Political Quotes

“That is why we have Customs inspectors and FDA inspectors, who do, in fact, monitor things coming into this country for purposes that are fundamentally different. When you are talking about pharmaceutical products, that is a fundamentally different area. All I am suggesting is that what is being created in the Dorgan amendment is an opportunity. As the amendment says, you have to have a pattern of problems with these drugs before you can do anything. I think that creates a loophole that is in today's world of terrorism, one that would be certainly filled by any number of terrorist organizations that want to hit the United States with some sort of bioterrorism. I want to get back to what the Senator from North Dakota said prior to the vote on the last amendment. He said he would like to have someone come here and explain to him why drugs in Canada are so much less expensive than they are here in the United States, why we pay such premiums for those drugs here in the United States, and why Canada can sell them so much less expensively than they do here. There are a lot of reasons. Let me give you a few. No. 1, the Canadian health care system is a single-payer system. It is a government-run health care system. It is run through the provinces and the territories. This government-run health care system negotiates prices. Not all drugs that are made available in the United States are available in Canada. Why? Because the Canadian Government has a formulary.”