[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 111 (Thursday, July 24, 2003)]
[House]
[Pages H7540-H7541]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




PROVIDING FOR CONSIDERATION OF H.R. 2427, PHARMACEUTICAL MARKET ACCESS 
                              ACT OF 2003

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. LaHood). The time remaining on the rule, 
the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Sessions) has 4\1/2\ minutes remaining, 
and the gentlewoman from New York (Ms. Slaughter) has 1\1/2\ minutes 
remaining.
  Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Speaker, before I start I would like to clarify 
with the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Sessions), we had a conversation, 
and he has one more speaker for the remainder of the time; is that 
correct?
  Mr. SESSIONS. Mr. Speaker, to answer the gentlewoman, I have 4\1/2\ 
minutes remaining. I will use 4 minutes for a speaker to close, and 
then I will end the debate.
  Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 20 seconds.
  Mr. Speaker, I simply wanted to remind the House that this is 
probably one of the most important votes that they are going to take 
because their constituents are waiting to see where we fall. Are we 
with the pharmaceutical companies, or are we with them? The safety 
issue absolutely will hold no water anywhere, and they know it. And I 
think that there will be a lot to answer to if we do not support this 
tonight.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield the remainder of my time to the gentleman from 
Indiana (Mr. Burton).
  Mr. BURTON of Indiana. Mr. Speaker, I have been here for 21 years in 
this body. I know I look a lot younger, but I have been here 21 years. 
And I have never seen the kind of pressure exerted on Members of this 
body like I have seen on this bill.
  They say it is about safety. It is not about safety; it is about 
money. They say it is about health, the health of the seniors who might 
be taken in by counterfeit drugs. It is not about that. It is about 
money, the money that the pharmaceutical companies are making on the 
backs of the American people.
  Talk to a lady who has got a child who is suffering from some very 
serious disease and she finds out, to buy her pharmaceutical products 
here, it costs four or five times here than what it costs in Canada or 
Germany or France. What do we say to her? It is about money. What do we 
say to a woman who has breast cancer, who is going to die, who needs 
Tamoxifen to survive? Her life depends on it. How do we tell her it is 
going to cost six or seven times what it costs in Canada or Germany for 
the very same thing? Is her life worth that much less? Tell me, is her 
life worth that much less?
  And if the profits are so great here and they are not as great 
elsewhere, then why not spread it around? Why should all these profits 
be loaded on the backs of the American people?
  When the Members vote, I want them to think about this. Think about 
this. And I approach this from a personal standpoint. There is a woman 
who is dying of breast cancer. This is one example. How do we tell her 
when she goes to buy Tamoxifen and she cannot afford it that she could 
go right across the border to Canada and get it for one-sixth or one-
seventh what it costs here? How do we tell her that? We cannot.
  We need to pass this bill to send a message to the pharmaceutical 
companies that the American people deserve the same rights and 
privileges as anybody else in this world, especially those who really 
need it because of their health.
  Mr. SESSIONS. Mr. Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from 
Louisiana (Mr. McCrery).
  Mr. McCRERY. Mr. Speaker, one thing I agree with the last speaker 
about, and that is that Americans pay an unfair share of the research 
and development costs for pharmaceuticals in the world; but the proper 
way to address that is not by abandoning our free market principles and 
importing price controls, and that is what this bill would do.
  I have heard it several times here this evening, there is no safety 
issue. That is a ruse. Do not believe PhRMA. Do not even believe FDA. 
But how about the Secretary of HHS for two different administrations, 
one Democratic and one Republican? A previous speaker said, well, I 
personally talked to Secretary Shalala not long ago and she assured me 
that that is not what she really said. What she really said is that if 
the FDA had the appropriate resources, then we could certify the safety 
of these drugs.
  I would ask the gentleman who spoke with Donna Shalala, did he ask 
her does the FDA have the appropriate resources? The answer would be 
no. Does this bill give them the appropriate resources? The answer is 
no. When would they get the appropriate resources? We do not know. But 
you want to pass this bill tonight. If the FDA got the appropriate 
resources, how long would it take them to put those safety devices in 
place?
  So you can say there is not a safety issue, but that is all it is, is 
words. The people who have researched this, the people in positions of 
responsibility in government, both Democratic and Republican, have said 
there is a safety issue. So think about that before voting for this 
bill.
  There is a chart to my left here. This side of the chart shows a 
chart that was put up on this floor earlier by one of the proponents of 
the bill. The other side shows the rest of the story. Germany imposes 
price controls, called

[[Page H7541]]

