FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE April 12, 2005

CONTACT: Brendan Daly/Jennifer Crider 202-226-7616

Pelosi on AARP Study: 'Republican Prescription Drug Bill Taking a Toll on Seniors' Wallets'

Washington, D.C. -- House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi released the following statement on a study released today by the AARPPublic Policy Institute and the PRIME Institute of the University of Minnesota, which found that brand name drug prices rose last year by more than twice the rate of inflation, the largest increase in the five years it has monitored prices:

"The unconscionable abuses of power that led to the Republican Medicare prescription drug bill are having real consequences for the American people.  The bill was written with the big drug companies, not seniors, in mind, and it is the big drug companies that are reaping the rewards.  As this study confirms, Republicans’ prescription drug bill continues to be a cruel hoax on America’s seniors.

"Instead of working to lower drug prices, the Republican drug bill specifically forbids the government from negotiating for lower prices, and it prohibits the safe reimportation of drugs from Canada and elsewhere.  Those shameful Republican policies are taking a toll on the wallets of seniors and middle-class Americans.

"The passage of the Republican drug bill was accompanied by a heavy ethical cloud over the Capitol -- allegations of bribery on the House floor, a vote held open for three hours, officials forced to withhold information from Congress, a Republican Member negotiating for a job with the drug industry while writing the bill; the list goes on and on.  The ethics-free zone created by Republicans led to an extraordinarily poor piece of legislation that continues to hurt our seniors."

“ Democrats are united in presenting a New Direction for America, one that will make our nation as strong as its people, one that brings opportunity, security, and prosperity to all Americans. ”

Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi