Political Quotes

“I support Senator McCain's amendment. That amendment would allow drug importation from approved pharmacies in Canada. I have been a long-time proponent of safe drug importation. I am currently a cosponsor of the Pharmaceutical Market Access and Drug Safety Act, a bill I have worked on for many years with Senator Snowe and Senator McCain. In 2002 and 2003, I supported amendments similar to the one before us today that would permit the importation of prescription drugs from Canada. In the year 2004, the late Senator Kennedy and I worked together on a bill that would authorize drug importation, but it did not survive the partisan politics of this Chamber. I then introduced my own comprehensive drug importation bill in 2004. I entitled that bill the Reliable Entry of Medicine and Everyday Discounts Through the Importation of Effective Safeguard Act, and that naturally works out to an acronym. we called it the REMEDIES Act. In 2005, I combined that bill with the proposal sponsored by then- Senator Dorgan and Senator Snowe. And in 2007 and 2009, we reintroduced the version of that legislation with hopes that our combined efforts would finally lower the cost of prescription drugs for all Americans. During the health care reform debate in 2009, drug importation had a much better chance to pass than ever before. We had a Democratic supermajority in Congress and we had a Democratic President who supported drug importation in the past.…”