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Floor Speech

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Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, now another short statement on something that is going on that is very important to the American people: the price of prescription drugs--something I hear quite frequently in my 99-county meetings that I hold around the State every year.

Prescription drug prices come up, and they want Congress to do something about it. So last year, the Senate Judiciary Committee marked up and passed out of committee six bipartisan bills that address the high cost of prescription drugs and the abusive practices that keep prices high for too many American families. The bills simply put a stop to anti-competitive tactics. Why? So cheaper drugs can enter the market.

These bills also increase transparency and accountability for the prescription drug supply chain. With these bills, we strengthen Agency collaboration and the patent process. We curb the use of sham citizen petitions to the FDA so it is easier for generics to obtain approval and get generics to the market quicker. We end the pay-for-delay deals to keep brand-name drug companies from paying generic companies to keep cheaper options off the market so they keep the price of the patented drug higher for a longer period of time. Lastly, we require the Federal Trade Commission, FTC, to finish the work it started in studying the impact of pharmacy benefit managers.

These bills will help make prescription drugs more affordable for patients who need them.

The Congressional Budget Office has reported that these bills collectively would save over $2 billion.

We need the Senate to act on these bills, and I will continue pushing to fix a broken system and lower drug costs.

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