Gilbert Gutknecht: “for those Members who are going home and having town hall meetings and meeting with constituents, the one issue that…”

“for those Members who are going home and having town hall meetings and meeting with constituents, the one issue that comes up with almost every small business, big business, medium- sized businesses, and it comes up with families and school boards, as well as coming up with representatives of State legislatures, it is the cost of health care. One of the issues we talk a lot about in Minnesota, because we are so close to the Canadian border, is the difference between what we pay for prescription drugs and what people on the other side of the Canadian border pay for the same drugs. I have in my hands two boxes of Celebrex. We had a hearing last week in the Committee on Government Reform and I held these up and asked: Can anyone tell me which one of these drugs came from another country and which one came from the United States? Well, the answer is you cannot tell because they are exactly the same. Another question, though, about the Celebrex, is which one is safe? Well, according to the FDA, and now according to the company itself, depending upon the condition you may have with your heart and blood, neither one of them may actually be safe. What I want to talk a little bit about tonight is the differences between what we pay here in the United States and what they pay in Germany for the same drugs.…”