[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 95 (Wednesday, July 19, 2006)]
[House]
[Page H5480]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                ACTION IS OVERDUE ON DRUG PRICING REFORM

  (Mr. BROWN of Ohio asked and was given permission to address the 
House for 1 minute.)
  Mr. BROWN of Ohio. Recently, the United States Senate voted 68-32 to 
adopt an amendment that would stop the government from seizing safe, 
effective, affordable medicine imported from Canada. The House passed a 
responsible bipartisan prescription drug importation bill 3 years ago 
this month. I was pleased to lead the House Democrats in support of 
that bill.
  We were not able to get it sent to the President's desk for only one 
reason: Senate Majority Leader Frist never brought it to the Senate 
floor. His own Republican Caucus never demanded a vote. They never 
stood up. They never demanded action to break the drug industry 
stranglehold on the American market. They never demanded an end to the 
multibillion-dollar annual tax of skyrocketing drug prices it imposed 
on American business, and it imposed on American families.
  At long last, the other body has begun to act. That vote should be 
the start, not the end, of this effort. I challenge the Republican 
leadership in both Chambers to give us an open debate, an honest vote 
on comprehensive drug importation legislation, before the anniversary 
of the House bill's passage 3 years ago. Three years is long enough to 
wait for independence from the drug industry.

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