Our spirits. Restore our confidence that our world is undergirarded by eternal purpose. Bless those who give service of heart to this great nation. Give them strength to temper their judgments by the compassion of the human soul. Know that none are free until all are free, free from fear, want, bigotry and callous hatred of the other. Let the courage of their convictions make america worthy her past and blessed by her future. T not sin civil bright, to live as we pray, so that unashamed, our leaders may transmit to generations to come, an america better than ours. Hear our prayer. Amen. The speaker pro tempore the chair has examined the journal of the last days proceedings and announces to the house his approval thereof. Pursuant to clause 1 of rule 1, thejournal stands approved. Pledge of allegiance will be led by the gentlewoman from puerto , miss gonzalezcolon. Miss gonzalezcolon i pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of america and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under god, indivisible with liberty and ustice for all. The speaker pro tempore without objection, the gentleman from maryland, mr. Raskin, is recognized for one minute. Mr. Raskin mr. Speaker, thank you. I rise to honor rabbi bruce lestic who led us in that opening prayer. Hes senior rabbi of the washington hebrew congregation which is washington d. C. s largest and oldest synagogue and where many of my constituents worship. The son of a refugee from nazi germany, his mother heady, he grew number nashville, tennessee, where he was often the only jewish child at school. The strong cultural identity instilled by his mother, an emphasis his family placed on engaging had his christian friends and classmates, laid the foundation for his lifelong commitment to interfaith work, including his efforts to open dialogue and strengthen relationships among jews, christians, muslims, and people of all faiths. Oro dained at the Hebrew Union College Jewish Institute of religion, he holds a doctorate of divinity and masters degree in he drew letters. He earned his bachelors of honors from the university of tennessee. In deliffing todays opening prayer in the house, he continues a venerable and important tradition. Since the washington hebrew congregation was created in 1862, every single one of its senior rabbis has delivered an opening prayer before the u. S. Congress. He now joins that group. Mr. Speaker, im honored to welcome him to the house today and like to extend my thngs for his excellent leadership in our community and offering todays prayer. I yield back. Thank you. The speaker pro tempore the chair will now entertain up to 15 further requests for oneminute speeches on each side of the aisle. For what purpose does the gentleman from connecticut seek recognition . Thank you, mr. Speaker. I rise today to congratulate the Head Start Program on its 34th anniversary and 25th anniversary of new head start. I had the proud distinction of serving with with dr. Edward zeigler out of Yale University who passed away this past year who was a leader in this and worked with every president from john kennedy to barack obama. Mr. Larson hes generally regarded as the father of the Head Start Program, but also regarded for his longstanding work with children. In fact, it was ed who said children are my politics. Then proceeded to dedicate a lifetime to creating remedies for childcare which he labeled in america a cosmic crapshoot. So many young people today experience the dilemma of balancing their work with bringing up their children, but it was eds leadership that recognized we should identitylize our schools and promote schools of the 21st century as a way for us to get our arms around the whole issue of having safe, affordable childcare. I rise today to commemorate his memory and congratulate the Head Start Program. Thank you. I yield back. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. For what purpose does the gentlewoman from puerto rico ise . Miss gonzalezcolon to address the house for one minute. The speaker pro tempore without objection, the gentlewoman is recognized for one minute. Miss gonzalezcolon i think its urgent for congress to approve the supplemental bill. Although i welcome the house version, i am a still waiting on the senate side to work a final solution. The more the passage is delayed, the longer our communities will wait because just passing that appropriation is the beginning of a drawn out process. I know my constituents are still waiting for 600 million, but i have long been abdicating which will cover the gap in funged under supplemental appropriations weigh made immediately after the hurricane maria. Last month those residents who have not fully recovered are already seeing decrease in benefits because we have not yet passed the disaster bill. For example, 20 months later some of the 4 million allocated to work work, just 12 billion have been outlaid. That means we have work to do. This fund something being reviewed with a great scrutiny from fema and hud and o. M. B. Thats the reason i believe we should move across the aisle to make this happen. I yield back. The speaker pro tempore the gentlelady yield back. For what purpose does the gentlewoman from texas seek recognition . Ms. Jackson lee mr. Speaker, i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. The speaker pro tempore without objection, the gentlewoman is recognized for one minute. Ms. Jackson lee mr. Speaker, let me to add my appreciation and congratulations to head start, a very viable program not only in my district, as i watched little children being empowered with education, but also around the nation. I congratulate all of those who were engaged in its beginning and thank them for their brilliance and leadership. I rise today to say that we are troubled because the work of this body is to legislate on behalf of the people of the United States. Were, in fact, the peoples house. We have done our work. We have passed disaster funding. Those of us, if you will, the remnants of various hurricanes in the 2017 season in particular from all of those that impacted the east coast and puerto rico and houston and the state of texas are waiting for disaster funding which we have done. Were waiting for the violence against women act to be passed. Were waiting for the universal background checks to be passed. Were waiting for the protecting people against losing their preexisting coverage and of course lowering Prescription Drugs to pass. All that have been passed in this house and were waiting as we begin to debate that the equality act that will have a blind eye to anyones difference and be able to celebrate them and support them without discrimination. Where is the other body . Why havent they passed a bill in three months . Why cant we do the work for the American People . Its time to get the job done. The speaker pro tempore the gentleladys time has expired. The gentlewoman yield back. For what purpose does the gentleman from South Carolina seek recognition . Mr. Speaker, i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. Revise and extend my remarks. The speaker pro tempore without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. Mr. Wilson mr. Speaker, this is National Police week highlighted by Police Officers memorial day which president j. F. K. Designated a as may 15 in 1962. Law enforcement officers and their families selflessly serve our communities across the country. Americans appreciate honoring officers, their families, and Fallen Heroes on Police Officers member more why day. Law enforcement personnel are National Heroes who were grateful for their sacrifices made to serve and protect our country on a daily basis. We also provide our deepest support and gratitude to those who have been injured or lost their lives in the line of duty and to their families. Grateful citizens across the country will take time to thank a Police Officer this week. In conclusion, god bless our troops and well never forget september 11 and the global war on terrorism. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. For what purpose does the gentleman from new york seek recognition . Unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. Mr. Speaker, last week 44 attorneys generals filed a lawsuit in federal court against 20 generic drugmakers alleging market manipulation and price fixing. Mr. Higgins the American Peoples tax dollars are invested in unprofitable basic research that is essential to bringing highly profitable drugs to market. The United States government is also a huge purchaser of these generic drugs. In some cases it is alleged that one company sets the price of a drug and the others follow without the cost cutting influence of competition. All of this resulted in billions of dollars in harm to patients and the u. S. Economy. Congress must stop this price fixing scheme and will vote this week to approve legislation to end this price fixing and market manipulation perpetuated by these generic drugmakers. I yield back the balance of my time. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman yield back. The gentleman yields back. For what purpose does the gentlewoman from indiana seek recognition . Mr. Speaker, i ask unanimous consent to address the chamber for one minute and revise and extend. The speaker pro tempore without objection, the gentlewoman is recognized for one minute. As we recognize National Police week, lets provide our Law Enforcement every tool possible to prevent senseless acts of gun violence from harming or claiming the lives of insent people, including our Law Enforcement officers. Mrs. Brooks its why today im reintroducing a Gun Violence Reduction bill cat categorized as a red flag bill with my friend ted deutch who represents parkland, florida. Our bill is named after impd office who are paid the ultimate sacrifice and protecting his Community Officer jarke. It provides grants to states to enact laws similar to indianas red flag law because we know since 2005 this hoosier commonsense bill has been working. Specifically, the act will enable Law Enforcement to remove and retain firearms from individuals who are determined to be a danger to themselves or others while ensuring due process under the law. According to a usa tarticle recently published, more than 30 states across the country are considering similar measures or passed red flag laws. Its past time for our nation to adopt laws like indianas red flag law that will keep our Law Enforcement and citizens safer. I yield back. The speaker pro tempore the the gentleladys time has expired. For what purpose does the the gentlewoman from illinois seek recognition . Mr. Speaker, i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. Revise and extend my remarks. The speaker pro tempore without objection, the gentlewoman is recognized for one minute. Miss underwood thank you, mr. Speaker. Im here today to tell you about gwynn gwenn of aurora, illinois. Shes a transgender woman. She transitioned about two years ago. Afterwards she began interviewing for jobs to advance her career. She was met with hesitation from potential employers. Recruiters were suddenly uninterested after personal interviews. No followup, phone calls, just complete silence. This is a horrifying reality for many people in the Community Like gwen. Roughly 30 of transpeople have been denied a job, promotion, or fired because of their gender identity. This kind of discrimination is not only hurtful and ill lee, but it hurts our economy which is why groups like the chamber of commerce and over 00 major corporations support the equality act. Shes now employed but there is so many others still forced to sit on the sidelines keeping top talent out of our work force. The equality act would ensure everyone has the opportunity to earn a living, contribute to our economy, and send a message that we do not allow discrimination in our country. I yield back. The speaker pro tempore the gentlewoman yields back. For what purpose does the gentleman from virginia seek recognition . I request unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. Revise and extend my remarks. The speaker pro tempore without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. Thank you, mr. Speaker. I rise today to remember david king, an family man and constituent of mine who passed away after a hard fought battle with cancer on may 2. Mr. Riggleman he he was born in houston, texas, but moved to virginia in 1995 and spent over two decades there. Hell be remembered for his lasting contribution to the virginia Wine Industry and his king familiar vineyards is one of my Favorite Places for a glass of wine. He served as the chairman of the virginia wine board and worked tirelessly for virginia agriculture and abring tourism in virginia. He leaves an enormous industry in his community. Hes survived by his loving wife, his six months and daughtersinlaw, as well as his eight grandchildren. One of his favorite phrases was this, a rising tide lifts all boats. David lived by that. Lifting up those around him in success. We will miss him dearly. I yield my time. