| 00:00:00 | THE TRUTH. |
| 00:00:01 | OVER ONE MILLION AMERICANS GET THEIR DRUGS RIGHT NOW FROM CANADA AND PLACES AROUND THE WORLD. |
| 00:00:08 | THEY REIMPORT. |
| 00:00:09 | WE SEE ARTICLES LIKE THE ONE ON THE FRONT PAGE OF MY PAPER THAT TALKS ABOUT HOW TO GET YOUR DRUGS FROM INTERNET OR FROM OVERSEAS, AND THE TRUTH IS WE KNOW THAT OUR FRIENDS, OUR FAMILIES, NONE OF THEM HAVE BEEN HARMED BY THIS. |
| 00:00:24 | AND WHY IS THAT? |
| 00:00:26 | BECAUSE DEVELOPED COUNTRIES AROUND THE WORLD SHARE ALL THE SAME PRODUCTION FACILITIES, ALL THE SAME LICENSED DISTRIBUTION FACILITIES, ALL THE SAME LICENSED PHARMACIES, SO THAT OUR DRUGS ARE AS SAFE AS ANY OF THE OTHER DEVELOPED COUNTRIES. |
| 00:00:43 | THIS MAY BE THE WRONG RULE. |
| 00:00:44 | IT'S THE TOUGHEST BILL. |
| 00:00:45 | IT IS THE LATEST HOUR. |
| 00:00:48 | THE SPEAKER PRO TEMPORE: THE GENTLELADY'S TIME HAS EXPIRED. |
| 00:00:51 | MS. NORTHRUP: BUT I HAVE CONFIDENCE THE CONGRESS WILL DO THE RIGHT THING, THEY'LL PASS THIS BILL AND THIS RULE TONIGHT. |
| 00:00:58 | THE SPEAKER PRO TEMPORE: THE GENTLELADY'S TIME HAS EXPIRED. |
| 00:01:00 | THE GENTLELADY FROM NEW YORK. |
| 00:01:01 | MS. SLAUGHTER: MR. |
| 00:01:02 | SPEAKER, MAY I INQUIRE HOW MUCH TIME IS REMAINING ON BOTH SIDES? |
| 00:01:07 | THE SPEAKER PRO TEMPORE: THE GENTLELADY FROM NEW YORK HAS 13 MINUTES LEFT, THE GENTLEMAN FROM TEXAS HAS 7 1/2 MINUTES LEFT. |
| 00:01:13 | MS. SLAUGHTER: THANK YOU. |
| 00:01:15 | I WILL YIELD ONE MINUTE TO THE GENTLEMAN FROM NEW JERSEY, MR. |
| 00:01:17 | PALLONE. |
| 00:01:18 | THE SPEAKER PRO TEMPORE: THE GENTLEMAN IS RECOGNIZED FOR ONE MINUTE. |
| 00:01:20 | MR. |
| 00:01:21 | PALLONE: THANK YOU, I AM FROM |
Mrs. NORTHUP. Mr. Speaker, there is not one Member of Congress who would ever jeopardize the safety of their constituents. We all agree, no matter what the costs of prescription drugs are, safety is the first, most important thing, but the wildly exaggerated claims that this bill would jeopardize safety is typical of the type of rhetoric we have heard from pharmaceutical companies.
The truth is, the Americans know the truth. Over one million Americans get their drugs right now from Canada and places around the world. They reimport. We see articles like the one on the front page of my paper that talks about how to get drugs from the Internet or from overseas, and the truth is, we know that our friends, our families, none of them have been harmed by this.
Why is that? Because developed countries around the world share all the same production facilities, all the same license distribution facilities, all the same licensed pharmacies so that our drugs are as safe as any in the other developed countries.
This may be the wrong rule. It is the toughest bill. It is the latest hour, but I have faith that Congress will do the right thing and pass this rule and this bill tonight.