WEEKLY REVEREND WRAP: Reverend Warnock Leads Fight to Lower Insulin Prices & Reduce Trade Barriers for Georgia Farmers; Ready to Represent Georgia in New Ad

This week, Reverend Warnock continued his fight to lower the cost of insulin, calling for a Senate vote on his insulin bill, which passed the House with bipartisan support. His work for Georgians with diabetes and their loved ones drew praise from a Georgia mom, whose daughter has diabetes. Also this week, Reverend Warnock’s campaign released a new ad, which highlights Warnock’s commitment to representing the people of Georgia.  

WARNOCK LEADS FIGHT TO LOWER INSULIN PRICES

As the cost of insulin continues to soar, Reverend Warnock introduced a bill to cap out-of-pocket insulin costs at $35 a month so Georgians can afford the life-saving medications they depend on. The bill passed the House of Representatives with bipartisan support. This week, Reverend Warnock kept his foot on the gas, calling for a vote on the bill as soon as possible. 

Read more about Reverend Warnock’s bipartisan work to support Georgians with diabetes and their loved ones below.

The Hill — Warnock presses Schumer to hold vote on bill to lower insulin costs

• Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.) is pressuring Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) to hold a vote on legislation to lower the cost of insulin. 
  
• “I am deeply disappointed the Senate was not able to vote on this critical legislation before Memorial Day,” Warnock wrote in a letter to Schumer dated Monday.  
  
• “The time is now to finally act on this critical issue, and we can’t afford to wait any longer,” he wrote.  
  
• Warnock has a bill to cap patients’ out-of-pocket costs for insulin at $35 per month. But the main effort on insulin in the Senate is a measure from Sens. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) and Susan Collins (R-Maine.) that would include a $35 cap on patient costs while also including other measures aimed at reducing the overall price of the drug. 
  
• Schumer gave his support to the talks between Shaheen and Collins in March and said then that he planned to hold a vote “as soon as possible after Easter recess,” but that timeline has now come and gone.  

GEORGIA MOM PRAISES WARNOCK’S INSULIN BILL

Warnock’s work on lowering the cost of insulin struck a chord for one Georgia mom. Barbara Peters of Marietta, whose daughter has diabetes, published a letter to the editor in the Marietta Daily Journal articulating how Reverend Warnock’s Affordable Insulin Now Act would help families like hers who struggle with the cost of insulin. 

Read Barbara Peter’s letter HERE and below.

Marietta Daily Journal — Georgians Need Warnock’s Affordable Insulin Now Act

• As a mother, it breaks your heart to see your children suffer. So when my daughter was hospitalized at a young age due to complications from Type 1 diabetes, I was beside myself. At the time, I knew nothing about the disease. I did everything I could to learn about what my daughter was going through. Nurses taught me how to administer her insulin and our whole family worked together to monitor everything she was eating.
  
• My family struggled to adjust to the new life that came with my daughter’s unexpected diagnosis. We soon learned that diabetes brings not just personal struggles, but financial hardships. In 1996, a vial of Eli Lilly insulin cost $21. Today, that same vial costs $275. Diabetics today pay an average of $6,000 each year for insulin, placing a heavy burden on families like mine.
  
• Senator Warnock’s bill in the Senate will cap the price of insulin at $35 a month, making insulin affordable for the over 1 million Georgians with diabetes. Nobody should have to choose between buying groceries for their family and paying for life-saving medication. His legislation would give families like mine much-needed relief.
  
• For years, my now 54-year-old daughter struggled to afford insulin. Although she is able to pay for her insulin now, she still must factor it into every financial decision she makes, from groceries to putting her kids through college, adding yet another stressor and hardship into her life. That’s why it’s a relief to see Reverend Warnock taking action on this critical issue that burdens too many Georgians.
  
• My family was fortunate to be able to cope with our daughter’s diabetes, but with today’s insulin prices, we might have been one of millions of families who cannot say the same. Every diabetic American deserves affordable insulin, and I am grateful Senator Warnock is fighting for Georgians like my daughter in the Senate.

MUST WATCH: “WARNOCK KNOWS”

This week, Reverend Raphael Warnock’s campaign released a new ad, “Warnock Knows.”

Watch “Warnock Knows” HERE and check out coverage of the ad below.

NBC — In latest TV ad, Raphael Warnock is running — literally

• Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock is launching a new TV ad casting himself as the most qualified candidate without naming his GOP opponent, former football player Herschel Walker.
  
• Warnock did make some very clear references to Walker in the ad, shared first with NBC News. The ad starts with Warnock jogging on a racetrack and saying, “If the race between me and my opponent were out here, I could understand why you might choose him.”
  
• “If it were here? Of course!,” Warnock says while playing football as a kid tackles him. 
  
• “But this campaign is about who’s ready to represent Georgia,” Warnock says in the next shot while doing sit-ups at the gym.
  
• Warnock goes on to tout a series of his efforts in the Senate, flashing local news headlines about his work to cap insulin prices, investigate military base housing conditions, and pressure banks to stop overdraft fees. 

WARNOCK FOCUSED ON HELPING FARMERS AND RURAL COMMUNITIES THRIVE

At his first hearing as Chair of the Senate Agriculture Subcommittee on Commodities, Risk Management and Trade, Reverend Warnock highlighted the urgent need for the federal government to reduce trade barriers for Georgia farmers. Georgia is the nation’s top pecan producer, yet its pecan growers face tariff rates as high as 36 percent when they try to export their products abroad. Last week, Warnock met with farmers in Musella, GA to discuss the stress farmers are experiencing, in part because of barriers to market access that limit profitability.

Watch Reverend Warnock’s opening statement HERE.

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