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. For what purpose does the gentleman from maryland seek recognition . Ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute and to revise and extend my remarks. The speaker pro tempore without objection. The gentleman is recognized for one minute. Thank you, mr. Speaker, i se today to honor my nephew, ian jake could be trone. This saturday he would have been 28 years old. Born on december 31, but on december 31, 2016, ian died alone in a hotel room with a fentanyl overdose. He was a nice young man. He like many of us was destined to grow up, find a partner and start a family. He was a huge sports fan and like many young boys his age, he had a sense of humor and friend to many. Last year, 72,000 people died of an overdose. Almost 70 of those involved fentanyl. This is the most important issue in america today. In congress, we must be determined to end this devastation. Both democrats and republicans. Ian jake could be trone left us too son and i will do everything in my power that we dont senselessly lose more lives to this epidemic. I yield back. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. For what purpose does the gentleman from arizona seek recognition . Ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute and to revise and extend my remarks. The speaker pro tempore without objection. The gentleman is recognized for one minute. Thank you, mr. Speaker. Yesterday, i introduced the abortion is not health care act. This bill amends the i. R. S. treatment of out of pocket expense. This bill was drafted after receiving feedback from my constituents they no longer wanted their tax dollars to support the adorgs industry. My democrat colleagues not only condone the practice of abortion but allow taxpayers dollars to support this practice. They have marketed it as Reproductive Health care. Health care is a function that helps our bodies and minds to heal. Under no circumstances should health care include the intentional taking of life. This is a small step toward ending the governments treatment of abortion as a healing medical practice. Several of my colleagues and prolife groups including march for life, eagle forum, arizona right to life and others have endorsed this bill. We have a duty to protect life. I urge all my colleagues to uphold life and support the abortion is not health care act. The speaker pro tempore the gentlemans time has expired. The gentlewoman from indiana recognition . Seek ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute and to revise and extend my remarks. The speaker pro tempore without objection. The gentlewoman is recognized for one minute. Mr. Speaker, the residents of iowa are struggling to keep up with the rising costs of Prescription Drugs. One constituent is spending 750 for insulin. A third of her takehome pay. A woman from West Des Moines wrote to me that her medication used to cost 50 and now has gone up to 1,000 and can buy the same meld medication in canada for 60. Americans pay more for Prescription Drugs. Brandname drug manufacturers are gaming the system and using delay tactics to prevent Generic Companies from bringing the same dugs to market. I ran for congress not to protect big phrma. This bill will lower the cost to consumers and save billions. No one should have to decide between food on the table and taking their medicine. I urge my colleagues to pass this legislation to lower the cost of Prescription Drugs for all americans. I yield back. The speaker pro tempore the gentlewoman yields back. For what purpose does the gentleman from illinois seek recognition . Ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute and to revise and extend my remarks. The speaker pro tempore without objection. The gentleman is recognized for ne minute. Mr. Speaker, i rise today to recognize jennifer bow man a High School Senior who was named the recipient of the good citizen award by the daughters of the american revolution. They submitted eas as. This good citizenship Scholarship Application and v. A. R. Chapters identified one student who best exemplifies, dependent dilt, service and patriotism in their area. Jennifer was selected from Mount Zion High School as the representative and attended the illinois conference and named the statewide winner. By all accounts jennifer demon states the attributes of leadership and patriotism. She is active in nearly aspect of student life in her high school and captain of cross country, basketball and track and field and serves as the president of the National Honor society and treasurer of the Student Council and finds time to volunteering with the key club and her church. She plans to study Language Sciences at the university of illinois in the fall. Just like jennifer, i congratulate her on this prestigious honor. I yield back. Ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute and to revise and extend my remarks. The speaker pro tempore without objection. The gentleman is recognized for one minute. Mr. Kildee this week the Head Start Program turns 54. Since this lifechanging Education Program was created in 1965, it has served millions of children giving them and their families a brighter future. Head start and Early Head Start provides comprehensive childhood education, health and social services to lowincome children and their families. One of the most important investments we can make to make sure that our children have the greatest opportunities to succeed. It is particularly important and crucial to my hometown of flint, michigan, where early chooled hood education is the most important thing we can do to help children mitigate the effects of lead exposure. The School Districts host this Incredible Program and provide services to children and to their parents. Thanks to the teachers, the workers and volunteers who support our head start kids every day. To keep head start working we have to fund this. Support for head start is bipartisan. We need to continue that. We need to make sure we fully fund this program. I celebrate the success of head start. We ought to make sure that every child who seeks that Early Childhood education has an opportunity to it. I yield back. The speaker pro tempore the gentlemans time has expired. For what purpose does the gentleman from oregon seek recognition . Ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute and to revise and extend my remarks. The speaker pro tempore without objection. The gentleman is recognized for one minute. I would like to recognize the life of an American Hero who i was honored to call my friend, bob maxwell who passed away last weekend at the age of 98. Mr. Walden he represented the best of what oregon had to offer. He was the oldest living medal of honor recipient in our country. And on the night of september 7, 1944 in france, bob maxwell threw his body on top of a german hand grenade to protect his comrades. This earned bob maxwell americas highest military honor and second silver star, a second purple heart and bronze star. For those who had the pleasure of bob, they know his brifferry and heroism were only matched by his kindness, warmth and sense of humility. He said my medal of honor, he said im not wearing it for personal deeds but it represents all the casualties we had in the war and represents those who were killed defending their country and ideals they believe in. Bobs service will be cherished in the country that he sacrificed so much to protect. His legacy will live in the hearts and mind that he interacted with in central oregon. The entire maxwell family, we send our col dolenses and prayers during this difficult time of loss. I yield back. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. For what purpose does the gentleman from new york seek recognition . Ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute and to revise and extend my remarks. The speaker pro tempore without objection. The gentleman is recognized for one minute. Mr. Speaker, i rise today to recognize infrastructure week and call attention to the urgent need for investment in rural areas like mine in upstate new york. Every time im home in my district i hear from folks about the need to invest in infrastructure to help our family farmers succeed. When they dive their products down to new york city or the immediately surrounding areas, they need broigs and roads, structures that can carry products. Infrastructure does not just mean bridges roads and seaports. It means access to margets through highspeed internet, a founding 25 million americans lack rural broadband. This means 25 million americans who own Small Businesses, operate small farms, want to apply for College Online or do homework or access lifesaving medicine because they cannot. This week i was proud to launch with the leadership, a task force on rural broadband. Im ready to partner with folks on both sides of the aisle to rebuild our infrastructure and access broadband both in upstate new york and across the country. Lets get this done. I yield back. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. For what purpose does the gentleman from seek recognition . Mr. Thompson request unanimous consent to address the house for one minute and revise and extend my remarks. The speaker pro tempore without objection. The gentleman is recognized for one minute. Mr. Thompson mr. Speaker, may is Mental Health month, a time we are encouraged to break down the stigmas that surround Mental Health. Depression and anchingsite those affected seek the quality care. One group that is overwhelmingly impacted by Mental Health disorders are veterans. 2 2 veterans commit suicide each and every day. Congress understands how dire the situation has become and is working diligently to find a solution. Unfortunately, fortunately we have made progress over the past few years. Ast years passage of the v. A. Mission act ensures that they have access to a medical professional before resorting to suicide. This is a step in the right direction, but more can be done. They answer the call of duty and as a nation we must care for them. Until suicide rates dwindle to zero, i will work with my colleagues to support veterans Mental Health programs. Thank you and i yield back. