Nunes.