Richard Gephardt: “I rise today because once again this Congress has failed the American people and handed the special interests a victory.…”

“I rise today because once again this Congress has failed the American people and handed the special interests a victory. I am deeply disappointed with this reimportation provision in this bill. There is now widespread agreement that this measure will do next to nothing for the American people. A lobbyist for a major drug company told The New York Times that he doubted ``that anyone will realize a penny of savings from this legislation.'' Last month, Democrats and Republicans were working hard to craft effective importation legislation that contains strong safety standards. Reimportation was on its way to becoming a real achievement for the American consumer. To be sure, reimportation was never a substitute for a Medicare prescription benefit that offered a guaranteed benefit and lower medicine prices for all seniors. But it was a step in the right direction, a rare example of what we as a Congress could do when we set aside our differences and come together to help the people of this country. But a few days ago, just as we were about to move forward, the bipartisan dynamic ran into a brick wall, a brick wall of a leadership unbending to compromise, unwilling to detach itself from special interests to pursue a larger agenda. Operating behind closed doors, after a bipartisan agreement had almost been reached, the Republican leadership torpedoed a sound reimportation measure that could have resulted in lower prices for millions of consumers.”