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. The chair lays before the house a communication. The clerk the honorable, the speaker, house of representatives, madam, punt to the permission granted in clause 23h of rule 2 of the u. S. House of representatives, the clerk received the following message from the secretary of the senate 9 54 a. M. , 019 at appointment, director of the Congressional Budget Office. Signed sincerely, cheryl l. Johnson. The speaker pro tempore for what purpose does the gentleman from new jersey seek recognition . Mr. Pallone mr. Speaker, i ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days in which to revise and stepped their remarks and add extraneous material on the strengthening health care and lowering Prescription Drug cost act. The speaker pro tempore without objection. Pursuant to House Resolution 377 and rule 18, the chair declares the house in the committee of the whole house on the state of the union for consideration of h. R. 987. The chair appoints the gentleman from rhode island, mr. Langevin, to preside over the committee of the whole. The chair the house is in the committee of the whole house on the state of the union for consideration of h. R. 987, which the clerk will report the title. The clerk a bill to amend the Patient Protection and Affordable Care act to provide for federal Exchange Outreach and educational activity. The chair pursuant to the rule, the bill is considered read the first time. General debate shall not exceed 90 minutes with 60 minutes equally divided and controlled by the chair and Ranking Member of the committee on energy and commerce and 30 minutes equally divided and controlled by the chair and Ranking Member of the committee on education and labor. The gentleman from new jersey, mr. Pallone and the gentleman from oregon, mr. Walden, each will control 30 minutes. And the gentleman from virginia, mr. Scott and the gentlewoman from north carolina, mrs. Foxx each will control 15 minutes. The chair recognizes the gentleman from new jersey, mr. Pallone. Mr. Pallone i rise to speak in favor of this bill. This legislation, mr. Speaker, is a big step in our commitment to delivering on our promise to make health care and Prescription Drugs more affordable. It brings together seven bills that passed out of the energy and Commerce Committee last month, taken together, these bills will strengthen our Nations Health care system, reverse the Trump Administrations sabotage of the Affordable Care act, and help lower the cost of health care and Prescription Drugs. The first title of this bill contains three bipartisan measures intended it address high Prescription Drug costs by promoting greater competition in our pharmaceutical marketplace. One of the most effective ways to bring down the costs of Prescription Drugs is to ensure that generics can can come to market as soon as can can come to market as soon as possible. It will address exclusively parking, a practice where a first time generic is blocking the approval of other generics are entering the market. The second prohibits the pay pay a fwreements that delay generic entry into the market. Finally the third drug pricing measure would address situations where some brand Drug Companies are delaying or impeding generic entry by denying generic drug manufacturers access to samples or to single shared system. By eliminating these barriers well prevent some manufacturers from manipulating the system to extend their monopolies at the expense of consumers. This will make Prescription Drugs more affordable for all americans. The second title of this bill, mr. Chairman, will help lower Americans Health care costs, protect People Living with preexisting conditions, and reverse some of the most harmful actions the Trump Administration has carried out to sabotage the Affordable Care act. Two of the proposals will restore funding for the navigator program, an outreach and enrollment efforts that help provide consumers with the support and information that they need to make the right Health Care Decision force their families. Restoring this fund something critical, considering that the Trump Administration gutted funding for consumers outreach and marketing by 90 , it cut navigator funding by 80 , leaving huge swaths of the country without access to fair and unbiased enrollment health. H. R. 987 will provide states with funding to establish their own statebased marketplaces which will help make health care more affordable. In 2018, premiums in these state marketplaces were 17 lower than in the federally facilitated marketplace and enrollment was higher for the state plans. Finally, mr. Speaker mr. Chairman, h. R. 987 will reverse the Trump Administrations regulation to expand junk Insurance Plans known as shortterm limited Duration Health insurance. The Trump Administration expanded these junk plans from the current threemonth term and made these plans available for up to three years. These junk plans are exactly that, mr. Chairman, they are junk. They discriminate against people with preexisting conditions. They said higher premiums for people based on age, gender, and health status. They deny being sess to basic benefits like Prescription Drugs, maternity care, and meptal health and Substance Abuse treatment, and they set arbitrary dollar limits for Health Care Services leading to huge surprise bills for consumers. This legislation would prevent the administration expansion of these plans from taking place. In closing, mr. Chairman, i believe this is an important bill that will Lower Health Care and Prescription Drug costs, protect people with preexisting conditions, and end some of the administrations ongoing sabotage of our Nations Health care system. I urge my colleagues to support this bill. At this time i reserve the balance of my time. Thank you. The chair the gentleman from new jersey reserves. The gentleman from oregon is recognized. Mr. Walden thank you, mr. Chairman. I yield myself such time as i may consume. The chair the gentleman is recognized. Thank you, mr. Hairman. The Washington Post said it best, allow me to quote from this headline from yesterday. Democrats are putting a a political pothole in the way of bipartisanner drug pricing bills. Bipartisan drug pricing bills. It didnt have to be this wafmente americans want us to come together, Work Together, solve problems. This is a a big one. I hear about it every time i have been home and i have done more town halls than anyone this this house, 20 this year. We worked it out, we passed these bills out of committee unanimously. Then somewhere along the path of the house floor, they jammed our bipartisan efforts to lower drug cost was clearly part a zahn bills. The chairman didnt mention those bills came out of committee on a partisan vote. To bailout obamacare democrats are once again putting politics and partisanship over what could have been bipartisan public policy. Republicans and democrats have been working together on a Bipartisan Legislation to bring generic drugs to market faster by incentivizing more competition, ensuring patients get the earlest possible ack a sess to more affordable Prescription Drugs. We agree on that. Just as we did in the last congress when i was chairman, we led the effort to revamp every part of the f. D. A. And how they can get drugs to markets sooner. As a result of our work there and in our bipartisan work before that on 21st century cures, we ranking minority memberped up the ability of the f. D. A. To get competition and new drugs into the market. And they set a record last year in getting generics to market as a result of our bipartisan work. We could have had that today on this floor. But in the first measure, we do agree upon, would ensure branded drugmakers do not withhold samples needed to get generic drugs approved. Second, would man pay for delay agreements. The third would limit first approved generic makers ability to stall another rivals launch. We put a stop to what i would say are bad behaviors in that process. Together these bills would help patients get access to more affordable Prescription Drugs and those bills are bipartisan. Just how bipartisan . Two of the bills passed the energy and Commerce Committee by voice vote. And the third passed unanimously on a 510 vote. Mr. Chair, this is how the American People expect us to get our work done. Sadly, House Democrats once again could not pass up a chance to play gotcha politics. So what did they do . They packaged these agreed to bipartisan drug pricing proposals with a bailout of obamacare that passed out of committee on a a purely partisan vote. Heres what that bill contains. First, 200 million a year in taxpayer funding for states to establish obamacare marketplaces. This funding expired five years ago. All be it not before hundreds of millions of federal taxpayer resources were wasted, including in my own state, they finally had to give up on that and go with a national plan. New jersey has expressed an interest in creating a new state exchange, and they say they can do it without new federal taxpayer money. They can do it without us. If a state cites greater exchange, they should be allowed to do so. We dont need to create new federal grants for things that states say they have the capacity to do themselves. Second, 100 million a year, 100 million a year to fund the navigator program. If plan year 2017 navigators received a total of 62. 5 million in grants and they enrolled 81,426 individuals. That means it cost 767 per person that they enrolled and that accounted for less than 1 of total enrollees. Its important to understand by contrast agents and brokers assisted 42 of those in the enrollment year of 2018. You know what it cost for them to do it . 2. 40. Yet under this law you cant use the funds for the navigators to actually pay for those folks, the brokers and agents to do this work that they do very efficiently. 767 per enrollee versus 2. 40. Third, the bill reverses the administrations effort to allow more state regulated Insurance Plan options for consumers who, flange, are getting priced out of the market and looking for choice that is fit them and their lives. I want to set the record straight on these plans. Plans you heard described earlier were actually legal under obamacare and the obama administration. And they are legal under the Trump Administration. They provide choices to people in between jobs or people who cant afford these exploding premiums. The promise your premium will go down 2500 bucks evap wait prathed as soon as the bill became law. People are stuck with ever increasing premiums, enormous deductibles, and saying oo could we please allow our states to put together options for us. They still have to go through a state insurance regulator. They certainly care about their systems. C. B. O. Projected premiums for these plans could be as much as 60 lower than the cheapest federal mandated plans. 60 . Even more, states can regulate these plans. In the chairmans home state of new jersey, they are simply banned. Thats new jerseys choice. They should have that choice. In my home state of oregon they are limited to 90 days. This federalism at its best. But in their washington knows best mentality, the bills brought before us today strip away this option for longer term plans, thats wrong. And its unfair. Fourth, the bill spends 100 million a year to market the federal plans. They couldnt stop there. Instead of educating patients on all the plan options available to them, their legislation actually places a gag order on the promotion of more affordable choices. Specifically, Association Health plans known as a. H. P. s and the shortterm limited duration Insurance Plans. You cant even tell consumers about that. Well have a gag order from washington. There is simply no reason to combine these bills with our bipartisan, i had a say unanimously approved bills, to deal with drugs. Energy and commerce republicans put forth an alternative bill that includes all of h. R. 987s bipartisan drug provisions i referenced earlier, but removes the partisan, strictly gotcha provisions. Our pragmatic plan replaces these provisions with language extending funding for Community Health centers, National Health service corps, and other Public Health extenders for a year. These Public Health extenders should be a a top bipartisan priority for the congress because they must be done before the end of the fiscal year, end of september. They deserve the attention of congress. Let me go back to the navigators. Wall street journal reported, i quote, one grantee took in 200,000 to enroll a grand otal of one person. The top 10 most expensive navigators collected 2. 77 million sign up, 314 people. If you take that 2. 77 million that they want to give to these navigators, they are the most expensive operators on the planet to sign people up for insurance, and gave that to our Community Health centers, do you know how many people they could cover with 2. 77 million . One estimate is 20,000 patients. 20,000 patients. Republicans are saying, lets take that money and actually get it out to help patients through our Community Health centers rather than spend it on navigators that can can take 200,000 and enroll one person or 767 on average versus 2. 