mr. yarmuth: i yield one minute mr. green. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from texas is recognized. mr. green: to my friends across the aisle, where were you when your twice-impeached president was putting billions of dollars in the pockets of the wealthy? you complain about drug prices being reduced for seniors, complain about them having out of pocket costs capped at $2,000. i refuse to allow the bill that is good to be defeated by the perfect bill that we will get. i will support the bill and i ask my colleagues do so as well. it's time to take care of our seniors. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time the gentleman from kentucky is recognized. members are reminded to direct their comments to the chair. the gentleman from missouri is recognized. mr.smith: i yield one minute to the gentleman from mississippi. >> i rise today in strong opposition to this destructive piece of legislation. every day i hear from people that they struggle to buy gas and groceries because

mr. yarmuth: i yield one minute mr. green. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from texas is recognized. mr. green: to my friends across the aisle, where were you when your twice-impeached president was putting billions of dollars in the pockets of the wealthy? you complain about drug prices being reduced for seniors, complain about them having out of pocket costs capped at $2,000. i refuse to allow the bill that is good to be defeated by the perfect bill that we will get. i will support the bill and i ask my colleagues do so as well. it's time to take care of our seniors. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time the gentleman from kentucky is recognized. members are reminded to direct their comments to the chair. the gentleman from missouri is recognized. mr.smith: i yield one minute to the gentleman from mississippi. >> i rise today in strong opposition to this destructive piece of legislation. every day i hear from people that they struggle to buy gas and groceries because

mr. yarmuth. another provision i can hardly contain my glee about like mr.lmutter is the one that finally repeals this special interest rider slipped into the medic are -- medicare part d productions, which prevent them from over the cost of prescription drug prices in the social security medicare program, but rather forces us to pay whatever price they set. when i first learned about this, i was told that it was the republicans, specifically the chairman of the house energy and commerce committee, who slipped this in to negotiate prices, a power the government enjoys in the medicaid program and the v.a. benefit program, estimates of like $30 billion extra for the government every year. apparently just a few months after accomplishing that legislative victory, billy townsend retired from congress and became, what do you know, the president of big pharma, making more than $2 million a year. mr. pollone, i've done some research in the newspaper accounts that seems to verify that account, he occupies the same position you do. is that how this came about? >> it

mr. yarmuth: i yield one minute to the gentleman from new york, mr. jones. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. jones: i'm proud to stand in this chamber as we make history for the american people. americans fought for so long to get to this moment when it was described as insurmountable. we never relented and said we wanted to get back to the goibt intable and wanted to start with climate and will make the biggest investment while creating millions of good paying jobs. the stakes couldn't be higher in communities of color who are always the hardest hit. this legislation is for my grandmother alice jones paid for the high cost of prescription drugs not fully covered by medicare. we will lower prescription drug prices for our seniors. this is why i ran for congress. this is government working for the people. this is democrats delivering on our promises. i yield. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from missouri is recognized. mr.smith: i yield one minute to the gentleman from california. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from cali

mr. chairman, thank you. chair yarmuth recognizing the gentleman from iowa for five minutes. >> thank you, these hearings are interesting. it is all about accountability. the federal government being accountable to we the people. we are governments, and yet i think a lot of people think government is in d.c., that -- but it is we the people. this flies in the face of every family and business. every family has a debt ceiling, there is only so much we can spend, a credit card debt limit, our banks say this is all we can loan you out. every day our businesses and families deal with a debt limit. and yet we think we are above that. we think we don't need this debt limit anymore, it doesn't make a difference. it makes a difference to our families and our businesses. i just think this is shameful, i really do. we have $32 trillion in debt, we have 7.5% inflation, the highest in 40 years. yet today in the budget committee, we are addressing this one single law that forces congress to acknowledge the damage we are doing to runawa