Progressives are committed to passing the strongest possible drug pricing reforms to lower prices for patients and families. We are pleased that the leaked draft plan from Speaker Pelosi contains several important CPC priorities, including a direct negotiation proposal instead of arbitration and action to lower prices for all payers.
This week, Congressional Progressive Caucus Co-Chairs Congressman Mark Pocan (WI-02) and Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal (WA-07), along with Congressman Lloyd Doggett (TX-35), Congressman Ro Khanna (CA-17), and Congressman Chuy Garcia (IL-04), sent a letter to Speaker Pelosi urging bold action to lower the prices of prescription drugs. In the letter, the members also call for an inclusive process within the Democratic Caucus to draft the strongest possible legislation.
Budgets are moral documents. Line item by line item, they outline the priorities and values of a nation. And for far too long, our budgets have revealed a callous indifference to working families across the country, while Pentagon spending has skyrocketed. This deal does not address the bloated Pentagon budget, but it does begin to close the gap in funding for families, by allocating more new non-defense spending than defense spending for the first time in many year
The Progressive Caucus is eager for a strong floor vote raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour. We are deeply grateful to the organizers, activists and working people across the country who fought for years to make this vote a reality. It would be a disservice to these families – who put their paychecks on the line to fight for dignity in the workplace – to do anything less than what we've promised: a clean vote to raise the minimum wage, for all workers across the country.