40 when agents and brokers do this enrollment. We think we have a better with way. Our bill, h. R. 2700, is called the lowering Prescription Drug costs and extending Community Health centers and other Public Health priorities act. Pretty straightforward and honest title. We should take this bill up now, mr. Chairman, because the majority, unfortunately, has decided to put politics before us today with our bipartisan efforts to lower drug costs. The bill before us right now is going nowhere in the senate. They have said that. White house has weighed in, said they dont like it, either. We should take up the alternative to move our bipartisan work forward and take care of our responsibilities to ensure our Community Health septemberers and other Public Health priorities are funded. Thats always been a bipartisan effort. Finally, just further point on the blatant and unnecessarily partisanship on display here today, House Democrats made 26 amendments in order on this bill. 26. One of those amendments, just one, was authored by a republican. They control everything around here. And they said in the opening days they are going to open up this process. 92 of the amendments allowed to be brought to the floor so far this year have been from democrats. When we were in charge 45 , 45 were the minoritys amendments came to the floor. So much for openness. Just one was authored by a republican. Its unfortunate we find our oselves here today. It didnt have to be this way. These are measures especially on the drug side we were already on the agreement on. If they were separated out you would have passage right from the president. In the senate they would pass them and become law. When youre ready to make law, let us know. In the meantime we have a better way to take care of our Community Health serpts, patients, and those seeking more choices and more affordable rates for insurance product than what the federal governments mandated. With that i reserve the balance of my time. The chair the gentleman from oregon reserves the balance of his time of the the gentleman from new jersey is recognized. Mr. Pallone thank you, mr. Chairman. I yield a minute and a half to our distinguished whip, mr. Clyburn from South Carolina. The chair the gentleman from South Carolina is recognized for 1 1 2 minutes. Mr. Clyburn thank you, mr. Chairman. I thank the gentleman for yielding me the time. Today i stand for the American People and the voters of South Carolinas sixth Congressional District who spoke loud and clear last november. Demanding that congress uphold the access to Affordable Care. Dismantle ffort to the Affordable Care act and we stand ready to defend every aspect of this legislation. We will not stop our efforts to hold this Administration Accountable and my republican colleagues as they continue misrepresenting and undermining the Affordable Care act. The work of this body, a coequal branch of our government, to conduct legitimate and lawful oversight in order to protect americans access to health care who will not be deterred. Today, this house will vote on a package of seven bills that will halt the administrations sabotage of the Affordable Care act, improve the acts implementation and lower the costs of Prescription Drugs. This legislative package entitled the strengthening health care and lowering rescription drug costs acts the chair the gentlemans time has expired. Mr. Pallone you want an additional 30 seconds . Mr. Clyburn 30 seconds. This legislation takes meaningful steps to control the spiraling prescriptive drug costs by expanding access to generic drugs so patriots dont have to choose between lifesaving medications or other necessities like rent or food. Democrats are addressing Crucial Health care needs. We stand to protect the health care of american citizens, and i yield back. The chair the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. The gentleman from new jersey reserves. The gentleman from oregon is recognized. Mr. Walden im honored to recognize the gentleman from kentucky, mr. Guthrie. Mr. Guthrie i rise in opposition the h. R. 97. I wish i wasnt giving this speech. As my colleagues know, i have a bipartisan track record here in the house. I have been proud to work with on emocratic colleagues issues such as aleds imers and work force development. Last congress i had two bills that pass the house. Both my colleagues know that i take bipartisanship and our responsibility to get things done for our constituents very seriously. Thats why im extremely disappointed that i will have to vote against 987 today. I hear from the people of kentucky about how drug prices are too high. This is an issue that affects everyone and one of the few big issues these days that republicans and democrats can all agree on. And President Trump has made this a priority. As Ranking Member of the oversight investigations subcommittee, i have launched with representative deg get on rising insulin prices. I was proud to support Bipartisan Legislation in the full energy and Commerce Committee. Sadly, mr. Speaker, democrats have loaded up what was previously a bipartisan drug price legislative bill with they knowt they republicans will never support. They made it this into a bailout obamacare bill. My colleagues are playing games to score cheap political points at the expense of americans across the country for paying too much at the pharmacy count ir. I urge my colleagues not to make lowering drurg prices a partisan fight. Im willing to work to fix this problem and i urge all of my colleagues to do the same and i yield back. The chair the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. The gentleman from oregon continues to reserve. The gentleman from new jersey. Mr. Pallone i yield a minute and a half to the gentleman from of nois, who is the sponsor the pay for delay legislation. Mr. Rush thank you, mr. Speaker. And i want to thank the full Committee Chairman for giving me this time. Mr. Speaker, i am proud on behalf of the people in the 1st district of illinois to rise today in support of h. R. 987, which includes my legislation e protecting consumer access to generic drugs act. My legislation included in todays package prohibits the presence of pay for delay with a brand Name Companies compensate generics to prevent the entry of these drugs into the market. I have long stood against these anticompetitive bills which limit competition and force consumers this disgraceful this is happening now. I stand with my colleagues to stop Drug Companies from continuing to rig and take advantage of harddeliff working. My legislation will take a meaningful step towards bringing this behavior to a screeching halt and holding Drug Companies accountable once and for all. With with the passage of this bill, we are making progress towards addressing those skyrocketing costs of Prescription Drugs and making good on our promise that no american should be forced to make the choice between paying their bills and buying pills. I yield back. The chair the gentlemans time has expired. The gentleman from new jersey reserves. The gentleman from oregon is recognized. Mr. Walden im pleased to recognize dr. Burgess, our Top Republican on the Health Care Subcommittee and distinguished member of the rules committee for four minutes. The chair the gentleman is recognized for four minutes. Mr. Burgess i rise today to speak in opposition to 987. Im concerned the democrats are using bipartisan drug pricing bills to pay for partisan politics. But these bills are proof we can Work Together across the aisle and do what is best for constituents. Unform, as the Washington Post said yesterday, democrats are putting a political pothole in the way of drug pricing bills. Democrats have decided that use funding to thein facilitated marketplace. This morning, a publication called stat published an article entitled, in washington the bipartisan approach leaves democrats doubting their own Party Leadership. As this article reported, even House Democrats do not understand why the speaker of the house and Party Leadership have decided to politicize bipartisan bills that enjoy widespread support. The chairwoman of the Health Subcommittee is on record by saying she is not a fan of what has happened. Republicans do stand ready to work on solutions. Congressman mark meadows, the chairman of the Freedom Caucus said that the democrats political stunt is a wasted political opportunity. He continued, youve got the chairman of the Freedom Caucus willing to work with democrats on making real Structural Reforms on Prescription Drug prices and what do they do . They put a poison pill in trying to augment a Failing Health care delivery system, closed quote. I ask my friends on the other side, why ruin tenth on taking good legislation that can deliver real results for real people . You say you want to lower drug prices, but your actions speak loudly otherwise. Fortunately, im not just here to complain. I have a solution to the scenario we are facing on the floor today. On tuesday night in the rules committee, i offered an amendment that would take these three drug policies and 500 billion in savings from those policies and introduced h. R. 2700, the lowering Prescription Drug costs and extending Community Health centers. H. R. 2700 coupled the drug pricing policies with reauthorization of programs such as Community Health centers and diabetes programs. Reauthorizations are tough. I know. I was chairman of the Health Subcommittee in the last congress. September seems like a long ways away. Many of these programs expire at the end of the fiscal year, but the time to get these things done is now. We have taken no specific action towards reauthorization of these programs. September seems far away, but weve got to account for the time it takes to move through regular order. So just on the other issues that we are facing today, the shortterm limited duration rule repeal. According to the Congressional Budget Office and joint committee on taskation, the policy to repeal the shortterm limited Duration Insurance rule uld result in 5500,000 individuals becoming uninsured. Is this what you want . Isnt it better they have insurance than none at all. I have meetings in my office and meet with people that cannot afford the plans they have been forced to buy off the a. C. A. Exchange. They need lower cost options and thats exactly what these limited duration plans provide. State regulate these plans and have the authority to disallow them if they so choose. This is a case for federalism. And i want to quote from the Congressional Budget Office report. C. B. O. And joint committee on 1. 5 on it would have Million People mr. Walden i extend an additional 30 seconds. Mr. Burgess more than 500,000 established by the Affordable Care act and 500,000 would become uninsured. The drug policies contained in both 87 and my bill h. R. 2700 are commonsense measures to lower drug prices for our constituents. Im concerned that it has been rolled into a bipartisan package that will be dead on arrival in the senate. We were able to Work Together in committee and subcommittee to improve access to generics. I hope you consider the nature of the policies when moving the packages to the floor in the future. I yield back. The chair the gentlemans time has expired. The gentleman from oregon. Members are reminded to direct their remarks to the chair. The gentleman from new jersey is recognized. Mr. Pallone i yield a minute and a half to the the gentlewoman from illinois, who chairs our Consumer Protection and commerce subcommittee. Ms. Schakowsky the real political grandstanding that we are hearing today is from the republican side of the aisle, who for nearly 10 years had been fighting against the Affordable Care act. Over 60 times they voted gets the Affordable Care act. Maybe its because some people call it obamacare. And we know that millions and millions of people have gotten health care because of it. Its time to stop and say lets Work Together to make the Affordable Care act even better and extend access and the fact is that the Affordable Care act and affordable Prescription Drugs are two pillars of Health Care Access. They really cannot be separated. So i am just proud that we are having an opportunity today to do what was impossible while the republicans were in charge of the congress. And today, we are voting on making impactful, lasting change in lowering the costs of health care and including Prescription Drugs for americans nationwide. Democrats are at the table and ready to pass this legislation. We are ready to improve the aspects of health care from Health Care Affordability and to Prescription Drug affordability. And