Dismantling the fentanyl supply chain: The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the Mexican drug cartels are poisoning Americans to death through fentanyl exports, nearly all of which originate from a few dozen Chinese manufacturers. The China Select Committee's Fentanyl Working Group drafted three pieces of legislation to address the fentanyl crisis:
- The Joint Task Force to Counter Illicit Synthetic Narcotics Act would establish a joint task force, with leadership accountable to the president and to Congress, to fuse together federal counter-fentanyl action in law enforcement, customs, sanctions, and diplomacy.
- The CCP Fentanyl Sanctions Act would codify President Biden’s counternarcotics executive order and grant the Executive Branch additional authority to target bad actors in China that facilitate fentanyl trafficking, from the manufacturers to the ports to the online platforms
- The International Protection from PRC Fentanyl and Other Synthetic Opioids Act would impose civil penalties on Chinese ships docking at U.S. ports if they fail to properly vet their cargo for fentanyl.
The U.S. government must respond forcefully at every link of the supply chain, beginning with China. The CCP has been subsidizing and facilitating the export of fentanyl precursors while stiff-arming American requests for law enforcement. This must end. I will continue to work across the aisle to stop the overdoses and keep fentanyl off our shores.
Challenging the drug-pricing middlemen: Over the past two decades, pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) — the middlemen between pharmacies and insurance companies — have morphed into large healthcare conglomerates that exercise control over every link in the prescription drug delivery chain. Today, the largest health insurers each own a PBM, which pays for pharmacy services, as well as the pharmacy chains that provide those services. This inherent conflict of interest results in higher drug costs for patients and fewer independent pharmacies, but bigger profits for the health insurance giants.
I joined Diana Harshbarger (R-TN), alongside Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Josh Hawley (R-MO), to introduce the Patients Before Monopolies (PBM) Act. The bipartisan, bicameral bill will prohibit joint ownership of PBMs and pharmacies, a gross conflict of interest that enables these companies to enrich themselves at the expense of patients and independent pharmacies.
- Prohibit a parent company of a PBM or an insurer from owning a pharmacy business
- Require that a parent company in violation of the PBM Act divest its pharmacy business within three years
- Enable the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), Department of Health and Human Services, Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice, and state attorneys general to issue orders requiring violators of the PBM Act to divest their pharmacy business and disgorge any revenue received during the period of such violation
- Direct the FTC to distribute any disgorged revenue to harmed communities, including consumers overcharged at vertically integrated pharmacies
- Mandate reporting of all divestitures to the FTC, and allowing the FTC to review all divestitures and subsequent acquisitions to protect competition, financial viability, and the public interest
No PBM should be allowed to own pharmacies, because it poses an unacceptable conflict of interest when it then sets reimbursement rates for its own versus external pharmacies. Patients and independent pharmacies deserve fair play.
Supporting brain cancer research & clinical trials: Our congressional district is fortunate to host the headquarters of the National Brain Tumor Society (NBTS), which drives research, clinical trials, workshops, policy and advocacy. I work with NBTS to attain more brain-cancer research funding and to gain passage of the BRAIN Act, which would support clinical trials for new therapeutics as well as brain-tumor survivors. CEO David Arons and I met to discuss building support for research appropriations and the BRAIN Act, the state of the science, and how industry and the National Cancer Institute can work together on clinical trials.
Celebrating (an early) Hanukkah in the Capitol: Speaker Mike Johnson hosted an (early) Hanukkah celebration at the Capitol, since Congress will be out of session on December 25th when Hanukkah begins. The Speaker and his Democratic counterpart, Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, lit the shamos together. The menorah itself (pictured above) was a gift to the Speaker, crafted by an Israeli artist from the metal wreckage of a rocket shot down by Iron Dome.
The future of TikTok: TikTok is asking the Supreme Court to void the law I co-led this Congress, requiring that it be divested from its CCP-linked ownership. TikTok is the most influential social media platform in America. It answers to the Chinese Communist Party – on data privacy, on content moderation, and on its duty of care to underage users. The bill I co-led is simple: either TikTok follows U.S. law, or it stops doing business here.
Touring the U.S. nuclear submarine fleet: I visited Naval Submarine Base New London, and surrounding facilities, to learn about the construction and warfighting of the U.S. submarine fleet. American nuclear submarines are strategic gamechangers whose low profile and lethality make them pillars of our maritime power. I spoke with submarine commanders and strategists about the cutting edge of tactics; competing with Russia & China; and working with Australia, Japan, and the United Kingdom. I also toured the shipyards with top engineers to see the challenges and progress in rebuilding the submarine industrial base after divestment following the Cold War. Building a nuclear power plant that can cruise around the world and launch missiles underwater – without being detected – is an unmatched feat of industrial engineering. It’s also a major opportunity for southern New England’s economy, as much of the supply chain clusters in this region.
Imparting advice to new Members: It was fun to join two Members-elect, and a fellow returning Member, for a bipartisan and candid discussion of working across the aisle inside the Chamber, the role of primaries in dividing us outside the Chamber, and my advice for new Members: there’s no substitute for 1:1 conversations that start with the question ‘why did you run – what do you want to accomplish?’
Memo to RFK, Jr: vaccines work better than Vitamin A: Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. has been on Capitol Hill for meetings with Senators to get confirmed as Secretary of Health & Human Services. Five years ago, RFK, Jr. ran what he called a “natural experiment” in Samoa, derailing its measles vaccination campaign under the belief that the “cure for measles is chicken soup and vitamin A”. Samoan children died of measles. Now, RFK, Jr. wants to run the same experiment in America. Any Democrat who votes for him betrays the party’s commitment to science and children’s health. You can read my op-ed in the Boston Globe here.
Viewpoint diversity on Harvard’s campus: I joined a bipartisan group of senators for a breakfast meeting with Harvard President Alan Garber. The conversation was candid & wide-ranging. A central theme was rejecting cancel culture and promoting viewpoint diversity as a way to pursue truth and teach critical thinking.
The face of gun violence prevention: My friend Ruth Zakarin, the executive director of the Massachusetts Coalition to Prevent Gun Violence, introduced me to Juanita Batchelor of Springfield. Juanita lost her son to gun violence and now runs a non-profit supporting other families grappling with that tragedy. Meeting with Juanita reminds me why, despite facing a tough political environment next term for federal gun safety policy, those of us passionate about gun violence prevention must continue to drive progress at the state and local level. The potential statewide referendum on Massachusetts’ recent gun-safety legislation will be a prime opportunity to defend common-sense laws that save lives.
Government shutdown?: Democrats and Republicans had a deal to fund the government through March. This deal would have included disaster relief for states impacted by the hurricanes this fall, reforms to lower drug prices, and a raft of improvements to Medicare and other federal health programs. Then, it fell apart because of a social media post from the incoming president.
Congressional Republicans are now debating, amongst themselves, the new terms for government funding through March. If the new bill does not contain the bipartisan drug-pricing reforms that have previously passed both chambers, it will be an embarrassing capitulation to the health insurance lobby at a time when the insurers have been price-gouging taxpayers, patients, and employers.
Should a shutdown occur, please know that my office will be ready to support the Massachusetts Fourth as we navigate this period of uncertainty.
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