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Pappas, Sarbanes Highlight Efforts to Fight Big Pharma and Lower Prescription Drug Prices

August 23, 2019

Exeter, NH–Today Congressman Chris Pappas (NH-01) and Congressman John Sarbanes (MD-03) held a roundtable discussion with President of End Citizens United Action Fund Tiffany Muller and local stakeholders to discuss the skyrocketing costs of prescription drugs and how critical it is to remove the influence of big money from politics.

Congressman Sarbanes authored, and Congressman Pappas co-sponsored, a sweeping democracy reform package which seeks to limit the influence of big pharma and insurance companies on our policy making process. HR 1. It passed the House in March and also imposes stricter ethics laws on lawmakers to ensure they are working to benefit those that elected them to serve.

"In every corner of the First District I hear from Granite Staters about the significant burden and anxiety caused by the skyrocketing cost of prescription drugs," said Congressman Pappas. "This is simply unacceptable at a time when drug companies are bringing in record breaking profits and using those profits to influence legislation aimed at lowering drug prices for Granite Staters. We must act now."|

"For far too long, the pharmaceutical industry has held Washington in a vice grip, using its army of lobbyists and its large campaign contributions to ensure that Congress does its bidding – all at the expense of the American people, who are saddled with soaring prescription drug prices," said Congressman Sarbanes, Chair of the Democracy Reform Task Force and author of H.R. 1, House Democrats' once-in-a-generation reform bill to clean up corruption in Washington. "To lower prescription drug prices and reduce the cost of health care for the American people, we must reign in Big Pharma by passing H.R. 1 and ensuring that Congress puts the public's interests ahead of special interests."

"The For the People Act is the key to making government work for people, not just mega-donors and special interests," said ECU Action Fund President Tiffany Muller. "H.R. 1 passed the House earlier this spring with unanimous support of House Democrats but has since been buried in Mitch McConnell's graveyard. Progress can't be made on lowering prescription drug prices until we get money out of politics. This begins with a vote on the For the People Act in the Senate."

In addition to H.R. 1, Congressmen Pappas and Sarbanes have helped pass several bills to lower the cost of prescription drugs by ending Big Pharma tactics that prevent lower-cost generic drugs from going to market. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) continues to block these bills – along with H.R. 1 – in the Senate.