Summary here and there are things in here that i agree on. You guys have been so critical of the 1964 war on poverty saying that we should actually try to help lift people out of poverty so they could be selfsufficient. I would be really happy to join you guys on that effort to do that but not with this double speak sort of stuff where you say you want to lift people out of poverty and then you do that by cutting medicaid and cutting snap. Really allowing people to have child care and snap and Educational Opportunity for 200, 250 of the Poverty Level and not just cutting them off and subjecting them to these high marginal tax rates. As soon as they get 8 an hour, all of a sudden they are not eligible anymore. And if you guys really want to work on welfare reform, ive got a bill. Ive got ideas. I was motivated to come to congress to do this, and id be happy to work with you if youre for real about it. I yield back to the lady. Gentle lady yields back. Thank you. The gentleman from alabama, mr. Palmer, is recognized for seven minutes. Thank you, mr. Chairman. One of the major problems with our welfare system is the lack of an enforceable requirement. Federal law currently requires childless adults to work at least 20 hours a week in order to receive food stamp benefits. However, this administration has encouraged states to undermine that requirement. 42 states partially or fully waived this requirement, in 2015, allowing able bodied adults to allow on snap benefits indefinitely. This has caused the Program Participation to sky rocket. When most states were enforcing the law, childless adult enrollment was around 1 million. By 2014, most states were waiving the work requirements and enrollment increased five fold. Its also interesting that this administration, while they talk about reducing poverty, has introduced regulations that are killing the economy, killing jobs. As a matter of fact, the clean power plant for instance, the National Black chamber of commerce published a report that indicated that this plan, when it goes into effect, it will increase poverty among black families by 23 and among hispanic families by 26 . Its also an interesting stat, according to the pew research center, 1959 among those identified as poor, 41. 7 were in their prime working years, 18 to 64 years old. In 2012, it was 57 . I think the state of kansas exemplifies the benefit of enforcing a work requirement. Within three months of implementation in 2013, about half of all the able bodied adults on food stamps left the program. Nearly threefifths of those leaving the Food Stamp Program found employment within 12 months and their incomes rose by an average of 127 . I want to emphasize, they rose an average of 127 . A real life example of how this helps people in kansas is jason miller. He was on food stamps for four years. He was unemployed before the work requirements were enforced. Now jason is working in sales and making 45,000 a year. The benefit to taxpayers cant be overstated. Prior to 2013, kansas was spending about 5. 5 million each month on foot food stamps to able bodied childless adults. By december 2015 that number dropped to 1. 2 million. Taxpayers are saving roughly 50 million per year by simply following federal law and thats just one state. Since the requirements implementation, administrative costs in kansas have declined 7. 3 while National Costs have gone up 5. 2 . And the report rate, which i think is a key issue here, was 4 47 4 . Now its less than 1 . This isnt just good for the government. This benefits individuals and families. It spurs the economy. Its good for business employment. I urge my colleagues to oppose this amendment. I now yield to the gentleman from arkansas, mr. Westerman. Thank the gentleman from alabama. Mr. Chairman, there are currently 92 federal programs, many of them duplicate programs in a poorly coordinated effort to fight poverty. Unfortunately, this approach is built on the premise that compassion is best measured by how much we spend, not by how many people we lift out of poverty. Over the last decade, mandatory means tested spending has increased 7. 3 annually. I want to emphasize if an of that 7. 3 annually. Consequently, spending for these programs more than doubled from 369 billion in 2006 to a projected 744 billion in expenditures by the end of this year. Mr. Chairman, we currently spend nearly 30 more per year on the war on poverty than we spend on our military. According to the congressional budget office, mandatory means tested spending is projected to increase by 4. 3 over the next decade, growing from 744 billion this year to 1. 3 trillion by 2026. As starring as these numbers, they do not include federal Discretionary Spending or expenditures by state and local governments. Mr. Chairman, over the past 50 years, the poverty rate has held steady at 14. 8 in 2014, it was 14. 7 in 1966. We declared war on poverty and we lost because our strategy was flawed. Heres what we should do. Weve got to enact policies that create an environment for opportunity, and we have to expect able bodied adults receiving welfare to work or enroll in Work Force Training in exchange for receiving benefits. Work, especially fulltime work, is always the best way to avoid poverty. A job is still the best social program and it always will be. I support a better strategy to take on poverty as outlined in this budget resolution. I oppose the old, tired, and ineffective model of throwing more money at a broken system. I oppose this amendment because it is an old, tired idea, and its ineffective. And i yield back to the gentleman from alabama. I now yield to the gentleman from wisconsin, mr. Grothman. Thank you for yielding. Ill try to do the best i can for congressman moore to be real. Unlike some of the other amendments, this does not come with a specific price tag. Its clear when you look at the amendment at a time when our debt is spiraling over 19 trillion, the intent of the amendment is to say were not spending enough. We have to spend more on schools, job training, environmental risk, whatever that is, more on supports. And if look at the last ten years the amount we spent on snap over doubled. 