[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 13 (Wednesday, February 9, 2005)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1156-S1157]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




       WORKING FOR THE PEOPLE OF LOUISIANA AND THE UNITED STATES

  Mr. VITTER. Mr. President, what a difference a day makes. At this 
time yesterday I was riding in a Mardi Gras parade with my wife Wendy 
and four young children throwing beads and toys to throngs of young 
revelers. Today I stand on the floor of the Senate to participate in 
one of its many great traditions by delivering my maiden speech--a 
contrast to be sure but perhaps a fitting segue since both exercises 
are about a wonderfully unique place called Louisiana and particularly 
the great faces and high hopes of its children.
  As I begin, I wish to express to my new Senate colleagues what an 
enormous privilege and honor it is to serve with them. From our most 
senior Member, the senior Senator from West Virginia, to our youngest, 
the junior Senator from New Hampshire--I missed that mark by 3 years, 
by the way--this body is filled with bright, talented, and passionate 
men and women who care deeply about our country. And, of course, this 
includes the senior Senator from Louisiana, Ms. Landrieu, who honors me 
with her presence in the Chamber today. I look forward to working with 
each and every one of you, always putting country above party, people 
above politics. That doesn't mean we will always agree, of course. In 
fact, it may mean my words and actions will be particularly spirited 
and passionate, but that is only because of the sincerity and urgency I 
bring to an important job in important times.
  There is also one even greater honor than serving with you which I 
want to acknowledge, and that is being chosen to serve by the wonderful 
people of Louisiana.
  The media and pundits put great emphasis on my being the first 
Republican Senator from Louisiana since Reconstruction--or in 121 
years. Put another way, I am the first Louisiana Republican popularly 
elected to the Senate in history. I think the people of Louisiana were 
very focused on making history in my election but in a very different 
way that had nothing to do with narrow partisan politics. They 
responded to my call to make history by lowering prescription drug 
prices dramatically; by expanding choice and access to affordable 
health care through empowering patients and their doctors, not 
Government or insurance company bureaucrats; by doing the difficult but 
necessary work to create great jobs in Louisiana, such as fighting 
corruption and cronyism and demanding standards and accountability in 
education; by forging a Federal commitment to save a unique national 
treasure, the quickly disappearing Louisiana coast; by truly honoring 
our seniors with true Social Security that the politicians can't touch.
  This is the history Louisiana citizens voted to make, and this is the 
history I am committed to help forge. This is why my first legislative 
action as a Senator was to introduce the Pharmaceutical Market Access 
Act of 2005, to put affordable prescription drugs within reach of all 
Americans.
  Now, I have to say this was not an easy first action. Clearly, this 
bill is opposed by some very powerful interests in Washington such as 
the big drug companies. It is opposed by the administration and was not 
particularly welcomed by any leadership in Congress, Senate or House, 
Republican or Democrat. But I could not ignore the wishes of a vast 
majority of Louisiana citizens.
  As I travelled throughout Louisiana over the past year, I heard 
countless seniors in particular tell similar stories about the 
outrageous costs of their prescription drugs and how it burdens their 
lives. The United States is the world's largest market for 
pharmaceuticals. Yet we pay the world's highest prices. American 
seniors alone will spend $1.8 trillion on prescription drugs over the 
next decade. Meanwhile, citizens of virtually every other 
industrialized country pay significantly lower prices, lower by 30 
percent or more. And this includes many countries which are not 
dominated by old-fashioned statist price control regimes.
  My bill would make prescription drugs more affordable by expanding 
free trade and world commerce, by legalizing the importation of 
prescription drugs from 25 industrialized countries with pharmaceutical 
structures equivalent or superior to our own. For the first time, 
individual consumers would be allowed to legally import prescription 
drugs for their personal use.
  Critics of drug importation cite safety as their primary concern. I 
share a belief that the safety of prescription drugs is paramount. My 
bill takes steps to address real safety concerns and strengthen 
existing laws by adding new requirements to promote the safety of 
prescription drugs here at home and those brought in from abroad. It 
includes new requirements that imported prescription drugs be packaged 
and shipped using state-of-the-art counterfeit-resistant technologies 
or be carefully tested for authenticity before entering commerce in our 
country.
  Drug importation is not a conservative or liberal issue. It is not a 
Democrat or Republican issue. It is a universal issue and challenge to 
provide our Nation's consumers access to safe and affordable drugs. 
That is why I worked to assemble a coalition of Senators and 
Representatives from across the political spectrum in support of this 
legislation. This coalition makes the bill unique as the first 
bipartisan and bicameral drug importation proposal. It is the companion 
bill to that offered by Representative Gutknecht in the House. An 
earlier version of the Gutknecht bill, of course, passed the House last 
Congress with my strong support and vote and stands as the only bill 
ever to pass either body on this subject. I look forward to working 
with all of my new Senate colleagues to advance this crucial fight. 
And, of course, my door is always open to those who want to join our 
effort or who have other ideas on how to bring the high cost of 
prescription drugs down to an affordable level. This issue is too 
important for us not to act.
  In addition to lowering the price of prescription drugs, I look 
forward to