instead of offering amendments in bad faith, we need to pass this bill. I urge all my colleagues to reject the amendment by mr. Bucshon and support the passage of h. R. 987 in its entirety. And i yield back. The chair the gentleman from new jersey reserves. The gentleman from oregon. Mr. Walden before i recognize mr. Carter from georgia, i just want to say i have been on the floor a lot few weeks and we get the same refrain that republicans voted 60 times to repeal obamacare, what is never said that 30 of those bills, my friends on the other side of the aisle voted for and president obama signed them into law. 30 of them. And off the top 21 of those bills were signed into law by president obama. And so its 21 of the 30 were signed into law by president obama. My point being, obamacare had problems. We came doing and tried to address those problems with this legislation, repealing the unsustainable class act, cadillac and medical device, the independent payment advisory board, on and on and on and my friends voted with us and with them. So dont come down that only republicans voted to do things on obamacare. We also support these drug bills. Theres no question about that, because we want lower cost drugs and stop bad behaviors that prevent generics coming to market sooner. I recognize the gentleman from georgia, mr. Carter, for three minutes. Mr. Carter mr. Speaker, i come before you today a very disappointed person, a disappointed member of congress, a disappointed pharmacist. Disappointed that my democratic colleagues have decided to prioritize politics over patients. By packing together bipartisan bills to lower drug costs with partisan bills to bail out obamacare. Two completely different subjects. Republicans and democrats have worked hard to create strong bipartisan bills that will increase the amount of generic drugs entering the marketplace, bringing more affordable choices to patients. Now, House Democrats have chosen to use these bipartisan bills to pay for partisan obamacare bills. This bill includes major drug pricing proposals, like the creates act, and the pay for delay, which both seek to increase the ability of lower cost generic drugs to get to the market quickly, providing patients with more affordable choices. We had long, hardfought negotiations with our democratic counterparts in multiple markups that ran until midnight over these two proposals, but we were eventually able to come to an agreement. The other drug pricing bill in had this package is a bill i orked with with my friend, representive schrader from oregon, the blocking act. It will keep bad actors from clogging up our generic drug pipeline. Hear me, mr. Speaker, and hear me clearly. This bill is the pictureperfect definition of good Bipartisan Legislation. Democrats are throwing that work away by prioritizing politics over patients. All three of these bipartisan drug pricing bills save money. So the democrats are choosing this over partisan politics. The bill before us today will throw hundreds of millions of dollars at the failed obamacare marketplace and further restricting patient choice. Bottom line is theres no need for this course. Drug pricing should not be a partisan issue. In all of my years of being a pharmacist, ive seen patients struggle with the high cost of Prescription Drugs. Now that im in congress, i hear from my constituents back home. We all do. Now, voters across the country sent us up here to work on drug pricing and the three drug pricing bills in this package shows in fact we can do that, we can Work Together on important issues. When we Work Together, we can achieve real results that help patients, but once again, were letting politics become the priority instead of helping people. Republicans want to Work Together on drug pricing. The people want us to Work Together on drug pricing, so i call on my colleagues to do the right thing. Lets put patients before politics. Mr. Speaker, this is important. Strike these partisan poison our in this bill and send drug pricing bills over to the senate and send it over to the president s desk and have him sign it into law. I yield back. The chair the gentleman from oregon reserves. The gentleman from new jersey is recognized. Mr. Pallone mr. Chair, i yield now one minute to our distinguished majority leader, mr. Hoyer. The chair the distinguished gentleman from maryland is recognized for one minute. Mr. Hoyer thank you, mr. Speaker. If you put patients before politics, you will vote for this bill. Because patients care about Prescription Drugs, but they also care about access to affordable, Quality Health care. Now, you sent a bill to the president you really didnt send it to him because it didnt pass the senate and you went down to the white house and you exalted about the bill you passed and the president said this is a good bill. Then, he had the opportunity to perhaps have his advisors tell him what was in the bill, and 10 days later he said, this is a mean bill. Because it shortchanged patients for politics. Mr. Speaker, last week, the house passed h. R. 986, a bill to protect coverage with those with preexisting conditions, and they, republicans said, no, it doesnt do that, and they wanted to change the name of the bill. Not only did they want to vote against it, they wanted to change the name of the bill. Why . Because they want to tell the patients tell you were for protecting against preexisting conditions, we just dont vote that way. This week, House Democrats are continuing to strengthen access to Affordable Health care by passing h. R. 987, an additional package of bills aimed at strengthening our Health Care System and lowering Prescription Drug costs. Because patients just dont worry about Prescription Drugs, they worry about their Health Coverage. As a matter of fact, its hard to separate the two. This effort is critical because the Trump Administration, in its campaign and from its very first day, and congressional republicans, have been working tirelessly to sabotage Health Care Access and undermine the reforms of the Affordable Care act. They voted against it and, yes, they voted over and over and over and over and over again to repeal it. With all due respect to my friend, we didnt vote for those bills. Now, we may have voted for some bills to improve the obamacare act, but we certainly didnt vote for any of your bills which had the effect of repealing obamacare because we believe its in the best interest of the American Public and so does the majority of the American Public. Last year, 1. 1 million americans lost Health Coverage after years of gains in coverage. This shows us dangerously that the Trump Administration sabotage administrative sabotage is having its intended adverse effect. From limiting access to open enrollment to allowing junk plans let me Say Something about junk plans because the gentleman says, well, some people cant afford it. Yes, they get a plan and they think they have Health Coverage and, by the way, it doesnt cover something when they get ill or they have lifetime limits or annual limits. They dont have this covered. They dont have the other covered. Not only that, guess what happens to the insurance pool . It becomes riskier. And guess what happens then . The price goes up. You dont have to be a genius or know much about the Insurance Business to know thats the case. From repealing votes in congress to antia. C. A. Lawsuits in the courts, republicans have been trying to undermine the Affordable Care act, from shortening enrollment periods to cutting funding for outreach to let people know what is available to them and whats best policy for them. Advice and counsel, they dont have to take any of it, but they ought to have it available to them. This be a stodge is hurting access to Affordable Health coverage for the people this sabotage is hurting access to Affordable Health coverage for the people. Here for, for the people. First, we are banning junk plans that dont provide adequate coverage and raise premiums for comprehensive health plans. Next, were taking action to bring generic drugs to market more quickly, helping to lower costs of Prescription Drugs. I appreciate the fact that my republican colleagues support those bills. I appreciate the gentleman, who knows full well as a pharmacist, the crisis that confronts people when they cant afford lifesaving and healthenhancing Prescription Drugs. But they also are facing real problems of nonavailability of Health Insurance should they have to have health providers, whether they are doctors or hospitals. Finally, h. R. 987 increases funding for outreach, enrollment, and navigators to help americans find the right Health Care Plan. Thats for the people, to help the people understand and to access and to be secure in knowing they have Adequate Health care for them and their families. It also provides states with additional funding to establish statebased marketplaces. Innovation. Our legislation will provide insurers, providers, and patients with greater certainty that the Affordable Care act will continue to make Health Care Available and affordable to americans with preexisting conditions. Im pleased that my republican colleagues are supporting the Prescription Drug titles of this bill, and perhaps well send it over to the senate. Maybe thats all theyll send back, but the fact of the matter is we have a broader responsibility than just Prescription Drugs. Democrats are committed to bringing Health Care Costs down and making sure more americans can access quality, affordable coverage. I want to thank representatives cicilline, rush, schrader, castor, kim, and blunt rochester for their leadership in the Component Parts of this bill which will make the security for Health Care Better for the people. Theyve introduced the constituent parts of this bill. Of course, i want to thank my good friend, frank pallone. Nobody has worked harder for a long period of time to enhance the health care of americans. Nobody has worked harder in committee, both initially on the Affordable Care act, of which he was a very significant part of the authorship, and since then in protecting it and trying to enhance it. This bill is important for us to pass to do just that. Thats why i urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to join us in standing up for the Affordable Care act and its benefits. Not undermining the law and its reforms. Having agreement on prescription reforms and bringing prices down, making generics more available is an important step, but its not the only step that we need to take, and this is not the final step. This is a step. Its an important step. I hope that republicans and democrats would support this bill overwhelmingly, because, as i said, it is for the people , and i yield back. The chair the gentleman yields back. The gentleman from new jersey reserves. Members are reminded to direct their comments to the chair. The gentleman from oregon is recognized. Mr. Walden thank you, mr. Chair. I just want to make a couple points before i introduce the author of the creates act. The gentleman that just spoke, mr. Chair, mr. Hoyer, voted 21 times, 21 of the bills that were signed into law to repeal parts of obamacare the gentleman voted for because those parts were unworkable. When you hear about 60 times, remember, the leader, distinguished leader, my friend actually voted for 21 of them, as did i. When i talk about the people, let me read a statement from tom from medford. He said, greg, i just received letter from the Insurance Company stating our monthly premium next year will go up nearly 40 . 40 from 632 to 883 per month. Thats with the plan more or less staying the same but without any outofnetwork care. Thats not affordable. Thats why we think states need options. When they talk about the navigators, remember agents and brokers in the private sector, it costs about 2. 40 for them to sign somebody up. What the navigators would cost, ased on 2017 numbers, 767 per enrollee. And for the 2. 7 million that was meant to sign up 314 people, if you put that money, as republicans want to do, in Community Health centers, one estimate is you could cover 0,000 people for that 2. 