{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://adams.house.gov/media-center/op-eds/giving-light-insulin-crisis", "Giving Light to the Insulin Crisis", "2019-11-14", "2019", "2019-11", "Democrat", "House", "NC", "Alma Adams", "A000370", "adams.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Ella Baker told us: Give light, and the people will find a way.\nThis Diabetes Awareness Month, we must give shine a bright spotlight to on the state of the insulin crisis and find our way. Nearly 100 years ago, insulin was first used to treat diabetes. Now, we consider it a perfectly manageable autoimmune disease given access to proper care and affordable medication. Yet, one in four people with diabetes are is forced to ration insulin  too often, fatally  because costs continue to skyrocket and drug corporations have priced working-classhardworking Americans have been priced out of being alive.\nI am a type 2 diabetic, myself. I know just how taxing diabetes is  mentally, physically, and of course, financially. Countless members of my family have been impacted by this disease, including my mother who lived to be 90 years old but succumbed to complications of renal failure, my late brother who had to have a toe removed, one of my cousins who lost both of her kidneys and relies on dialysis, and an uncle who had to have his legs amputated. For so many, access to insulin, affordable care, and diabetes management therapies are the difference between life and death.\nThose of us who are privileged enough to be elected by our communities carry into public office have the moral imperative to hold the entire prescription drug industry corporations accountable for making insulin affordable for those who need it. And, current and former drug corporation executives like current Secretary of Health & Human Services Alex Azar are tasked with the moral imperative of prioritizing the value of human life over their paychecks and stock prices..\nThe fact of the matter is: The insulin crisis exists because powerbrokers prioritize profit over people's lives.\nFortunately, the solutions to the insulin crisis are right in front of us  all we have to do is join together and work toward it. There are many paths forward to insulin justice before my fellow members of Congress, and the time to act on these options is now.\nOne particular path forward is of utmost importance and offers immense impact: as my colleagues in Congress already know, Medicare is one of the largest purchasers of prescription drugs in America. The problem is that for the last 16 years, Medicare has been intentionally restricted by Congress from negotiating lower drug prices for lifesaving medications  like insulin  on behalf of the American public.\nOnly Congress can grant Medicare the power to negotiate directly with drug corporations to begin lowering drug prices for each and every person we represent. I, and many of my colleagues, stand at the front of the chamber ready to fight for this change. Under Speaker Pelosi's leadership, Democrats are moving forward with transformational legislation to give Medicare negotiating power: H.R. 3, the Lower Drug Costs Now Act, would level the playing field for American patients and save taxpayers $345 billion over 6 years.\nHowever, we are facing entrenched political gridlock between elected officials who want to protect special interests and money in politics and elected officials who versus those who are fighting to save their own constituents' lives. Every day that we fail to actis , costskilling hard-working, everyday Americans their lives, like Alec Smith, Jesimya David Scherer-Radcliff, Josh Wilkerson, Meaghan Carter, Antavia Lee Worsham  the list goes on. Even worse, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) has declared that any legislation my colleagues in the House bring forth to lower drug prices for the American people will be dead on arrival in the Senate. This is wrong and downright cruel.\nTo the members of Congress like Senator McConnell who have yet to join me in this fight for survival: time is running out. We cannot afford to drag our feet any longer because every moment we waste doing sowasted is a moment of life stolen from the 30.3 million people in America with diabetes and 84 million on the cusp of diagnosis, living with prediabetes. Our constituents do not deserve to be dead on arrival, Senator McConnell..\nVoters turned out in unprecedented numbers during the 2018 midterm elections to defend their right to health care, knowing that election was a fight for our democracy and nation's well-being. My lived experience made me who I am: a proud North Carolinian, a lifelong educator, a committed social justice advocate, and a Health Care VoterHealth Care VoterHealth Care Voter.\nThis Diabetes Awareness Month, I tip my hat and raise my torch to give light for to the people who need affordable insulinaffordable insulinaffordable insulin. Now, we have an opportunity and an obligation to end the pointlessprevent unnecessary deaths. The solutions to the insulin crisis are in the hands of Congress: we must find a way, for the people we represent. Let's not waste another moment.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://adams.house.gov/media-center/op-eds/giving-light-insulin-crisis"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.8828891441226006, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}