A group of House Democrats chanted in support of Speaker Nancy Pelosi‘s (D-Calif.) signature drug pricing bill during President Trump‘s State of the Union address Tuesday.
As Trump delivers his speech Tuesday night, the Democrats chanted “H.R. 3,” a reference to Pelosi’s bill that passed the House late last year. Every House Democrat voted for the measure.
Among other provisions, the legislation calls for Medicare to negotiate drug prices.
But Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has called the bill socialism and said it will not pass the Republican-controlled upper chamber.
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The chanting erupted after Trump urged lawmakers to pass bipartisan drug pricing legislation. Trump said he would sign legislation if it got to his desk.
Pelosi spent months in talks with Trump to try to get him to support the bill. During the 2016 campaign, Trump famously broke with his party and said he supported letting the government negotiate drug prices.
But the White House distanced itself from Pelosi’s bill and eventually came out against the legislation. Trump said Pelosi’s bill would impose “price controls” and indicated he would veto it.
Lowering drug prices is seen as a rare area of possible bipartisan action, and it polls consistently as one of the top issues for voters. Democrats and progressive groups plan to spotlight the bill as the central piece to their health messaging in 2020.
Source: The Hill