7 million. Now the leader on the creates effort to bring drug prineses down, mr. Drug prices down, mr. Sensenbrenner. The chair the gentleman is recognized for two minutes. Mr. Sensenbrenner i rise in opposition of this bill. And one of the things thats frustrated me in the almost five months that the democrats have controlled this chamber is that anything that is good and bipartisan and for the people they turn into a partisan screaming contest. And that is exactly what they have done with the creates act, which will bring down Prescription Drug prices and has strong bipartisan support n both houses and as a standalone bill would have a very good chance of being signed into law. So we can talk today about all of these things about obamacare , that the other side of the aisle wants to put more money into, but thats going nowhere. I think what we should do is look at what we can accomplish, and we can accomplish changing the way that drugs are priced through the creates act. At a time when everything is a dramatic political value, lowering Prescription Drug prices is one of the few opportunities when, it once seemed, republicans and democrats would get something meaningful done for the American People. Just a few weeks ago, the judiciary and energy and Commerce Committees walked worked across the aisle unanimously reporting out several bills to that end. My friend, the gentleman from rhode island, mr. Cicilline, and i are sponsors of one of those bills, the creates act, our commonsense legislation would allow consumers the access cheaper, generic drugs sooner, driving down costs and saving taxpayers money. According to c. B. O. Estimates, our bill would save the american taxpayer 3. 9 billion over 10 years. This bill has the kind of bipartisan support to become law. However, instead of letting his however, the democratic leadership tacked it onto the obamacare bailout package that has no chance of passing in the senate. The majority leader just admitted that. This is a missed opportunity and its highly disappointing. The American People want us to work in a bipartisan manner. The American People want us to accomplish things. And this is a poison pill that will make sure that this bill never sees the light of day in the senate and will never become law. When they take up this bill, i hope they strip up all the obamacare bailout, free of poison pills and pass the bipartisan drug pricing bills so the house will consider them in a more bipartisan fashion. I yield back. The chair the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. The gentleman from oregon. Mr. Walden i want to reinforce what the gentleman from wisconsin said. This is from the Washington Post. The health 202. Democrats are putting a political pothole in the way of drug pricing bills. Didnt have to be this way. These bills came out of committees individually and the democratic leadership put them together knowing they could put a poison pill into a drug reform bill and delay consumers ability to get Affordable Drugs sooner. This could move much quicker without these provisions in it. I reserve. The chair the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. The gentleman from new jersey is recognized. Mr. Pallone i yield a minute and a half to the gentlewoman from california, ms. Matsui. Ms. Matsui i rise as a proud cosponsor, legislation that advances democrats commitment to re inch n the soaring costs of Health Care Costs. I am addressing an issue, the rising cost of prescription medicines. Recently, i heard from mary who is living with a chronic condition. The cost of her medication has skyrocketed in recent years to the point she has been forced to cancel prescriptions and forego treatment. This is unacceptable. The bill before us today represents an opportunity to make progress in allowing lower cost generic drugs come to market sooner. This will make health care more affordable for patients with preexisting conditions while reversing the administrations sabotage of the a. C. A. This is critical for people like charity, a constituent in my district who fierce that without the a. C. A. , she would have to hide her rare disease in order to get adequate medical care. No patient should have to live with such a worry. I support these Patient Protections on the floor today and i remain committed keeping working to defend americas right to quality and Affordable Health care. I yield back. The chair the gentleman from new jersey reserves. The gentleman from oregon is recognized. Mr. Walden mr. Chairman, ill reserve. The chair the gentleman from oregon reserves. The gentleman from new jersey is ecognized. Mr. Pallone i yield a minute and a half to the gentleman from vermont, mr. Welch. The chair the gentleman is recognized. Well well mr. Welch this legislation is going to make health care more affordable and more accessible. Two things, one, we finally are attacking the explosion in the cost of Prescription Drugs and i thank my republican colleagues in participating in that effort. In vermont, we just had a 16 rate increase request from blue cross blue shield, 9 of that is attributable to the increase in phrma costs. Phrma has been ripping us off. And this bill ends their abuse of outrageous practice of paying generic practice to delay bringing their lower cost drugs to the market. No excuse for that. This bill ends it. The second thing it does is deny them the opportunity to withhold samples so Generic Companies can come up with a competitive product. That is tremendous. Its overdue and just the beginning. Second this makes health care more accessible by funding navigateors. My colleagues disregard that. But navigateors help people make the decisions about what is the belt Health Care Plan for them and provides money for outreach. We want folks to know what is available and make the best choice and security of health care. And finally, there will be protection for the auto enrollment program. Everybodys busy. If the default position is you are back in the plan you had, thats good. There is security in that. People can make options to get out. This makes Health Care Affordable and more accessible. I yield back. The chair the gentlemans time has expired. The gentleman from new jersey reserves. The gentleman from oregon is recognized. Mr. Walden mr. Chairman, i would just yield myself time herto thank the gentleman from vermont for not only his comments here on the noor but his comments publicly about what we agree with, which is the issues should have remaped separate and not lumped tother. I reserve. The chair the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. The gentleman from pal own. Mr. Pallone i yield to the gentlewoman from flori, a minute and a half. Ms. Castor we are wering the cost of hlth care and Prescription Drugs. I stronglsupport the acit contains two bills that i offered. First is h. R. 1010 that prohibits the expansion of these junk insuran plans. They are the ones that do not cover preexisting conditions. You could be tricked into buying one of these plans and find out it doesnt cover a trip to the hospital. I asked secretary azar in committee about this, and i said you are aware these jumping plans do not cover preexisting conditions and he said that is correct. The bill also contains another section that i authored, the enroll act, to restore funds to our independent navigateors that are helping American Families choose the right Health Insurance option for them. Agents and brokers are important but no substitute for independent navigateors that are trusted in the community. Weve got to pass these bills today, to lower the Health Care Costs for families all across the country, lower Prescription Drug costs. Lets not let them expand these junk plans and leave you on the hook. Lets make sure families have the independent advice to choose what makes the most sense to them. I yield back. The chair the gentlelady yields back. The gentleman from new jersey reserves. The gentleman from oregon. Mr. Walden in the state of florida allows state regulated plans to go up 364 days to give floridians the opportunity to have choice. When it comes to Association Health plans that allows Small Businesses that i used to own and offer more Affordable Health insurance, they put a gag order on it so you cant tell people they might have that option. So, mr. Chairman, i dont know that i would fully trust all these navigateors. One grantee took in 200,000, your tax dollars, enrolled one person. The top 10 most expensive navigateors collected 2. 77 million to sign up 214 people. If you put that in Community Health centers where republicans would prefer to spend that money, you would cover more patients. I reserve. The chair the gentleman from new jersey is recognized. Mr. Pallone i yield to mr. Schroeder, the sponsor of the blocking act. The chair the gentleman from oregon is recognized. Slowed slowed i rise in favor of the package bills to stabilize the marketplace and address drug prices. I rise in support of one bill in the package, my bill cosponsored with buddy carter, h. R. 938, the blocking act. As we are well aware, the rising costs of drug prices is deeply impacting every american. Addressing this issue does not have one solution. The blocking act is one of many that will address this larger problem. It takes action to ensure that generic drugs reach the market as quickly as possible. It saves tens of billions of dollars every year. The more competition we have, the more savings we see. Ts with the knowledge that we provide generic manufacturers. Unfortunately in the Current System some generic manufacture delay by parking their applications once being award and not bringing their drug to market. Doing so does not allow others to come to the market and hold a disadvantage to the american consumer. Solution is quite simple. We need to prevent loopholes that inadvertently keep drug prices high. I urge others to support pack acknowledge of bills to address this critical issue for america. I yield back. The chair the gentleman from oregon is recognized. My friend is right on the drug pieces and like other democrats, a lot of people think we should keep these bills separately and would zoom on through quickly. I yield to the gentlelady from Washington State. The chair the gentlelady from Washington State is recognized for two minutes. Mr. Rogers i thank the gentleman mrs. Mcmorris rodgers i rise today to voice my support for true bipartisan efforts to reduce Prescription Drug costs. Seniors, patients and families in my district and all across america are counting on us so they can afford their medication and have the serpt they need. We have led republicans and democrats on our committee have been working on provisions to bring generic drugs to the market faster by incentivizing more Competition Among the generic manufacturers. We passed three drug pricing bills with overwhelmingly bipartisan support. These are three solutions that President Trump stands ready to sign. And we should send them to his desk. This is an opportunity to build on the bipartisan work from the last congress to lower drug costs and keep our promises to the American People. Remember, just last fall, President Trump signed our partisan bill to ban the gag clauses and so americans can get the best price. We should build on that work. Thats what the people elect us to do, thats what they expect and thats what they deserve. So, whats changed and where are we today . The new majority at the expense of patients, seniors and families is playing politics with lowering the costs of Prescription Drugs. H. R. 987 includes our bipartisan bills that my colleagues across the aisle have packaged them with bipartisan partisan bills. This would stop the administrations work to reduce wasteful spending on programs that arent working. The Washington Post called these poison pills a political pothole. We need real reform that the president will sign. This is a ploy and just the latest. The energy and Commerce Committee has historically been the most Bipartisan Committee in the house, putting more Bipartisan Legislation on the president s desk. Im disappointed that we found i yield back. The chair the gentleman from new jersey is recognized. Mr. Pallone i yield a minute and a half to the gentlewoman from New Hampshire who is the sponsor of protecting people with preexisting conditions act that we passed last week. The chair the gentlewoman from New Hampshire is recognized for 1 1 2 minutes. Ms. Blunt