Prescription Drug Costs

Floor Speech

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Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, last night, former Vice President Biden said that President Trump ``hasn't lowered drug prices for anybody.'' This is false, and I hope that the news media will call out Mr. Biden for the lie.

Among several other actions, President Trump launched an initiative to lower the out-of-pocket costs of insulin for seniors through the Part D Medicaid-Medicare Program. Also, President Trump recently signed an Executive order that will launch several programs to lower drug costs and help seniors afford their medicines.

More disingenuous than this claim from Mr. Biden is that it was actually the Vice President's former Democratic colleagues here in the Senate who walked away from the negotiating table and killed any hope of passing legislation to lower prescription drug costs before the election. This was an effort by Minority Leader Schumer and his Democratic colleagues to hurt President Trump and Senate Republicans. Mr. Biden seems content to capitalize on his own party's obstructions.

Now, I have come to expect election-year partisan politics such as I have just described it, but during a pandemic that has left hundreds of thousands dead and millions unemployed, it is particularly egregious that Democrats have decided it is more important to hurt Republicans than help Americans. I am sorry to say this is the truth of the matter.

It will be up to Democrats to make it right. I am not holding my breath, but I do hope voters hold accountable a party that failed in its basic duty to put people ahead of politics.

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