After SOTU, Pallone Blasts Trump On Drug Prices, Climate Change

ABERDEEN, NJ — Congressman Frank Pallone (D-NJ 6) released the following statement Tuesday night immediately following President Trump’s State of the Union address, where he called out Trump on a number of things, including what he says is Trump's failure to lower prescription drug prices — as the president claims he has — and saying that Trump is ignoring the danger of climate change.

“Tonight’s State of the Union address was simply another example of President Trump’s broken promises and outright lies to the American people. The truth is that the President has failed to lower drug prices and that he’s doing everything he can to sabotage our health care system," said Pallone at 11 p.m. Tuesday, immediately following the president's remarks. "On the campaign trail, then-candidate Trump promised to empower Medicare to negotiate lower drug prices, but since taking office he’s caved to Big Pharma’s lobbying pressure and declined to support my Lower Drug Costs Now Act."

"While the President stood in front of Congress and the American people tonight boasting about his health care successes, his administration was busy petitioning the courts to strike down the entire Affordable Care Act and eliminate protections for more than 130 million Americans with pre-existing conditions," he continued. "The American people see right through President Trump’s attempts to distract from his attacks on their health care."

Pallone is a Democratic congressman who has represented New Jersey's Sixth Congressional district since 1998. "NJ 6" stretches from Carteret and Woodbridge into Edison, New Brunswick and down to Asbury Park. It hugs the Bayshore coastline, including towns such as Aberdeen, Matawan, Hazlet, Sea Bright and West Long Branch. It also includes Marlboro Township.

Like many Democrats in Congress, Pallone has long been a Trump critic.

“The President also continues to ignore the reality of climate change and deny the science that clearly shows we need to act on climate," said Pallone Tuesday. "My home state of New Jersey is on the frontlines of the climate crisis. As temperatures continue to rise and major weather events increase, we cannot wait to act. But President Trump’s devastating environmental rollbacks are only making the climate crisis worse. The Administration’s gutting of the Clean Power Plan and fuel economy standards not only push us further toward unchecked climate change, but risks significantly worse air quality conditions across the country. Trump’s rollbacks of mercury and coal ash protections put Americans at direct risk of exposure to toxic contaminants. Americans need a president who recognizes that ‘the state of our union’ is inextricably linked to the state of our climate and environment. With new rollbacks coming almost every month, President Trump repeatedly fails to pass even that most basic test.”