[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 146 (2000), Part 13]
[House]
[Page 19275]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]


[[Page 19275]]

        AFFORDABLE PRESCRIPTION DRUG COVERAGE FOR ALL AMERICANS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentlewoman from New York (Ms. Slaughter) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Speaker, I would like to take this opportunity to 
join my colleagues in calling for quick, decisive action by Congress to 
make prescription drugs more affordable for all Americans.
  This Chamber has the opportunity to make an enormous difference in 
the lives of seniors, individuals with disabilities, and many, many 
others. And for once, there is something relatively simple that we can 
do. We can pass the legislation making it easier for Americans to 
reimport prescription drugs approved by the FDA and manufactured in FDA 
facilities.
  A vast amount of the pharmaceuticals produced in the Nation under 
government-inspected plans and with government-approved procedures end 
up in other countries. Quite often they are sold at far lower prices 
there than are available to United States residents. For many people, 
it would be less expensive to buy those medications overseas and have 
them shipped home than to purchase them at the corner drugstore. 
However, restrictive export laws make it impossible.
  Both the House and the Senate have approved legislation that would 
allow Americans to reimport prescription drugs. I strongly support this 
reasonable proposal, with the understanding that reasonable safeguards 
on the purity and safety of these products would also be put in place. 
This is a common sense step that we can take to improve all of our 
constituents' access to more affordable medication.
  In early June, my office worked with Public Citizen to help a dozen 
of my constituents travel to Montreal to purchase prescription drugs at 
lower prices in Canada. The savings realized by these persons was 
nothing short of astonishing. Elsie saved $650, or 47 percent, of the 
cost of her prescriptions. Nancy saved 48 percent, or over $450, 
Francis saved 60 percent. For all of the men and women who went, the 
savings amounted to a significant proportion of their monthly income.
  Now, I should point out that these persons were only allowed to buy 
medications for 2 months and, so, those significant savings were for 
only a 2-month period of the year.
  Mary takes nine different medications, and she spends 73 percent of 
one month's income for 3 months' supply. She speaks for many seniors 
when she says, ``Do you stop taking your medication to buy food?''
  It is intolerable that the wealthiest Nation in the world allows this 
situation to persist. However, it is even worse to see the lengths to 
which the pharmaceutical industry will go to defeat any effort to make 
these drugs more affordable.
  Citizens for Better Medicare, a group funded primarily by the largest 
drug companies, now spends something over a million dollars a week on 
campaign-related issue ads. They have already spent $38 million in this 
cycle, more than any organization except the two major political 
parties; and they expect to spend plenty more in the coming weeks 
before the election.

                              {time}  1930

  Just imagine how much good that $38 million would do for low-income 
Americans and seniors who cannot afford their prescriptions. It is time 
for Congress to stop the nonsense and take a modest first step toward 
making prescription drugs more affordable for all Americans.
  Congress should pass a prescription drug reimportation provision as 
soon as possible.

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