Gil Gutknecht

Mr. GUTKNECHT

Mr. GUTKNECHT. There are only 600 FDA-approved facilities that make prescription drugs in the world. They have to be made in an FDA- approved facility. So, yes, these drugs essentially, this probably came out of a plant in the United States. Or it may have come out of a plant in Puerto Rico, which is part of the United States. Or it may have been made over in Europe somewhere, but they supply essentially the entire world from that plant. It is much more efficient. I also have in my hand something, and it bothers me, some of these prices because we bought 10 and if anybody doubts my research, we have the receipt for the 10 largest-selling drugs. We bought these at the airport pharmacy in Munich, Germany. The total for this worked out to about $373 American. Those same drugs, we checked the prices here in the United States of America, and again cash prices, walking in off the street, we are not talking about going to an HMO or any of these other things, the cash price was almost $1,100 in the United States, more than double, almost triple the price for the same 10 most popular drugs. Let me give you this example. This is the one that really chaps my hide. This is a drug called Tamoxifen. It is a very effective breast cancer drug. But it was developed essentially with Federal taxpayer dollars at the National Institutes of Health. They paid for almost all the research. This drug in the United States, this package of drugs sells for $360. We bought it at the Munich airport pharmacy about a month ago for $59.05 American. $360 here, $60 there. Worse than that, the American taxpayers paid for almost all the research costs on this drug.

Mr. GUTKNECHT. I must admit I am using it as an example because it is probably the most egregious example, with the possible exception of Tamoxifen, which the taxpayers paid for.

Mr. GUTKNECHT. Kate. Kate Stahl.

Mr. GUTKNECHT. That is the point. If we are going to have a prescription drug benefit for seniors, which I think virtually everyone agrees we should, we ought to first of all deal with the issue of affordability. Because just shifting the responsibility of buying $100 Glucophage onto the shoulders of the taxpayers really makes no sense, because ultimately we are going to bankrupt our children if we make a stupid mistake and do not deal with this issue of affordability in price. Listen, we are Republicans. I am a Republican. I do not think the word ``profit'' is a dirty word, but I do think the word ``profiteer'' is. I think it is time if we are going to get in this business, we ought to demand some accountability from the pharmaceutical industry.

Mr. GUTKNECHT. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman, and it is not just Minnesotans and Michiganers who are smart. One of our favorite Presidents, Ronald Reagan, said it best: Markets are more powerful than armies. Starting several years ago, consumers figured out that they could buy their prescription drugs cheaper in Canada and Mexico, and now they know in Europe and almost every other industrialized country in the world they can buy the same drugs for dramatically less.

Mr. GUTKNECHT. Absolutely. The time is now. You mentioned in coming from Michigan, General Motors has been a fabulous employer. Not only in the State of Michigan but for suppliers all over the world. The interesting thing is General Motors, I met with a General Motors lobbyist last week. Do you know how much they are going to spend this year on prescription drugs, the company? This is just for their employees and their retirees. $1.3 billion. GM will spend $1.3 billion. What is worse, that number is going up 16, 17, 18 percent per year. That is a cost before they sell the first automobile, before they sell any cars. Those are costs they have to pay for.

Mr. GUTKNECHT

Mr. GUTKNECHT. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that when the House adjourns today, it adjourn to meet at 12:30 p.m. on Monday next for morning hour debates.

Mr. GUTKNECHT

Mr. GUTKNECHT. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to claim the time of the gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Burton).

Mr. GUTKNECHT

Mr. GUTKNECHT. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that the business in order under the Calendar Wednesday rule be dispensed with on Wednesday next.

