In a momentous vote for Pelosi, House sends drug pricing reforms to President Biden’s desk

WASHINGTON — Fifteen years later, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is fulfilling one of her first campaign promises.

When she first took the speaker’s gavel in 2007, Pelosi promised six policy accomplishments, on national security, energy, education, and health care. She passed six bills within 100 hours of assuming power. The only promise that didn’t become law was allowing Medicare to negotiate for prescription drugs — until Friday, when the House passed a major health care, tax, and climate package by a vote of 220 to 207.

“We have been trying for decades to prevail to win legislation that enabled the Secretary to negotiate for lower prices. Big Pharma has had a stranglehold on the Congress so we couldn’t get it done. Until now,” Pelosi told reporters Friday.

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