[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 71 (Wednesday, May 19, 2004)]
[House]
[Page H3378]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




            TIME FOR ACTION ON PRESCRIPTION DRUG IMPORTATION

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Brown) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. BROWN of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, it is time for Congress to act on 
legislation to permit prescription drug importation.
  Drug companies are the most profitable businesses in America. The 
drug companies earn profit margins of over 18 percent. That is three 
times the average of Fortune 500 firms.
  These companies are huge multinational juggernauts. In 2001, the 10 
biggest U.S. drug companies reported profits of $37 billion. That is 
more than the Federal Government spends each year on VA health care. It 
is more than the entire U.S. Department of Housing and Urban 
Development budget. It is a full billion dollars more than the combined 
gross domestic product of Lebanon, Panama, and Yemen. That is not total 
revenue of the drug company; that is its profits.
  So how is it the drug companies are able to do so well, even as other 
manufacturers and companies around this country are having trouble in 
many cases with staying afloat? By gouging American consumers, that is 
how.
  Drug companies routinely charge American consumers, two, three, four, 
five, sometimes even ten times what they charge their customers in 
Canada and other wealthy countries. Medicine sold in Canada is the same 
safe, effective medicine, same manufacturer, same packaging, same drug, 
the same ones that our constituents buy at a neighborhood grocery store 
or drugstore in Elyria, Ohio, but it costs a fraction of the price.
  Price data collected last fall by the Alliance for Retired Americans 
tells the story. Drugmakers charged Americans $89 for Celebrex, an 
arthritis medicine; Canadians paid $44. The drug industry charged 
Americans $108 for the cholesterol medicine Lipitor, which happens to 
be made in Ireland; Canadians paid $61 for Lipitor. Drug companies 
charged American women $246 for Tamoxifen, the breast cancer drug; 
Canadian women paid $44.
  Our constituents paid 500 percent more for cancer medicine than 
Canadians paid, same manufacturer, same drug, same dosage. In fact, 
U.S. taxpayers helped develop that drug. But because the U.S. 
Government allows drug companies to charge any price they want for 
essential medicine, that is why these drugs cost so much more.
  The best response would be for the American Government to stand up to 
the drug industry, but Republican leadership and President Bush have 
already rejected that common-sense policy. In fact, the Medicare 
prescription drug bill, written by the drug companies for the drug 
companies, and enacted last year and signed by the President, 
explicitly prohibits the Federal Government from negotiating on behalf 
of American consumers for fair prices for prescription drugs.
  Think about that. Forty million Medicare beneficiaries ought to be 
able to get a get a great price because of the number of people that 
Medicare represents. Yet the Congress has prohibited negotiated prices. 
Since this Congress, the Republican leadership, will not allow the 
government to stand up to the drug industry, we should at least allow 
our constituents to benefit from the tough stance taken by other 
nations.
  A bipartisan majority in this House on this, both sides of the aisle, 
solidly supported legislation last year that would give our 
constituents access to prescription drugs imported from Canada and 
other nations. That vote was a declaration of independence from the 
powerful drug lobby and a real step forward for our constituents.
  Two big drugstore chains in America have announced their support for 
importation of safe, effective drugs and affordable medicine. They see 
the tough choices that their customers in this country make every day. 
We should heed that call. Four States have already established drug 
importation Web sites, five local governments have set up importation 
programs, 20 additional States are considering importation as a way to 
respond to their constituents.
  These public officials, Democrats and Republicans alike, are doing 
what they can because Republican leadership in this body and President 
Bush have failed to act, and continue to do the bidding of the drug 
companies.
  Seniors in Ohio and throughout the country continue to go to Canada 
for a better deal on prescription drugs. They know a full deck of 
discount cards does not offer a discount comparable to the fair prices 
charged to our neighbor country to the north. Their continued grass-
roots fight against the drug companies is a cry for help.
  We should answer that call. This Congress should send to the 
President's desk a responsible, bipartisan drug importation bill before 
the Fourth of July recess. The President should wean himself of drug 
company money and influence and sign that bill. America needs a 
declaration of independence from the drug companies. Let us get it to 
the President's desk before July 4.

                          ____________________