or their medicines? With almost 25 percent of seniors in this country skipping doses of the medicines their doctors prescribe because they cannot afford them, why is the President making it even more difficult for them to purchase the medicines they need from safe and reliable sources in Canada? Why is the Bush Administration pursuing a prescription drug policy that is opposed by the overwhelming majority of Americans?

You guessed it. The answer, of course, is money, money, MONEY! The pharmaceutical industry, the wealthiest and most powerful lobby on Capitol Hill, is funneling millions in campaign contributions and other forms of political help to the President and the Republican leadership. The White House and their Congressional allies are working diligently to protect the industry's record-breaking profits rather than the needs of the American people. Surprise, surprise.

As the first member of Congress to bring constituents across the Canadian border to save substantial sums on prescription drugs, I am outraged that Bush's Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Department of Justice are now trying to cut off a lifeline for an estimated one million Americans now purchasing safe and affordable medicines in Canada. The President and his Administration should be developing policies which will lower the outrageously high prices drug companies charge Americans. Instead, they are working hand in hand with the industry to force Americans to pay two or three (and sometimes over five) times more than what citizens of other countries pay for the exact same prescription drugs. If they are successful, many American seniors will suffer needlessly and some will die.

The pharmaceutical industry and its representatives in the White House tell us their opposition to reimportation stems from their concerns about the safety of the prescription drugs coming into this country. Really? Over one million Americans annually purchase medicines from Canada, and a senior FDA official recently testified before my committee that he could not cite a single instance of an American being adversely affected. A study I requested from the Congressional Research Service this spring found that the Canadian regulatory system for prescription drugs is virtually identical to our own. When the United States is routinely importing millions of pounds of meat, poultry, fruits and vegetables from throughout the world, can anyone honestly believe that we could not safely import FDA-safety-approved medicines from a small number of manufacturing centers and warehouses in the industrialized world?

The good news is that in July, against the ferocious opposition of the drug companies, the House of Representatives voted 243 to 186 for a bill that would allow American pharmacists, prescription drug distributors and individuals to purchase FDA-safety-approved medicines from a number of countries in the industrialized world. This bill was passed with strong tri-partisan support, with a number of courageous Republicans playing a leadership role and joining me and the vast majority of Democrats in handing the industry lobby a rare defeat.

More recently, as part of the growing momentum for the concept of prescription drug reimportation, the mayor of Springfield, MA, and governors in Illinois, Iowa and Minnesota have taken steps to enable their government employees and retirees to access the affordable prescription drug prices enjoyed by our neighbors in Canada. These public officials think it is more important to keep teachers and police officers on the job than to squander taxpayer money to inflate the profits of the drug companies. The public agrees. A recent USA TODAY/CNN/Gallup poll indicated that seventy-one percent of Americans support having access to prescription drugs from Canada and other countries.

Let's be clear. The goal of this legislation is not to have everyone in America buying their medicines abroad. Rather, through international competition, this legislation will force the pharmaceutical industry to lower drug prices in this country by thirty to fifty percent, allowing Americans to purchase medicines at their corner drugstore at world market prices.

Needless to say, the pharmaceutical industry, which has spent over three hundred million dollars in recent years to hogtie Congress and prevent it from lowering drug prices for all Americans, is doing everything it can to prevent the Senate from passing serious prescription drug reimportation legislation. If the American people want to see the prices of prescription drugs reduced, they had better start contacting their Senators - immediately. I can assure you that the drug companies' 675 well-paid lobbyists are already doing just that.

A BUZZFLASH GUEST COMMENTARY

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U.S. Representative Bernard Sanders is an Independent from Vermont. You can contact Rep. Sanders by visiting his web site is http://bernie.house.gov/.

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