[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 91 (Wednesday, June 27, 2001)]
[House]
[Page H3624]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               THE PHARMACEUTICAL INDUSTRY IS AT IT AGAIN

  (Mr. SANDERS asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. SANDERS. Mr. Speaker, the pharmaceutical industry is at it again. 
This industry which has spent $200 million in the last 3 years to 
defeat all efforts to lower the cost of prescription drugs, this 
industry which has 300 paid lobbyists here on Capitol Hill, continues 
to charge the American people by far the highest prices in the world 
for the same exact prescription drugs.
  Mr. Speaker, American women should not have to go over the Canadian 
border to buy tamoxifen, a breast cancer drug, for one-tenth the price 
that it is charged in the United States. Seniors should not have to go 
to Mexico or Europe to pick up the same drugs for a fraction of the 
price.
  Mr. Speaker, in a globalized economy, prescription drug distributors 
and pharmacists should be able to purchase and sell FDA safety-approved 
medicine at the same prices as in other countries. The passage of 
reimportation will lower the cost of medicine in this country by 30 to 
50 percent. Let us pass the Sanders-Crowley-DeLauro amendment in the 
agriculture appropriations bill, which will allow Americans to get fair 
prices for their prescription drugs.

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