[[Page S1157]]

working with my Senate colleagues to take on other crucial challenges. 
I will be an active participant in the Social Security debate because 
we have a duty to the American people to ensure that their Social 
Security money is protected, not just for the current generation of 
retirees but for future generations as well. That is why I introduced 
my version of the Social Security lockbox last week and why I support 
the innovative idea of secure personal retirement accounts.
  This week I will participate in the debate on class action reform in 
support of the Senator from Iowa, and I am hopeful we will not stop 
here. In the near future the Senate needs to address the problem of 
frivolous lawsuits that are driving more and more doctors out of 
business and robbing so many rural communities of access to the most 
basic health care.

  I will also keep up the fight against Louisiana corruption and 
cronyism that still costs us jobs back home. As the folks back home 
know, I have gotten a few scars from this battle in the past but that 
is OK; I am ready to continue this fight in the Senate because it is a 
fight about doing right by Louisiana.
  I look forward to working with Senator Landrieu on key Louisiana 
projects that will protect and strengthen our Louisiana economy. By 
working together we will be able to secure the funding needed to 
preserve our coast, finish the construction of I-49, and protect our 
State's vital military installations.
  Every morning that I wake up at home in Louisiana, I help my wife 
Wendy get our four children up and ready for school and for life. Then 
I view what flows naturally from that. I look for new ideas and 
innovative avenues to improve the lives of every child in Louisiana. 
And now in doing so I look for new ways to work with every Member of 
this great body to build that brighter future.
  Mr. President, I thank you and I yield the floor.
  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I say briefly to the junior Senator 
from Louisiana, thank you for a marvelous opportunity to hear your 
first policy speech in the Senate. On behalf of all of our colleagues 
on both sides of the aisle, we welcome you here, and it is a pleasure 
to listen to your priorities not only for Louisiana but for the Nation.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Louisiana.
  Ms. LANDRIEU. I thank the Chair. I rise to say a few words to 
congratulate my colleague, a gentleman I have known for many years and 
so many in Louisiana and around the Nation have come to admire and 
respect for his energy and commitment. I can only say the only 
disappointment in his maiden speech is that he did not call for the 
Mardi Gras to be a national holiday. The two of us are going to join 
forces and continue to work on that. I think most of our colleagues 
would readily sign that resolution, so we will see.
  But let me in seriousness thank him for joining the effort and 
putting his shoulder to the wheel to lower prescription drug costs for 
the people of Louisiana and our Nation. There are many critically 
important and urgent issues before the Congress but that ranks among 
the top. I believe his expertise in that area is going to be called on 
often in the next few months as this debate continues.
  Also, I would need to mention that I thank him for his efforts in 
mentioning and fighting for, both in his time in the House and the 
Louisiana Legislature, the issue of coastal erosion. I see our good 
friend, the Senator from Arkansas, in the Chamber, and I was joking 
with his colleague, Senator Lincoln, last night, saying if we are not 
successful in our efforts against coastal erosion, they, too, will have 
the great benefit of representing a coastal State because Louisiana may 
not be there if we do not address this issue.

  On accountability in education, this Congress has made remarkable 
progress, and our State, you may not realize but as Senator Vitter 
knows, is leading the Nation in both accountability and also 
requirements in those new standards, and on transportation. I look 
forward to working with him.
  He has two excellent committee assignments on Commerce and EPA. He 
will follow in the great footsteps of Senator John Breaux who served so 
ably on the Committee on Commerce in the area of fisheries as well as 
coastal issues on that committee, and on Transportation.
  So I say to Senator Vitter, welcome to the Senate. Your energy, your 
enthusiasm, and your vision are going to mean a great deal to 
strengthen this already august body. Thank you and God bless you in 
your term.

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