Complaining that the actions of the White House are “embarrassing and not representative of this country,” U.S. Rep. Mark Pocan, D-Wis., held a press conference at his Madison district office Monday to give updates on recent events in Washington.
Although Pocan doesn’t think it is likely that President Trump will work with the House on issues like foreign policy and the impeachment inquiry, he is hopeful the Administration will cooperate on implementing policy to decrease costs of prescription drugs.
Pocan supports a negotiation bill that Congress will vote on in three weeks aiming to lower the price of pharmaceuticals.
The legislation will require companies to adjust costs from the 250 most expensive prescription pills. If a drug company refuses to negotiate, they will lose 65 percent of their profits — which will increase by 10 percent for each month they refuse to comply.
“We would love to work with the President on prescription drugs, that’s an issue area where I still think there’s some room because his former FDA commissioner Scott Gottlieb was very good,” Pocan said.
Pocan stated the key deposition in the impeachment inquiry will be from Ambassador Gordon Sondland, who he believes told U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., controversial information regarding the accusations. Sondland sent out a text message stating there was no clear quid pro quo by the President regarding Ukraine interference right after he spoke with Trump.
“He’s been on every side of the issue, and I think it’s important to get his testimony,” Pocan said, adding that the House knows the impeachment process will move “expeditiously.”
Aiming to move the process forward himself, Pocan mentioned holding back pay from anyone who interferes with witnesses before testifying.
“Don’t forget we already have a motive, we have a crime, we have a confession and we have evidence,” Pocan continued. “I think we’re gonna see this all resolved by the end of the year.”
Pertaining to the issue of foreign policy, Pocan claimed Trump’s actions could “reignite an eight-year-old war,” referring to Russia and Iran’s involvement with the recent alignment of the Kurds, our allies and with the Syrian government.
“The real problem that we have right now is a president who has essentially green lighted an activity of Turkey coming and going after our allies, the Kurds,” Pocan said. “At the end of the day, you just have a pot of chaos caused by the President not understanding foreign policy and not reading foreign policy memos.”
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