Mr. GUTKNECHT

Mr. GUTKNECHT. Mr. Speaker, we have heard the word ``outrage'' used several times on the House floor, and I rise tonight to talk about the outrageous prices that American consumers pay for prescription drugs. And I have behind me a chart, and I apologize for those here on the floor and Members who may be watching on their television sets, it is a little hard to read. But I want to go through this because what it compares is what Americans pay, on average, and this varies because we have a very complicated average wholesale price situation formula they use here in the United States, but these are the average prices, and these are prices that we actually checked ourselves. People have questioned some of the credibility of the sources that I have used. So we did our own research and we went to Munich, Germany about a month ago, and we bought 10 of the most commonly prescribed drugs in the United States. And let us run through. Cipro, drug made by Bayer. They make the aspirin. They are a German company. In the United States, the average price for 10 tablets, 250 milligrams, $55. We bought it at the Munich airport pharmacy for $35.12, American. Coumadin. My 85-year-old father takes Coumadin. In the United States the average price, $89.95. The price in Munich, Germany, $21. Glucophage, a very popular drug, has done wonderful things for people who suffer from diabetes. Glucophage, $21.95 in the United States, only $5 in Germany. Pravachol, $62.96 in Munich; $149.95 here in the United States. The list goes on, Prozac, Synthroid, Tamoxifen, $60 in Germany; $360 in the United States. Zocor, $41.20 in Munich; $89.95. It is the same drugs. My father takes this Coumadin every day. It is a wonderful drug. Many Americans take Glucophage, and the Congress has spoken on this. We have statutes on the books that would allow Americans access to these drugs at world market prices, but the FDA and the Department of Health and Human Services, under first a Democratic administration and now a Republican administration, has said, oh, no, no, we cannot do that, we cannot guarantee safety. So we are introducing a new bill and we want to deal with that issue because we want Americans to have access to safe world-class drugs. What I am holding in my hand is a counterfeit-proof package. There are companies right now that are helping people, like our own Treasury who helped develop the technology that goes into our new counterfeit- proof $20 bill. They now have packaging which they are making for the pharmaceutical industry. For a cost of somewhere between 2 and 5 cents, they can make a blister-pack, counterfeit-proof package. It goes beyond that. They are coming out with new technologies that are not only counterfeit-proof, but it is tamper-proof. So we can bring these drugs in and the technology will get better to make these drugs safe. For example, I am holding in my hand a little vial, and in this vial my colleagues cannot see it, I can barely see it. Inside this little vial are 150 microcomputer chips. This is the next UPC code so that we actually embed it in packaging, so that we can know where this product is made, where it came from, everything we need to know about it. It can be counterfeit-proof. It can be tamper-proof, and now it can be virtually fail-safe. People say, well, what about safety? Every day we import thousands of tons of food, and the FDA is responsible for the food and drug safety in the United States. We import tons and tons of food. Last year, we imported 318,000 tons of plantains, and somehow we eat those plantains every day, and we do not worry about the safety. We can import world-class drugs. I am a Republican and I think that there is nothing wrong with the word ``profit,'' but there is something very wrong with the word ``profiteer.'' I think it is right that Americans pay their fair share of the cost for research in the world, but we should not have to subsidize the starving Swiss. We have an opportunity in the next several weeks to do something about this. The greatest tragedy in America today is that roughly 29 percent of all seniors tell us that they have had prescriptions that went unfilled because they could not afford these outrageous prices. Shame on us. Shame on us. We should do something about that. We have the power to change this, and I think this year we finally will.

Mr. GUTKNECHT

Mr. GUTKNECHT. And there are published reports that the president of SmithKline Beecham 2 years ago earned over $200 million.

Mr. GUTKNECHT. Mr. Speaker, I rise again tonight to talk about the outrageously high prices that Americans pay for prescription drugs. But before I get started, I want to yield to the gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Burton) because the gentleman wants to correct something that he said earlier.

Mr. GUTKNECHT. Mr. Speaker, as the gentleman from Indiana mentioned earlier, we had a Special Order the other night and we had Republicans and Democrats, and we hope to do it next week with Republicans and Democrats because this issue about what Americans pay for prescription drugs is not a matter of right versus left, it is right versus wrong. I think anybody who spends any time at all on this issue realizes it is wrong to force American consumers to pay the world's highest prices partly because we subsidize the research and development. There was a study done by the Boston Globe several years ago, and what they found was that of the 35 largest selling drugs in America, 32 of them were brought through the R&D channel by the Federal Government. The NIH paid for the basic research and development, got them to phase 3 trials. So we subsidize them in the research and development, we subsidize them in the Tax Code, and yet we are still required to pay the world's highest prices. Two years ago this Congress came together, the House and Senate, and we voted 304-101, I believe was the final vote, but it was over 300 votes in the House, and we said Americans ought to have access to world-class drugs at world-market prices. That bill passed. It is on the books right now. But unfortunately the FDA is not enforcing the law because in the conference committee they put a little safety language in there that says essentially if they cannot absolutely guarantee safety, the FDA does not have to enforce that. Ladies and gentlemen, I want to talk about safety. What I have in my hand tonight is a counterfeit-proof package of prescription drugs. It is called a blister pack, counterfeit-proof package of prescription drugs. This packaging is available today at a cost of about two cents per package. It is available today. Let me tell you what is available soon. They have been working on this at MIT. I do not expect anyone to see this because I cannot see it; but in this little vial, and if you would like to see this, I will share this with Members, in this little vial are 150 tiny computer chips, microchips. Ultimately, this is going to become the next UPC code. With this little chip, we can know where that product was manufactured, where it came from. It can help with inventory control, and ultimately it can guarantee that it is in fact Prilosec and not something else. Ladies and gentlemen, we can solve this problem. I have said before, it is not shame on the pharmaceutical industry; it is shame on us. The President of Glaxo or SmithKline does not work for us, but the head of FDA does. It is time for us as Members of Congress to do our responsibility, to make certain that Americans have access to world- class drugs at world market prices. No, there is nothing wrong with the word profit. I believe in the word profit. But there is something very wrong with the word profiteer. It seems to me in the heritage of Teddy Roosevelt and so many other politicians who have been here in this city who stood up for the little guy, it is time for us to say, it is not a matter of right versus left; it is a matter of right versus wrong. We need to do the right thing. We need to open American access, we need to create competition here in the United States, and we need to make certain that Americans have access to world-class drugs at world market prices.