``reference prices'' on most drugs. Seven out of the 10 drugs on this 
chart that was shown have price controls. Most of the drugs on this 
list are also available as generics in Germany. Seven out of 10, in 
fact, are available as generics. Nine out of 10 are either subject to 
price controls or are available in generic form. What happens when a 
generic form comes on market? The price comes down of the patented 
drug.
  In addition, all drugs in Germany are subject to the threat of 
compulsory licensing, that is, the drug company can lose its patent in 
Germany if they refuse to sell the drugs there. I do not know where the 
United States prices on the supporters' charts came from. The 
difference is not 300 percent, as they would advertise, but 31 percent. 
That is reality. Vote against this bill if we want better wonder drugs 
in the future for better health.
  Mr. SESSIONS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  These proposed changes will prevent the greatest scientific research 
and development organization in the world from continuing to solve the 
medical problems of tomorrow. We need to pass a prescription drug plan 
that reduces the cost of drugs, not one that ruins those that make 
drugs that solves problems, that takes care of the real-life problems 
that we face, moms, dads, brothers, and sisters. We need to make sure 
that we vote ``yes'' on the rule and that we vote ``no'' on Gutknecht 
to make sure that the prescription drug people who do the hard work are 
alive and well and provide those things that are necessary and pass a 
prescription drug plan that takes care of the problems with the cost of 
high prescription drugs.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time, and I move the 
previous question on the resolution.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on ordering the previous 
question.
  The question was taken; and the Speaker pro tempore announced that 
the ayes appeared to have it.


                             Recorded Vote

  Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Speaker, I demand a recorded vote.
  A recorded vote was ordered.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 9 of rule XX, the Chair 
will reduce to 5 minutes the vote on adoption of the resolution, if 
ordered, and on any other votes arising in this series.
  The vote was taken by electronic device, and there were--ayes 417, 
noes 10, not voting 7, as follows:

                             [Roll No. 439]