rochester thank you or yielding, chairman pallone. Ms. Kuster thank you for yielding, chairman pallone. Mr. Speaker, i rise today in support of h. R. 987, the strengthening health care and lowering Prescription Drug costs act. I rise hand in hand with granite staters and all americans who had been denied care or charged more for care because of preexisting conditions. Asthma, allergies, alzheimers, cancer, diabetes, you can go right through the alphabet. Having a child. These are preexisting conditions, and i believe people should not suffer more when they are at their most vulnerable. Patients should not be discriminated against or treated unfairly when they need it most. Im committed to reversing the Trump Administrations continuous, unrelenting sabotage of the Affordable Care act that allows and encourages junk health plans. H. R. 987 invests in access to quality care while lowering Prescription Drug prices. It ensures that generics can come to market as soon as possible so that seniors are not skipping the medication they need because they cannot afford it. I support this legislation because it puts patients first. I thar Representative Lisa Blunt rochester for her leadership i thank Representative Lisa Blunt rochester for her leadership on this bill and i encourage my colleagues to vote yes on h. R. 987. Thank you, chairman pallone. I yield back. The chair the gentlelady yields back. The gentleman from new jersey reserves. The gentleman from oregon is recognized. Mr. Walden mr. Chairman, at this point i would reserve my time. The chair the gentleman from oregon reserves. The gentleman from new jersey is recognized. Mr. Pallone thank you, mr. Chairman. I yield one minute to our dynamic leader, our speaker, nancy pelosi. The chair the speaker is recognized for one minute. The speaker thank you, mr. Speaker. Congratulations, what a joy to see you in the chair as speaker of the house. Mr. Chairman, thank you for your extraordinary leadership as charity of the energy and Commerce Committee. To you and to congresswoman anna eshoo, chair of the Health Subcommittee. Thank you so much for all of your hard work to bring us to the series of bills today, in addition to the bills of last week. Who mend our colleague just spoke, yan kuster, to preserve the benefit of ann kuster, to preserve the benefit of preexisting conditions. And also to lisa blunt rochester for her leadership on the legislation before us today to lower the cost of Prescription Drugs. Mr. Speaker and colleagues, on sunday we marked mothers day, a special tribute to our mothers. And also a somber reminder of the days when being a mother, when being a woman was a preexisting medical condition. As a mother of five, i can speak from some experience as to what an obstacle that can be to access to insurance. And last week, we took action to block the administrations cynical efforts to drag our country back to the dark days of discrimination in Health Care Coverage by passing the protecting americans with preexisting conditions act. Again, i salute congresswoman kuster for her leadership on this and for you, mr. Chairman. This is not a fight about legislation that were gathered here today. This is about a fight for our lives, the lives of many people affected. I want to take the opportunity to salute a hero, a hero who testified last week on health care at the rules committee, mr. Ady barkin. Hes a hero to us. Two weeks ago, it was two weeks. A man, he suffers from a. L. S. , but speaking out for Better Health care with courage, he testified before the committee. Ady said, i was healthy a year ago. I was running on the beach. Im 33 years old. I have an 18monthold son, carl, and out of nowhere i was diagnosed with a. L. S. Which means, as you know, has a life expectency of three to four years. No treatment, no cure. Like so many others, rachel, thats his wife, and i had to fight with our insurance. We had so little time left together. Yet, our system forces us to waste it dealing with bills and bureaucracy. Thats why im here today urging you to build more rational, fair, efficient, effective system. That was ady testifying two weeks ago. Since then, ady lost his grandmother, dina abramoff, and our sympathy goes out to him. Congratulations to her for having such a magnificent and courageous grandson. But ady has been here so many times with our lobbyists that have preexisting conditions, with our with many of the communities that represent people with diagnosises that need Prescription Drugs and cannot afford them. And so in the coming weeks and months, democrats will continue our action to strengthen Health Protections for people like ady, the lobbyists and others, because this is life or death. Its certainly quality of life. And now our Democratic House today is proud to pass the strengthening health care and lowering Prescription Drug cost act, congresswoman blunt rochester, and with this well promote Competition Among with generics and reverse the republicans sabotage that we have seen. Mr. Speaker, when we passed the Affordable Care act, it was absolutely necessary that we do so. Even if everyone in our country approved and loved their insurer and happy with their health care, which was not the case, but even if they did, it was essential that we passed the Affordable Care act because we could not sustain the cost of health care in our country at the time. The cost to an individual, to a family, to small business, to Corporate America was paying a big part of the bill and to the public sector, which was a tremendous burden. And with the Affordable Care act, we were able to lower the rate of increased of Health Care Costs in our country. But one sector, one segment of the Health Care Arena that was that we did not conquer was the cost of Prescription Drugs, which continues to contribute to the increase of Health Care Costs in our country. That is the main reason Health Care Costs are high, costs of Prescription Drugs. So i salute the chairman and the committee and anna eshoo, our distinguished chairman of the full committee for his legislation today which helps to lower the cost of Prescription Drugs to families, to people, to individuals, to families, to everyone who has a part in funding the good health of the American People. This is really essential, and it is a fight. And it is a fight, but we are taking it one piece at a time. The reason it had to be combined with other bills is because it had to be paid for. Our republican colleagues want to walk away from paying for the legislation. So we want to be very, very responsible in all of this. The distinguished Ranking Member of the no, you didnt say this. One of our colleagues on the floor earlier said that this bill was going to go die in hell or someplace. I dont know where. And they actually the distinguished well, not so in this case, but the leader, the republican leader of the senate said hes the grim reaper and all these bills will die, designating the senate a grave yard for legislation that will help the good health of the American People, lower costs for them, improve their lives. But he talked about everything we passed here. I have some news for the distinguished leader in the senate, the republican leader, mr. Mcconnell. The support for this legislation, these bills is alive and well among the American People. He will be hearing from them, because this legislation, these bills are a matter of life and death and certainly quality of life for americas working families. So we will never limit the aspirations and the meeting the needs of the American People that might be legislatively acceptable of the minds in the United States senate, but rell recognize that responsibility to not only pass boldest common denominator but do so what honors president lincoln said to us, public sentiment is everything. With public sentiment you can pass almost everything. Without it almost nothing. The public has to know and passing legislation of this kind is a strong message and our advocates, whether its the little lobbyists, whether its those affected by so many aspects that the Republican Leadership is out to be a stodge, that the Trump Administration is out to sabotage, whether in the congress or in the courts. We are taking to to the court, as we are in the Supreme Court. We will fight them in the Supreme Court and also in the court of public opinion. This is very, very important to the health but also the Financial Wellbeing of americas working families. So i salute you, mr. Chairman, for this legislation. I urge everyone to vote for it. And i know that you do have bipartisan support for some parts of the bill. I hope it will apply to all of it so it really can work. With that i yield back the balance of my time. The chair the gentlelady yields back. The gentleman from new jersey reserves. The gentleman from oregon is recognized. Mr. Walden mr. Chairman, can i inquire how much time remains on each side, please . The chair the gentleman from oregon has two minutes. The gentleman from new jersey has 11 1 2 minutes. Mr. Walden well reserve at this point. The chair the gentleman from oregon reserves. The gentleman from new jersey is recognized. Mr. Pallone mr. Chair, id yield a minute and a half to the gentlewoman from california, ms. Barragan. The chair the gentleman from california is recognized for a minute and a half. Ms. Barragan mr. Speaker, i rise today on behalf of the millions of americans who are struggling to afford their lifesaving medications. Every day millions face the tough decision of having to pay for their prescriptions or other basic cost of living like groceries and rent. Americans, like victoria from los angeles, a mother of three who was just diagnosed with m. S. , because of her high cost of medications, which she uses to delay the which she uses to delay the progress of her disease, she was forced to skip doses. This is just one of many stories of people like victoria who ration their care or stop taking their medication altogether. Not only is this dangerous, but it could result in death. The strengthening health care and lowering Prescription Drug costs act is the first step to stop the rigging of the system so theres no delay to get generics to consumers faster, that will increase competition, it will keep drug prices down for consumers. While theres still much more work that needs to be done to drive down the price of bringing down Prescription Drugs, this bill is a strong first step in ensuring all americans can afford the medication they need. Lets pass this bill and move forward in helping consumers. I yield back. The chair the gentlelady yields back. The gentleman from new jersey reserves. And the gentleman from oregon is recognized. Mr. Walden well continue to reserve on our side, mr. Chair. The chair the gentleman from oregon reserves. The gentleman from new jersey is recognized. Mr. Pallone mr. Chairman, i yield now a minute and a half to the gentlewoman from delaware. The chair the gentlewoman from delaware is recognized for a minute and a half. Ms. Blunt rochester chairman pallone, thank you for yielding, and thank you so much for your leadership. Mr. Chairman, i rise in strong support of h. R. 987, the strengthening health care and lowering Prescription Drug costs act. This legislative package is comprised of commonsense proposals that will advance important gains made by the Affordable Care act and further improve our Health Care System by, one, lowering the cost of Prescription Drug prices, and, two, increasing access to care. Included in this package is my bill, the more Health Education act, which will restore funding to the Affordable Care acts marketing and outreach programs. According to the c. B. O. Help an additional five million americans get Health Coverage. Educating americans about when they can enroll and what their options are gets more people covered, creates a better risk pool, brings down some of the costs of high premiums, and gets us one step closer to stabilizing the individual marketplace. A. C. A. Outreach not only boosts enrollment, but its also costeffective. The private sector spends between 250 and 1,000 per enrollment. However, it costs the government just 29 to enroll someone in the individual marketplace using tv ads. 29. The goal of affordable, accessible, and highQuality Health care is not a d or an