Mr. GUTKNECHT

Mr. GUTKNECHT. Mr. Speaker, if the gentleman would yield, I cannot answer that question; but I think it is the question that we in Congress should try to get the answer to. Why is it that the FDA is investigating little old ladies trying to save money on Tamoxifen? I spoke recently to the Pharmacists Association, and I asked them, how many of you have had this experience, where an elderly person comes into your pharmacy, hands you a prescription. You tell them how much this prescription is going to cost, and their head drops, and they go, oh, well, I will come back tomorrow. Because we know from research done by the Kaiser Foundation, 29 percent of seniors in America are saying that they have prescriptions that go unfilled because they cannot afford them. And the answer is, the FDA is not investigating companies that make $9 billion off of Federal taxpayer research; no, they are not investigating them, they are investigating little old ladies, treating them as common criminals.

Mr. GUTKNECHT. It makes no sense to me. It is really time for us as Members of Congress to do something about it.

Mr. GUTKNECHT. Well, the FDA is also responsible for all of the fruits and vegetables coming into the country. The issue they raise is safety, yet we import 318,000 tons of plantains that come into our borders, through our borders every year, and we do almost no investigation. We are much more likely to get sick from fruits and vegetables than we are from legal prescription drugs from FDA-approved facilities around the world.

Mr. GUTKNECHT

Mr. GUTKNECHT. Mr. Speaker, once again I rise tonight to talk about the high cost of prescription drugs here in the United States, and especially the high cost relative to what the rest of the industrialized world pays for the same drugs. I have told this story to many of my colleagues repeatedly about how about a month ago we went to Munich, Germany, and bought a list of 10 of the most commonly prescribed drugs in America. The total price tag for all 10 of those drugs compared to the average price here in the United States is about triple. It is more than double what we pay in the United States. I have used the example of this drug, and this is the actual drug, Tamoxifen, one of the most popular, most effective anti-breast cancer drugs ever developed. The interesting thing is that the National Institutes of Health, using taxpayers dollars, paid for most of the research. What makes us even more upset is not just that the American taxpayer paid to develop the drug, but the difference now between what American consumers have to pay for this drug compared to the rest of the world. This drug, for example, we bought at the Munich airport pharmacy for $59.05 American. To put that in context, this drug sells at pharmacies here in Washington, D.C., for $360. In other words, to round off the numbers, $60 in Germany, $360 in the United States. Worse than that, the American taxpayers paid for the research. Like Will Rogers, though, all I know is what I read in the newspaper, and this weekend in The Washington Post there is a very compelling story. What it essentially says is it is not just Tamoxifen any more. In fact, let me just read for you from essentially what is a GAO study. The headline is, ``U.S. Netted Little From Cancer Drug, GAO Reports.'' ``The U.S. Government spent hundreds of millions of dollars to help develop Taxol, the best-selling cancer drug ever, but failed to get much money back on its investment, according to a government report issued yesterday. ``Drug maker Bristol-Myers Squibb earned $9 billion from Taxol, which has been used to treat 1 million cancer patients, but the National Institutes of Health received only $35 million in royalties, the Government Accounting Office found.'' Now, on top of that, Medicare has spent over $687 million on Taxol, so there are more taxpayer dollars going into Taxol. Finally, the report says, and I am shortening it down to the bottom, but if you want a copy we will have this up on our Web site by sometime tomorrow afternoon, but the bottom line is the GAO, the investigative arm of Congress, said that the NIH spent $484 million in research on Taxol through 2002. Mr. Speaker, we subsidize the pharmaceutical industry in three separate ways. First of all, we subsidize it on all the money we spend on basic research. I am proud of the fact that here in Congress, the NIH, the National Science Foundation, even DOD, we will spend this year about 29 billion taxpayer dollars on various kinds of basic research. Much of that research goes to benefit the pharmaceutical industry. So we subsidize them through the basic research we pay for them. Secondly, we subsidize them through the Tax Code. They receive very generous tax benefits for the research we do. Finally, and what disturbs us the most, is we subsidize them in the prices we pay. Americans pay far more than the rest of the industrialized world for prescription drugs. I believe Americans should pay their fair share. I think we should be willing to subsidize Sub-Saharan Africa, but I do not think we ought to have to subsidize the starving Swiss. Americans deserve world-class drugs at world market prices. I hope Members will support my bill, which I hope to introduce later this week, to open up American markets to foreign competition to bring prices down to reasonable levels so that all Americans can afford them.

