Byron Dorgan: “I was interested in the statement by the majority leader. This, of course, is not the amendment the Senate previously…”

“I was interested in the statement by the majority leader. This, of course, is not the amendment the Senate previously considered. It is not the amendment to which the Senate previously agreed. It is not the provision of law that the Secretary of Health and Human Services has refused to implement in two administrations. It is not that at all. First, we will sort out the facts. Let me make a case for the amendment itself. My colleague just won a debate we weren't having. His debate is about a piece of legislation the Senate passed a couple of years ago. I supported that, and I believe the Health and Human Services Secretary and the FDA made a mistake in not implementing it. Nonetheless, that was all a couple of years ago. Yes, this particular amendment we offered deals with the reimportation of prescription drugs, but it deals only with the reimportation of prescription drugs from the country of Canada--only from the country of Canada. The Senate previously addressed this issue of reimportation in 2000 by saying reimportation from other countries--as long as it was an FDA-approved drug and brought here under conditions of safety--would be appropriate. We have already said the HHS and FDA did not implement the previous legislation. But now, we will narrow this legislation very dramatically and provide reimportation only from the country of Canada. I will explain why that is important. First, miracle drugs offer no miracles to those who cannot afford them.”