Norvell Emerson: “I am going to address specifically the issue of drug reimportation. Let me say from the outset that I do not think that…”

“I am going to address specifically the issue of drug reimportation. Let me say from the outset that I do not think that there is any colleague of mine who believes that reimportation is the only way that we bring lower-cost prescription medicine to our senior citizens. As a matter of fact, it is the first of two things that we must do in order to ensure that our seniors have access to lower-cost prices. This deals specifically with the price issue. Let me say that I am kind of surprised to hear some of my colleagues from the other side use the pharmaceutical industry's own words and agree with them because it was my understanding, it has been my understanding, that most of us did not agree with them at least with regard to the issue of reimportation. And so let me just say that this is something that we have to allow to work. I want to address specifically the issues that all of my colleagues on the other side raised, issues that we worked long and hard over for hundreds of hours, our staffs and us did, in a very bipartisan way. First of all, the issue of labeling specifically as the gentleman from California (Mr. Waxman), the gentleman from Vermont (Mr. Sanders) and others mentioned it. I will say at the beginning, the Senate passed the Jeffords bill by a wide majority in the Senate. The President said, ``Send me the Jeffords language.'' The labeling language in the Jeffords bill is identical word for word to that which is in our bill today.”