r. Its an a for american. I urge my colleagues to vote yes on this bill, and i yield back the balance of my time. The chair the gentleman from new jersey reserves. The gentleman from oregon. Mr. Walden we continue to reserve. The chair the gentleman from new jersey. Mr. Pallone i yield a minute and a half to the gentleman from texas who chairs the ways and means Health Subcommittee. Dog dog im here to wade mr. Doggett im here to wade through the pool of crocodile tears where the republicans have done nothing meaningful to address prescription price gouging. This provides protection from antipharmaceutical practices. This offers great hope for the future. Key provisions are substantially the same as legislation i have introduced twice before. Pharmaceutical company, and the government grants a monopoly and too often that patent monopoly is extended wrongfully by buying off the competition in what are called pay for delay contracts. They claim they have to price gouge in order to solve and provide cures for the future, but what its really innovative is not about cures but maintaining its monopoly position. Todays modest action is very important, but it will not fulfill our democratic promise on delivering lowering Health Care Costs until we use the federal government, its purchasing power to negotiate drug prices much the way the veteran administration gets lower prices for our veterans. They will not yield its big prices willingly. It will take more of a cry and take more members with the fortitude to stand up to one of the most powerful lobbies in america and provide genuine relief. Lets do that. The chair the gentlemans time has expired. The gentleman from oregon. Mr. Walden we continue to reserve. The chair the gentleman from new jersey is recognized. Mr. Pallone i yield a minute to my colleague from new jersey who is the sponsor of legislation that encourages state exchanges. The chair the gentleman from new jersey is recognized for one minute. I rise support in taking action to Lower Health Care and Prescription Drug costs. In each of my town halls, i heard from my neighbors they are tired of the politics and cant afford the partisanship and need congress to be the adult in the room. Im proud that my bill, the save act, has been incorporated into the bill that we will be voting on today. The save act came from a single conversation as we reached across the aisle to congressman Brian Fitzpatrick and worked together to help the people we wake up every day committed to serve. Congress needs more conversations like that. Congress needs bold action like the one we will be taking today. Our neighbors need Health Care Relief and i call on our colleagues in the senate that our neighbors cannot wait for that relief to come. This is our moment to come. This is our moment to get something done for the American People. I yield back. The chair the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. The gentleman from new jersey reserves. The gentleman from oregon. Mr. Walden i recognize now the gentleman from georgia, mr. Cott, for a minute and a half. The chair the gentleman is recognized for a minute and a half. Mr. Scott i want to point out the same thing i pointed out the other day, they act as if you go to the doctor and says you have a dreaded disease and go out the next day and get an insurance contract. Ordable health care arent no coverage until the first of next year. And if you think health care was expensive and insurance was expensive, before the Affordable Care act, you sure ought to look at it now, because it is significantly more. I just want to point out theres a lot of good stuff in this legislation. There really is. I commend the dem cats and republicans on the committee for the work thats done to help the american citizens on the Prescription Drug issue. But as a representative who has 24 counties and over half the counties i represent, they have only one insurance carrier, only one insurance carrier, i can tell you these skinny plans are important. If you lose your coverage, where we live, it is in many cases the only thing thats available to you. Is it what people want to have . Is it what we want people to have . I would tell you, its not. But its sure better than nothing. And so, i hope that as things move forward, we will be able to get some things done on the Prescription Drugs. But again, 24 counties that i represent, half of them only have one insurance option. Those insurance carriers exempt from the antitrust laws. You left them exempt from the antitrust laws. And i yield the remainder of my time. The chair the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. The gentleman from oregon reserves. The gentleman from new jersey is recognized. Mr. Pallone mr. Chairman, i yield one minute to the the gentlewoman from minnesota. The chair the gentlewoman is recognized for one minute. Ms. Craig thank you, mr. Chair for yielding. I join my colleagues in strong support of the strengthening health care and lowering Prescription Drug costs act. Health care is the number one issue i hear about from the families that i represent and we must do the right thing for the American People and finally focus on lowering the costs of health care. As a child in my own family, we struggled at times to afford Health Insurance. I know directly that if health care isnt affordable, it isnt accessible. I cosponsored bills in this package to lower Prescription Drug costs and stabilize the Affordable Care act. Its unacceptable that 29 of americans ration life saving medicine because they cannot keep up with the costs. We need to stop brand name Drug Companies from keeping generic alternatives from the market and develop lower cost options for families. These efforts have bipartisan support. And im proud to support them. Thank you again, mr. Chairman. And i yield back. The chair the gentlelady yields back. The gentleman from new jersey reserves. The gentleman from oregon is recognized. Mr. Walden could we inquire about the amount of time on each side. The chair the gentleman from oregon has 30 seconds. And the gentleman from new jersey has five minutes. Mr. Walden we reserve. The chair the gentleman from new jersey is recognized. Mr. Pallone i yield one minute to the gentleman from colorado, mr. Neg use. Neguse. Mr. Neguse cost of health care is an urgent concern. And im proud to support the legislation championed by our chairman. This will provide much needed reforms and protect people with preexisting conditions and lower the cost of Prescription Drugs. These reforms are needed. American consumers pay far more than Prescription Drugs than it costs to manufacture them. In colorado, over half a Million People each year dont fill a prescription because of the cost. Half a Million People. The burden has led to heartbreaking stories of individuals forced to choose between feeding their loved ones and staking lifesustaining medications. Todays legislation will provide much needed reforms and lower Prescription Drug costs ending the tactics by drug manufacturers to keep less expensive drugs off the market and bringing generic drugs to market. I urge passage to ensure that no american has to skip doses because of the costs and no american goes bankrupt paying for their health care. I thank the chairman and i yield back. The chair the gentlemans time has expired. The gentleman from new jersey reserves. The gentleman from oregon is recognized. Mr. Walden i continue to reserve. The chair the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. The gentleman from new jersey is ecognized. Mr. Pallone mr. Chairman, i yield two minutes to our chair, the ucus gentleman from new york. The chair the gentleman from new york is recognized for two minutes. Mr. Jeffries i thank the distinguished chair for his leadership on this critically important issue, the reckless and reprehensible republican ssault on health care is unamerican, unconscionable and unacceptable. This administration wants to take away Health Care Protections from tens of millions of americans. This administration wants to impose an age tax on people between 50 and 64, which will dramatically increase premiums, copays and deductibles. This administration wants to take away protections for those with preexisting conditions. Adversely impacting more than 100 million americans. Here is the democratic response. Keep your hands off of the health care of every day americans. Our legislation will strengthen the Affordable Care act, protect people with preexisting conditions. Lower Health Care Costs and drive down the high costs of life saving Prescription Drugs because democrats believe that in this great country, no american should ever have to choose between putting food on the table, paying the rent or getting access to lifesaving medication. We believe that health care is a right, it is not a privilege. We are not going backward but going to move forward. This is the wealthiest country in the history of the corled. Every single american should have access to high quality and Affordable Health care and we are taking a substantial step in that direction today. I thank the chair and tremendous members of the relevant committees for their great work. I urge a yes vote. And i yield back. The chair the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. The gentleman from new jersey reserves. The gentleman from oregon. Mr. Walden well continue to reserve. The chair the gentleman from oregon reserves and jam new jersey. Mr. Pallone i think we are prepared to close. The chair the gentleman from new jersey has two minutes and the gentleman from oregon has 30 seconds remaining. Mr. Pallone i yield myself the remaining time. The chair the gentleman is recognized. Mr. Pallone im reserving the two minutes. The chair the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. The gentleman from oregon. Mr. Walden mr. Chairman, i believe the gentleman gets to close, is that not right . The chair the gentleman is recognized. Allone i yield myself mr. Walden we have no other speakers so i yield myself the balance of the time. I would would like to make clear for the record, republican support and work closely with our democrat colleagues on the drug reform bills to get lower cost prescriptions and more generics. There is no light between our shoulders on those issues. If those bills were brought here independently as they came out of committee independently, they would be headed to the senate and likely to the senate and we would be moving forward. Instead, they merged bills they know republicans are opposed. When it comes to navigateors, the actual number is 167 the individual signed up. Agents and brokers cost 240 for enrolley. We would like to take that money into Community Health centers and take care of 20,000 patients. I urge opposition to the bill. And i yield back. The chair the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. The gentleman from new jersey is recognized. Mr. Pallone i want to acknowledge the many members who wanted to lend their strong support for this legislation but were unable to add themselves as cosponsors due to this package being combined as part of the rules committee proceedings. They include the sponsors of the individual Bills Incorporated into this package and members like representative Sheila Jackson lee who strongly support our efforts to make health care more accessible and affordable. Let me just say, mr. Chairman, in closing, we as democrats, we promised and we will fulfill the promise that we are going to make health care more affordable and bring down the cost of Prescription Drugs and going to make sure that people are protected who have is preexisting conditions and we are offering robust plans, comprehensive plans with all the essential benefits as part of the package. Thats what the bill last week was about as well, guaranteeing if you have a preexisting condition, you will get Affordable Health coverage. 90 of Prescription Drugs could have a generic alternative. And they bring them down considerably. But the brand name Drug Companies have conspired to make it more difficult for generics to come to market and delay them coming to market and that drives up the cost of Prescription Drugs. We have watched this Trump Administration sabotage the Affordable Care act, put out junk plans so people dont