[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 56 (Tuesday, April 8, 2003)]
[House]
[Page H2915]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                REDUCING THE COST OF PRESCRIPTION DRUGS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. Gutknecht) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. GUTKNECHT. Mr. Speaker, a couple of weeks ago I came to the well 
of the House, and I said that the FDA had declared war on American 
consumers. Now the battle is joined.
  Mr. Speaker, I want to share a brochure, a little brochure that my 
staff and I have put together. On the cover it says, ``If we want to 
allow Americans to keep and spend over $600 billion during the next 10 
years, here is a good place to start.'' Then at the bottom you have a 
picture of some pharmaceutical capsules.
  Then if you open the brochure, the second page says, ``That is right. 
According to the CBO,'' that is congressional language for the 
Congressional Budget Office, they are our official bean counters, 
``According to the CBO, American seniors will spend over $1.8 
trillion.'' By ``seniors'' they mean only those people who are 65 years 
of age or older. So over the next 10 years, the CBO tells us that 
seniors alone will spend over $1.8 trillion on prescription drugs.
  Now, a conservative estimate, not done by me, but by experts who are 
a whole lot smarter than I am, a conservative estimate would be that we 
can save 35 percent by allowing free markets to work. Again, I am not 
particularly good at math, but 35 percent times $1.8 trillion works out 
to $630 billion.
  Here we have a chart. This is the latest chart. I have actually had 
in the last 4 years four different charts. I do not use my own numbers, 
although we have actually done our own research to confirm that these 
are very accurate in terms of the average prices that Americans pay, 
and these are some of the most commonly prescribed drugs in the United 
States.
  Let us start right at the top, a drug called Augmentin. Here in the 
United States, according to the Life Extension Foundation that has been 
doing research on this for more than a decade, the average price for a 
30-day supply in the United States is $55.50. That same drug sells in 
Canada for about $12, and it sells in Europe for an average price of 
only $8.75. There are differences in the value of currency, but the net 
effect is that Americans pay that much more for the same drug.
  Look at another drug, a drug made by a German company called Bayer. 
We usually call it Bayer, Bayer Aspirin. Cipro became real popular last 
year when we had anthrax here in these buildings, because it is one of 
the most effective drugs for things like anthrax. But Cipro in the 
United States sells for an average of $87.99 for a month's supply. In 
Canada it sells for $55.53 cents, and in Europe, in Germany, where they 
make it, they sell it for $40.75.
  The list goes on. Let me talk about a drug called Coumadin. My 85-
year-old father takes Coumadin. Fortunately, because he worked for a 
union all of his life, worked as a union worker all of his life, under 
his contract he has prescription drug coverage, so it does not cost him 
$64.88, which is what it costs the average American consumer in the 
United States if they do not have prescription drug coverage; $64.88 in 
the United States, $24.94 in Canada, and only $15.80 in Europe.
  The list goes on. This is reflective, and it goes on and on and on.
  Down here, I put a famous quote by one of my favorite Presidents, 
President Ronald Reagan. He said, ``Markets are more powerful than 
armies.'' At the end of the day, you cannot hold markets back; but 
unfortunately, that is what is happening in the United States.
  Now, I have no qualms with the big pharmaceutical industry in the 
sense that they ought to be able to sell their drugs for what they want 
to sell them for. But they should not be allowed to hide behind the FDA 
to do it. So I do not say shame on them as much as I say shame on us. 
It is we the Congress, we the policymakers here in the United States 
that have allowed these disparities to happen.
  Finally, we are having a big debate right now about tax cuts, how 
much should we give in tax cuts. Is it going to be $625 billion or $535 
billion or $375 billion?
  Tax cuts are great, particularly at a time when the economy is soft. 
But if we really want to help seniors, if we want to lower prescription 
drug prices and allow Americans to keep and spend $630 billion of their 
money over the next 10 years, let us open markets now.
  Finally, it just says simply Americans deserve world-class drugs at 
world-class prices. All we are asking for is open markets. All we want 
is what German pharmacists have the right to do, and that is buy drugs 
where they can get them the cheapest.
  Mr. Speaker, I would like to yield to one of my heroes. The gentleman 
from Indiana (Mr. Burton) held a hearing last week, and it was one of 
the best hearings I have ever participated in.
  Mr. BURTON of Indiana. Mr. Speaker, I think the gentleman covered the 
issue very well.
  I just wanted to make one comment, and that is that some of the 
pharmaceutical companies, like SmithKline of England, are going into 
Canada and saying if you sell pharmaceutical drugs in the United States 
for the price that you are paying in Canada, which is about one-fourth 
or one-half of what they are here, we are going to cut you off. They 
are doing that in a bullying way.
  I do not think pharmaceutical companies should say to a country, you 
cannot sell those drugs in the United States because it is the same 
product that in America we are paying two or three times for it. It 
makes no sense to me.
  Mr. GUTKNECHT. Mr. Speaker, reclaiming my time, the gentleman is 
absolutely right. What is being done by some of the big pharmaceutical 
companies is nothing short of shameful. I also say shame on us.
  I said the other day that Teddy Roosevelt must be rolling in his 
grave, the Republican President who believed in breaking up the trusts, 
in enforcing competition, because he understood, as President Reagan 
understood, that markets are more powerful than armies.
  Mr. Speaker, it is time for this Congress to live up to its 
responsibilities. It is time for Congress to allow Americans to have 
access to world-class drugs at world-market prices.

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