Washington, D.C. -Today, Rep. Elijah E. Cummings, Ranking Member of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, issued the following statement in response to President Donald Trump’s press conference:
“I have no idea why President Trump would make up a story about me like he did today. Of course, Senator Schumer never told me to skip a meeting with the President.
“I was actually looking forward to meeting with the President about the skyrocketing price of prescription drugs. What I have been doing for the past several weeks is working closely with my partner on these efforts, Senator Bernie Sanders. My goal was to finalize our proposal to allow HHS to negotiate lower drug prices so I could present it to the President. The President has said many times that he supports this proposal, so I wanted to have our bill ready to get his support.
“I also sincerely have no idea why the President made this claim in response to an unrelated question about the Congressional Black Caucus. I am sure members of the CBC can answer these questions for themselves.
“The skyrocketing price of prescription drugs is an issue that affects every American family-not just people of color-and I hope the President will make good on his promise to finally allow HHS to negotiate lower drug prices on behalf of American families. I look forward to meeting with him on this issue and others."
After being elected President, Donald Trump warned that the pharmaceutical industry is “getting away with murder."
He has said that Americans could save hundreds of billions of dollars if Medicare were allowed to negotiate prices directly with drug companies. “We don’t do it," he said. “Why? Because of the drug companies."
He also said : “We need new bidding procedures for the drug industry." He added : “Pharma has a lot of lobbyists and power. There is very little bidding on drugs."