Mr. GUTKNECHT

Mr. GUTKNECHT. Mr. Speaker, I rise again to speak to the House today about the cost of prescription drugs here in the United States, particularly relative to the rest of the world. Mark Twain once was talking about facts, and he said you can ignore the facts, you can deny the facts, you can even distort the facts, but in the end there they are. I would like to talk today about the facts because there are people in this town who are attempting to both deny and distort the facts, but I think the facts more and more are indisputable. For example, we have been doing much of our own research. We purchased a number of the top- selling drugs in Munich, Germany, about a month ago. For example, we bought this package of Glucophage. Glucophage is a marvelous drug, particularly for those suffering from diabetes. We bought this drug in Munich, Germany, at a pharmacy for $5. This same package of Glucophage sells here in the United States for $29.95. We bought another drug, a very commonly prescribed drug that is a blood thinner. In fact, my father takes this drug. It's called Coumadin. Coumadin here in the United States, this package of Coumadin sells for roughly $84. We bought this drug in Germany for $21. But I think the one that bothers me the most, and I have talked about this before and I still do not have a good answer and frankly some of the people in the FDA ought to help us get the answer, this is a drug called Tamoxifen, perhaps the real miracle drug as it relates to treating women's breast cancer. Tamoxifen. We bought this drug in Munich, Germany, for $59.05 American. It sells here in the United States, the same box, same milligrams, it sells for $360; $60 in Germany, $360 here. The question we have to ask is why? Why the big disparities? And some people say it is price controls, but that is not exactly true in Germany. The Germans do not have what some people say they do in terms of price controls. What they do allow is for their pharmacists to be able to shop around to get the best price. Unfortunately, Americans are held hostage. If one goes to Tokyo, Japan, and buys a steak, that steak will cost over $100. One can buy that same steak here in Washington even at inflated Washington, D.C. prices, for probably $25. Back in my home district one can buy the best steak in town in many of the towns I represent for $10 or $15. But the difference is the Japanese are held captive. They do not allow American beef into their markets; so those captive Japanese are forced to pay those higher prices. What we are saying in the legislation which I hope to introduce next week is let our people go. Allow the markets to work, open up markets. And that is why I have sponsored the Pharmaceutical Market Access bill. Facts are stubborn things, as John Adams said. I would invite Members and those who may be watching to get a copy of this book: The title is ``The Big Fix, How the Pharmaceutical Industry Rips American Consumers Off.'' It is by Katharine Greider. I do not know that much about Katharine Greider, but she has got some very interesting things to say about what has been happening in the pharmaceutical industry. Finally, let me say the big argument is safety, safety, safety, we cannot guarantee that if people buy their drugs from Munich, Germany, or Geneva, Switzerland, that those drugs will be safe. But I would invite the Members to look at some of the counterfeit-proof technology that is available today. There are companies that make this technology so that we can guarantee that this is in fact Coumadin and not something else. We can do this safely. Americans deserve world-class drugs at world market prices. Americans are willing to subsidize sub- Saharan Africa. We are unwilling to continue to subsidize the starving Swiss. I hope Members will get the facts. I hope Members will look at this bill. I hope Members will cosponsor it with me. And I hope finally we will do something to stop these huge disparities between what Americans pay and what consumers around the rest of the industrialized world pay for the same drugs.

