A

Democrat

introduced legislation in

Congress

to codify President

Donald Trump’s

executive order to

reduce drug prices

.

Rep.

Ro Khanna

(California Democrat) declared his plans on the House floor on Wednesday, highlighting that Americans should not be charged higher prices for medications compared to individuals in other nations.

I am rising today to present as legislation President Trump’s executive order regarding most favored nation status for drug pricing,” stated Khana. “This bill aims to enact President Trump’s executive order into law, ensuring that Americans do not pay higher prices for medications compared to individuals in other nations and regions around the globe.

At present, we are spending two to three times as much on medications compared to citizens in other developed countries,” the congressman stated further. “This executive order, established through the bill, empowers our cabinet members to exert influence over pharmaceutical companies and ensure they aren’t charging exorbitant prices, and also facilitates the importing of less expensive drugs.

Trump tackled this inconsistency in his speech.

executive order on Monday

.

“Americans should not be forced to subsidize low-cost prescription drugs and biologics in other developed countries, and face overcharges for the same products in the United States,” read the order. “Americans must therefore have access to the most-favored-nation price for these products.”

“My administration will promptly address international free-riding and, if pharmaceutical companies do not provide U.S. consumers with the most-favored-nation lowest prices, we will implement further decisive measures,” stated the directive.

Trump’s order specified that all action would be taken to “ensure foreign countries are not engaged in any act, policy, or practice that may be unreasonable or discriminatory”, threaten national security, or force U.S. taxpayers “to pay for a disproportionate amount of global pharmaceutical research and development.”

“To the extent consistent with law, the Secretary of Health and Human Services (Secretary) shall facilitate direct-to-consumer purchasing programs for pharmaceutical manufacturers that sell their products to American patients at the most-favored-nation price,” read Trump’s order.

Meanwhile, Khanna elaborated on the necessity for legislation to formalize Trump’s directive, emphasizing that these measures were crucial because of the malicious objectives of major pharmaceutical companies.

“Why do we need the legislation?” Khanna asked. “Because the reality is that Big Pharma will sue for the executive order, like they did in the previous Trump administration. And in the previous administration, they managed to kill the executive order. The only way we can stand up to Big Pharma is to codify in legislation what the president wants to do in an executive order.”

Khanna additionally stressed that Republicans ought to set aside their ideological disagreements and back his legislation, as he himself is taking this step to endorse the president’s directive.

“If I can reach across the aisle and endorse President Trump’s executive order with legislation, then every Republican ought to be ready to bridge the gap and back my legislative proposal,” Khanna stated.



TRUMP ‘WOULD LIKE’ TO DISCUSS IMMIGRATION WITH ‘SURPRISE CHOICE’ POPE LEO

“Are we going to stand in this body with the $16 billion that Big Pharma spent on lobbying, or are we going to stand with the American people?” Khanna asked. “We will know that answer based on how many co-sponsors we get for my legislation that simply codifies Donald Trump’s executive order.”

Khanna’s legislation has not been uploaded to his website.

webpage

yet, and it is not currently known what, if anything, else will be included in the bill that could deter congressional representatives from potentially sponsoring Khanna’s legislation.