35 to 75. Eitc went up by about 60 . Medicaid spending more than doubled. Looking at these massive increases in spending, the answer is we need more spending. What makes me most pessimistic about this amendment is that when i look at the welfare problem, i see two huge things that current spending has caused. First of all, its discouraged people from working. When i get around the businesses in my district again and again i find examples of people who could work but dont want to work or people who only want to work a given amount because they dont want to lose their benefits. The second big problem im hearing more and more about because they do talk about this in my district, is that it discourages marriage. More and more examples of families themselves, married, solid middle class families, their sons, their daughters, their grandkids, are realizing financially it doesnt pay to get married, and im disappointed that the amendment as drafted does not point out these two major problems. Thank you. The gentle lady from california is recognized for one minute to close. Thank you very much. First of all, let me remind the gentlemen that this country was on the brink of a depression when the Bush Administration left office, and thank god we were able to turn it around quickly. But it has not recovered for all. A Million People are childless workers about to lose their benefits. We have not created enough jobs to ensure that everyone has an opportunity for a job. To cut them off from snap benefits, im very pleased that the state did waive these requirements because who knows what would have happened to these people given the previous administrations economic policies. Also let me remind my friend from wisconsin reminded us that in this budget you have the 800 billion in cuts and that cant be explained. 800 billion mind you, by childless adults not working, nor by waste, fraud and abuse or duplicative programs. This is really a shame and disgrace. When you look at these disparities, for example, as it relates to communities of color and africanamerican and latino communities with 27 of africanamericans, 23 of latinos living below the poverty line, 9 of whites living below the poverty line, weve got to pass something that makes sense to invest in people that has been proven since 1967. These programs work. The question is not agreeing to the amendment offered. All those in favor say aye. Those opposed say no. The nos have it. The gentlelady requests a roll call. The clerk will call roll. Mr. Akita. Mr. Garrett. Mr. Diaz ballard, no. Mr. Cole, no. Mr. Mcclintock, no. Ms. Black, no. Mr. Woodall, no. Ms. Heartsler, no. Mr. Stutsman. Mr. Ginta, no. Mr. Sanford, no. Mr. Womack, no. Mr. Brad bratt, no. Mr. Blum, no. Mr. Mooney, no. Mr. Grothman, no. Mr. Palmer, no. Mr. Molinar, no. Mr. Westerman, no. Mr. Renaci, no. Mr. Johnson, no. Mr. Van holland aye. Mr. Yarmouth, aye. Mr. Pascro, aye. Mr. Ryan, aye. Ms. Moore, aye. Ms. Caster, aye. Mr. Mcdermott. Ms. Lee, aye. Mr. Pocan, aye. Ms. Grisham, aye. Ms. Dingle, aye. Mr. Lu, aye. Mr. Norcross, aye. Mr. Molten, aye. Mr. Racita, no. Mr. Garrett, no. Mr. Stutsman, no. Mr. Chairman, no. Clerk will report. Mr. Chairman, on that vote the ayes are 13 and the nos are 22. The amendment is not adopted. Amendment number 8 relating to a policy statement on Prescription Drug costs. The gentle lady from new mexico is recognized for six minutes. Thank you, mr. Chairman. The prices of some Prescription Drugs, in fact many, are sky rocketing with no apparent link to the cost of manufacturing, research and development or any other reasonable basis. Some pharmaceutical companies are purchasing older drugs that have been reasonably priced for years and then dramatically increasing their cost before others enter the market. In september 2015 the ceo of turing pharmaceuticals, martin shkreli, increased the price of a medication used to treat potentially life threatening pair sittic infections for hiv and Cancer Patients by 5,000 overnight. 13. 50 per tablet to 750 per tablet. Last year Valeant Pharmaceuticals purchased the rights to two life saving heart medications and immediately increased their prices by 525 and 212 respectively. These were in addition to the 391 and 388 increases posed the year before. In response to the outcry of blatant abuses by hospitals and other providers to care for their patients, these companies argued that their duties are to their shareholders. In order to maximize the value of their drugs. Im introducing this amendment to increase the affordability and access to life saving Prescription Drugs because our duty to the people of the United States and to maximize their wellbeing. Although valeant and turing are extreme examples, it is clear that Prescription Drugs are becoming increasingly unavailable to providers, Insurance Companies and patients alike. In 2014 overall Prescription Drug spending increased by 13 , the fastest pace since 2001, led by a 26. 