Mr. GUTKNECHT

Mr. GUTKNECHT. Mr. Speaker, I rise tonight again to talk about the issue of the disparity between the price that Americans pay for prescription drugs and what the rest of the world pays for the same drugs. On several occasions I have used articles from the newspapers, whether it be the New York Times or the Wall Street Journal, other newspapers, and I started many of my conversations with something that Will Rogers said so many years ago, and that is ``All I know is what I read in the newspapers.'' Today I read in one in the publications up here on Capitol Hill a story that really surprised me, the first story that they have actually done on the whole issue of prescription drugs, and they decided to do essentially a piece that destroys the credibility of one of the groups that I have gotten much of the research information that I have gotten in the past from, and that is the Life Extension Foundation, and I want to talk about some of the numbers that they have sent me. I have never personally met anybody from Life Extension, but everything they have sent me checks out. So I have used their statistics in the past, and I will use them in the future. I have also been quoting from a book by Katharine Greider. The title of the book, and I recommend it to all of my colleagues, is ``The Big Fix: How the Pharmaceutical Industry Rips Off America.'' I do not know what her philosophy is. I do not know what her politics are. I do not know what religion she practices, but I have to say that the research that she has done is extremely good and it raises some very difficult questions. The other thing that I have been doing is talking to Members about these huge disparities between what we pay in America and what the rest of the world pays for the same drugs. Let me give my colleagues some examples. These are my own research, drugs that we actually bought at the Munich airport in Munich, Germany, and then we compared what the price is in the United States. Let us take the drug Glucophage. Glucophage is a wonderful drug, particularly for those people suffering from diabetes. Glucophage in the United States, 30 tablets, 850 milligrams, sells for about $30. That same drug in Germany sells for $5. We can go on down the line. Cipro. This is the drug Cipro, a very commonly prescribed, very effective antibiotic made by a company called Bayer. In the United States we usually call it Bayer, Bayer aspirin. We are probably more familiar with that. But this drug in the United States sells for an average of about $55. It sells in Germany for $35. We go on down the list. I will not read the whole list tonight, but the one that really chaps my hide is this drug right here. This is Tamoxifen. We bought this drug at the airport pharmacy in Munich, Germany, for $59.05 American. In this quantity, 100 tablets, 20 milligrams, in the United States this same drug sells for $360. $60 in Germany, $360 here. The real point is this. I have shared this story, too. If you go to Tokyo, Japan and you order a steak dinner, about the cheapest you will find it in Tokyo is about $100. You can buy an equal quality, in fact perhaps a better quality steak anywhere here in the United States for probably $20. Why is there so much difference between what you pay for a steak in Tokyo versus here in the United States? The answer is simple. The people of Japan are a captive market. They do not allow other products to come in. That is what we have done with drugs in this country. We literally have made Americans a captive market. We are talking about a prescription drug benefit and everybody is talking about coverage. Ladies and gentlemen, the issue is not so much coverage, because every senior in America has at least the opportunity to buy prescription drug coverage through the AARP and lots of other organizations. The problem is not coverage. The problem is affordability. We will never solve the entire problem for all of those seniors. One of the points that is made by Ms. Greider in her book, she mentions a study that was done. This is one of the most damning studies and every one of us should be ashamed. The study says that 29 percent of seniors say that they have had prescriptions that went unfilled simply because they could not afford them. A couple of weeks ago I was addressing community pharmacists, and I asked them the question: Have you ever had a senior come in and give you a prescription and you told that senior how much this was going to be and they sort of dropped their head and said, well, maybe I'll be back tomorrow. And they do not come back because they cannot afford it. That is something we can change, that is within our power to change. Shame on us if we do not. I hope you will cosponsor my bill to give Americans access to world class drugs at world market prices.