                               AYES--417

     Abercrombie
     Ackerman
     Aderholt
     Akin
     Alexander
     Allen
     Andrews
     Baca
     Bachus
     Baker
     Baldwin
     Ballance
     Ballenger
     Barrett (SC)
     Bartlett (MD)
     Barton (TX)
     Bass
     Beauprez
     Becerra
     Bell
     Bereuter
     Berkley
     Berman
     Berry
     Biggert
     Bilirakis
     Bishop (GA)
     Bishop (NY)
     Blackburn
     Blumenauer
     Blunt
     Boehlert
     Boehner
     Bonilla
     Bonner
     Bono
     Boozman
     Boswell
     Boucher
     Boyd
     Bradley (NH)
     Brady (PA)
     Brady (TX)
     Brown (OH)
     Brown (SC)
     Brown, Corrine
     Brown-Waite, Ginny
     Burgess
     Burns
     Burr
     Burton (IN)
     Buyer
     Calvert
     Camp
     Cannon
     Cantor
     Capito
     Capps
     Capuano
     Cardin
     Cardoza
     Carson (IN)
     Carson (OK)
     Carter
     Case
     Castle
     Chabot
     Chocola
     Clay
     Coble
     Cole
     Collins
     Conyers
     Cooper
     Cox
     Cramer
     Crane
     Crenshaw
     Crowley
     Cubin
     Culberson
     Cummings
     Cunningham
     Davis (AL)
     Davis (CA)
     Davis (FL)
     Davis (IL)
     Davis (TN)
     Davis, Jo Ann
     Davis, Tom
     Deal (GA)
     DeGette
     Delahunt
     DeLauro
     DeLay
     DeMint
     Deutsch
     Diaz-Balart, L.
     Diaz-Balart, M.
     Dingell
     Doggett
     Dooley (CA)
     Doolittle
     Doyle
     Dreier
     Duncan
     Dunn
     Edwards
     Ehlers
     Emanuel
     Emerson
     Engel
     English
     Eshoo
     Etheridge
     Evans
     Everett
     Farr
     Fattah
     Feeney
     Ferguson
     Filner
     Flake
     Fletcher
     Foley
     Forbes
     Ford
     Fossella
     Frank (MA)
     Franks (AZ)
     Frelinghuysen
     Frost
     Gallegly
     Garrett (NJ)
     Gerlach
     Gibbons
     Gilchrest
     Gillmor
     Gingrey
     Gonzalez
     Goode
     Goodlatte
     Gordon
     Goss
     Granger
     Graves
     Green (TX)
     Green (WI)
     Greenwood
     Grijalva
     Gutierrez
     Gutknecht
     Hall
     Harman
     Harris
     Hart
     Hastings (FL)
     Hastings (WA)
     Hayes
     Hayworth
     Hefley
     Hensarling
     Herger
     Hill
     Hinchey
     Hinojosa
     Hobson
     Hoeffel
     Hoekstra
     Holden
     Holt
     Honda
     Hooley (OR)
     Hostettler
     Hoyer
     Hulshof
     Hunter
     Hyde
     Inslee
     Isakson
     Israel
     Issa
     Jackson (IL)
     Jackson-Lee (TX)
     Janklow
     Jefferson
     Jenkins
     John
     Johnson (CT)
     Johnson (IL)
     Johnson, Sam
     Jones (NC)
     Jones (OH)
     Kanjorski
     Kaptur
     Keller
     Kelly
     Kennedy (MN)
     Kennedy (RI)
     Kildee
     Kilpatrick
     Kind
     King (IA)
     King (NY)
     Kingston
     Kirk
     Kleczka
     Kline
     Knollenberg
     Kolbe
     Kucinich
     LaHood
     Lampson
     Langevin
     Lantos
     Larsen (WA)
     Larson (CT)
     Latham
     LaTourette
     Leach
     Lee
     Levin
     Lewis (CA)
     Lewis (GA)
     Lewis (KY)
     Linder
     Lipinski
     LoBiondo
     Lofgren
     Lowey
     Lucas (KY)
     Lucas (OK)
     Lynch
     Majette
     Maloney
     Manzullo
     Markey
     Marshall
     Matheson
     Matsui
     McCarthy (MO)
     McCarthy (NY)
     McCollum
     McCotter
     McCrery
     McDermott
     McGovern
     McHugh
     McInnis
     McIntyre
     McKeon
     McNulty
     Meehan
     Meek (FL)
     Meeks (NY)
     Mica
     Michaud
     Millender-McDonald
     Miller (FL)
     Miller (MI)
     Miller (NC)
     Miller, Gary
     Miller, George
     Mollohan
     Moore
     Moran (KS)
     Moran (VA)
     Murphy
     Murtha
     Musgrave
     Myrick
     Nadler
     Napolitano
     Neal (MA)
     Nethercutt
     Neugebauer
     Ney
     Northup
     Norwood
     Nunes
     Nussle
     Oberstar
     Obey
     Olver
     Ortiz
     Osborne
     Ose
     Otter
     Owens
     Oxley
     Pallone
     Paul
     Payne
     Pearce
     Pelosi
     Pence
     Peterson (MN)
     Peterson (PA)
     Petri
     Pickering
     Pitts
     Platts
     Pombo
     Pomeroy
     Porter
     Portman
     Price (NC)
     Pryce (OH)
     Putnam
     Quinn
     Radanovich
     Rahall
     Ramstad
     Rangel
     Regula
     Rehberg
     Renzi
     Reyes
     Reynolds
     Rodriguez
     Rogers (AL)
     Rogers (KY)
     Rogers (MI)
     Rohrabacher
     Ros-Lehtinen
     Ross
     Roybal-Allard
     Royce
     Ruppersberger
     Rush
     Ryan (OH)
     Ryan (WI)
     Ryun (KS)
     Sabo
     Sanchez, Linda T.
     Sanchez, Loretta
     Sanders
     Sandlin
     Saxton
     Schakowsky
     Schiff
     Schrock
     Scott (GA)
     Scott (VA)
     Sensenbrenner
     Serrano
     Sessions
     Shadegg
     Shaw
     Shays
     Sherman
     Sherwood
     Shimkus
     Shuster
     Simmons
     Simpson
     Skelton
     Slaughter
     Smith (MI)
     Smith (NJ)
     Smith (TX)
     Smith (WA)
     Snyder
     Solis
     Souder
     Spratt
     Stark
     Stearns
     Stenholm
     Strickland
     Sweeney
     Tancredo
     Tanner
     Tauscher
     Tauzin
     Taylor (MS)
     Taylor (NC)
     Terry
     Thomas
     Thompson (CA)
     Thompson (MS)
     Thornberry
     Tiahrt
     Tiberi
     Tierney
     Toomey
     Turner (OH)
     Turner (TX)
     Udall (CO)
     Udall (NM)
     Upton
     Van Hollen
     Velazquez
     Visclosky
     Vitter
     Walden (OR)
     Walsh
     Wamp
     Waters
     Watson
     Watt
     Waxman
     Weiner
     Weldon (FL)
     Weldon (PA)
     Weller
     Wexler
     Whitfield
     Wicker
     Wilson (NM)
     Wilson (SC)
     Wolf
     Woolsey
     Wu
     Wynn
     Young (AK)
     Young (FL)

                                NOES--10

     Clyburn
     Costello
     DeFazio
     Dicks
     Johnson, E. B.
     Menendez
     Pascrell
     Rothman
     Stupak
     Towns

                             NOT VOTING--7

     Baird
     Bishop (UT)
     Gephardt
     Houghton
     Istook
     Pastor
     Sullivan


                Announcement by the Speaker Pro Tempore

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. LaHood) (during the vote). Members are 
reminded there are 2 minutes remaining in this vote.

                              {time}  1959

  Messrs. OLVER, COOPER, and NADLER changed their vote from ``no'' to 
``aye.''
  So the previous question was ordered.
  The result of the vote was announced as above recorded.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the resolution.
  The resolution was agreed to.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

                          ____________________