5 increase in spending for specialty drugs which far outpaced inflation. A Peer Reviewed article in the journal of Economic Perspectives found that the average launch price of anticancer drugs increased by 10 annually from 1995 to 2015 after adjusting for inflation and expected Health Benefits of the drug. According to a Kaiser Family foundation poll, 77 of americans identify the increasing price of Prescription Drugs as their Number One Health concern. 66 of americans believe Government Action is needed to lower Prescription Drug prices. But other countries do not seem to have the same issues. In fact, americans spend more per capita on Prescription Drugs than people in other developed countries, and they often pay two to six times more for brand name drugs. We can do better. Congress should ensure that no patient or family is financially ruined for trying to purchase a medication that would save their life and not sit idly by as the shkrelis of the world exploit patients and proclaim 1 billion, here we come, as he wrote after increasing the price by 5,000 . Congress has an Important Role to increase access and affordability of Prescription Drugs, hold pharmaceutical Companies Accountable for the prices they charge, for critical medications and provide incentives for pharmaceutical innovation that can lead to new lifesaving cures. I yield one minute to my dear friend and colleague, congresswoman dingle. I just want to speak in support of my wonderful colleague on Prescription Drugs. All of us are hearing about this. I dont care if youre republican or democrat when were going home. The average common drug right now went up last year by 11 , 14 times the cost of inflation. Were hearing from seniors, ive got seniors that are cutting a pill in half for their insulin or choosing between eating. Parents who have an epipen who has gone to 750 per pen because theres only one manufacturer. Weve got to do something about this. My colleagues amendment is in the right direction. There are good Drug Companies but turing is somebody thats gouging, and weve got to stop it. Mr. Chairman, i yield one minute to my colleague, mr. Pocan. Thank you. This week i had someone talking to me about Rheumatoid Arthritis and their drug that takes two doses every four months is 10,000 a dose. I talked a couple weeks ago to the head of the Veterans Administration hospital in my district. He has a patient that received a drug that was 125,000 for a single dose. We absolutely have to do something about Prescription Drugs other than taking their money for our campaigns. Right now weve got pfizer buying a Smaller Company to become an irish entity. They should at least be charging us what you pay for Prescription Drugs in ireland if thats what theyre going to be allowed to do. We need to address this issue. And i encourage people to support this amendment. Mr. Chairman, i yield back. Mr. Ranaci is recognized for seven minutes. Thank you, mr. Chairman. Yes, drug prices are a headline today but how to respond is important. It will impact the health and livelihood of those we actually serve. The issue i have with this amendment is the basis of the amendment assumes the Affordable Care act is working when it comes to the affordability of healthcare and Prescription Drugs for hard working americans. Its important to look at the impact of the Affordable Care act on the rising costs of Prescription Drugs. According to a recent Health Affairs article, the average person with a plan in the Exchange Marketplace has to pay 46 of his or her drug costs, compared to 20 of someone with employer sponsored healthcare. Consequently, Research Found that americans with plans purchased on the obamacare ex changes fill fewer prescriptions to avoid out of pocket costs and as a result will possibly experience more serious medical problems and higher costs over the long run. Also, access to catastrophic drugs and treatment for diseases like cancer are more expensive to the new narrow formulary designs popularized by these Obamacare Exchange plans. If a drug is not included on the drug list of their exchange plan, then the patient has no financial protection such as a coinsurance and must bear the full cost. This is Health Insurance without healthcare. Certainly it fails to provide Affordable Care to patients as the law suggests. That is why this budget fully fully repeals obamacare and proposes to start over with patient centered healthcare that follows the six key principles of healthcare affordability, accessibility, quality, choices, innovation, and responsiveness. Again, if this amendment had not been a basis of the Affordable Care act, i do know we have some issues, but we have to really look at what the problem is with the Affordable Care act. Ill yield some time to my colleague from ohio. I thank my colleague for yielding. If we want to see drug prices begin to fall, the way to do that is not with governmentrun healthcare. Its with good oldfashioned american ingenuity, american innovation, and competition in the private sector. Thats how you do it. Innovative cures and treatments are essential to Patients Living longer, healthier, and more productive lives. This budget fully supports Patient Access to Prescription Drugs as well as providing the necessary funding to invest in Biomedical Research as a key to unlocking new knowledge that can lead to Better Health and disease cures for everyone. In fact, this resolution calls for congress to support the important work of medical innovators throughout the coun