[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 146 (2000), Part 15]
[House]
[Page 22158]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



            THE REPUBLICANS' FIG LEAF PRESCRIPTION DRUG BILL

  (Mr. McDERMOTT asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. McDERMOTT. Mr. Speaker, today is Republican fig leaf bill on the 
cost of medications. The agriculture bill allows the reimportation of 
medications that have been shipped abroad to be brought back into the 
country, presumably to be sold at lower prices.
  What the Republicans want the American people to believe is that the 
pharmaceutical companies will send medications out of the country that 
they charge $1 in this country for but only 30 cents in Canada, and 
they will allow them to come back in and be sold for 30 cents.
  Mr. Speaker, this provision is a fraud. It allows the pharmaceutical 
companies to relabel the drugs so people will be confused about whether 
it is the same medication. It also allows them a 5-year sunset, and it 
also restricts the contracts when they sell them abroad. They will 
write a contract that says to the Canadians, ``We are selling this to 
you, and you agree that you will not reimport.''
  This bill is filled with fraudulent information, but it is going to 
be the basis of 100 to 218 press releases today: ``The Republicans have 
dealt with the problem of the cost of medications.''

                          ____________________