Washington, D.C. – Congressman Michael C. Burgess, M.D. (R-TX) Republican Leader of the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health released the follow statement after voting against of H.R. 3 – The Elijah E. Cummings Lower Drug Costs Now Act.

“This is not an academic exercise,” Burgess said. “I support bipartisan solutions to lower drug prices for American patients, and I appreciate the bipartisan discussions that we have had at the Energy and Commerce Committee to accomplish that goal. I cannot support H.R. 3 because it abandons the framework that has so successfully fostered American biomedical innovation, and therefore impedes patient access to future treatments and cures.”

“In the early days of my medical practice in the 1980s, I used to gripe with other doctors that there were treatments available in Europe that were not yet available in the United States. Thanks to the establishment of user fees and other significant work done by Congress to clear the regulatory bottleneck and speed the drug approval process over the past four decades, American doctors now have more pharmaceutical tools available to treat their patients than those in other countries. I cannot support legislation that will jeopardize patient access to care.

“I support H.R. 19, the Lower Costs, More Cures Act of 2019. This is policy that can become law in 2019 as it contains more than 40 bipartisan policies that have been championed by Members on both sides of the dais in both the House and in the Senate.

“H.R. 19 will lower drug costs for American patients while protecting access to new treatments and cures. It will cap out-of-pocket costs in Medicare Part D for American seniors, ensuring protection from the high cost of prescription drugs. It will also prevent pharmaceutical companies from gaming the system and promote healthy competition for lower cost generics.

“There is consensus in Congress that we must act to lower drug costs for American patients but passing a bill that the Senate will not take up and President Trump has stated publicly that he will veto, will not accomplish that goal. H.R. 19 can become law and provide real savings for American patients. I was elected by the people of the 26th District of Texas to work on policies that could make a difference in their lives, not those that would wither away after passing on a partisan vote. I hope that we can refocus our efforts in Congress to work on bipartisan drug pricing legislation that President Trump will sign, such as H.R. 19.

“To me, H.R. 3 represents a lost opportunity. A lost opportunity to work together, and a lost opportunity to bring down drug costs for American patients.”