Mr. GUTKNECHT

Mr. GUTKNECHT. Mr. Speaker, it was Will Rogers who said, ``All I know is what I read in the newspapers,'' and I was reading yesterday's Wall Street Journal, and I would invite my colleagues to read the Wall Street Journal of yesterday, as well, because there is a story there that is just shameful about American policies as it relates to prescription drugs. Let me read from this article from the Wall Street Journal front page yesterday. Let me read a couple of paragraphs. In fact, the headline is, ``Empty Shells: As U.S. Balks on Medicine Deal, African Patients Feel the Pain,'' and the subtitle is ``Big drug makers protecting their patents seek limits to a global trade accord, searching for insulin in Chad.'' As one reads the article, it is shameful. Let me just read a couple of paragraphs for the benefit of Members. ``Wealthier countries where drugs are produced and patented promised 18 months ago at global trade talks in Qatar to loosen patent restrictions in order to ease shortages and reduce prices. It was just after September 11, and the U.S. led the rhetorical charge, eager to demonstrate its desire to battle suffering among the world's poor while mounting a war on terrorism. But last December when all of the other 143 countries in the World Trade Organization had lined up behind a new plan on the trade of medicines, the United States blocked the proposal. ``The Bush administration, under heavy lobbying from the pharmaceutical industry seeking to limit the scope of the deal, endorsed a list of some 20 infectious diseases, and that was it. That was all they were willing to address. These included HIV-AIDS, malaria, tuberculosis, typhus, hemorrhagic fever, and others categorized as epidemics in the developing countries, but that was it. Drug manufacturers feared that without the limitation, the deal could lead to a broader undermining of their lucrative patent rights. Poor nations were outraged.'' Mr. Speaker, we should be outraged. As we speak, there are people suffering from diabetes in the country of Chad in sub-Saharan Africa that cannot get insulin. It is time for us to take control of this issue. For too long we have allowed the special interests and some of the misinformed people over at the FDA to sort of box us into a corner so Americans now pay the world's highest prices. We are the world's best customers, but yet we pay the highest prices for prescription drugs. Do not just take my word for it. We were in Munich, Germany, about a month ago, and we bought and I have the receipt here for what we paid for these drugs. Let me take this drug, Cipro, which we all know about after the anthrax scare. In Germany, at the Munich airport, we paid 35.12 Euros for this product. That is about $34. This same product in the United States sells for $60. The average price in the United States, according to one study, is over $80. We paid $34. Let me take Coumadin, and this is a drug that my father takes, made by DuPont. This drug in the United States, the average price is over $64. In Munich, Germany, we bought this drug for 20.43 Euros. That works out to about $19 in American currency; $64 in the United States, $20 in Europe. Glucophage, a marvelous drug for diabetics, which we bought in Germany for $5. This drug can cost as much as $100 here in the United States of America. But here is the one that really got to me. This is a drug called Tamoxifen, probably the most effective drug we have ever seen on the market in treating and perhaps preventing breast cancer among women. It is a miracle drug, and we are thankful it exists. We bought this drug at the Munich Airport pharmacy for $59.05 American. This same drug here in the United States sells for $360 for the same box; $60 in Germany, $360 in the United States. Mr. Speaker, it is not shame on the pharmaceutical industry, it is shame on us. We have created an environment where we permit these companies to literally run roughshod over American consumers. Let me add one other thing about this drug, American taxpayers paid for almost all of the R&D costs to have it developed. In fact, the company originally said they would not patent it because it was the taxpayers who paid for the R&D. But I guess they have patented it. I will yield back the balance of my time, but I will be back; and I have a bill that will begin to resolve this, and I hope all Members, Democrats and Republicans, will join me in cosponsoring that legislation.

Mr. GUTKNECHT

Mr. GUTKNECHT. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the chairman for putting this special order together tonight, and I want to thank my colleagues on both sides of the aisle for joining us. As has been mentioned, this is not a matter of right versus left, this is right versus wrong, and it is wrong to force Americans to pay the highest prices in the world. The gentleman from Maine was talking about Tamoxifen. I am also now the chairman of the Congressional Study Group on Germany, so I was in Germany about a month ago. While we were there, we went to the pharmacy at the Munich Airport and we bought some of the most commonly prescribed drugs. Now, most people know that if you want to get a bargain, you probably do not go to the airport to buy it, so this is probably not the cheapest place in Germany to buy drugs. Incidentally, compared to what you hear all the time, Germany really does not have price controls in the sense of setting the prices that the pharmacist in Germany can sell the drugs for. What they do allow is for German pharmacists to shop to get the best price. If they can buy their Tamoxifen cheaper in Sweden, they buy it in Sweden. If they can buy it cheaper in Spain, they buy it in Spain. They use market forces to help keep prices down in Germany. We bought this Tamoxifen. It is 100 tabs of 20 milligrams. I am going to tell the whole story about Tamoxifen. We bought it at the Munich Airport pharmacy for $59.05 American. This same box of drugs here in the United States sells for $360; $60 in Germany, $360 here. What makes the story even worse about this particular drug is, this was developed with taxpayers' dollars. This was developed essentially by the National Institutes of Health. Almost all of the research and development costs were paid for by the taxpayers. As the vice chairman of the Committee on Science, here is something we should all be proud of. We in the United States represent less than 6 percent of the world's population, but we represent over 50 percent of the basic research done in the world. This year, this Congress will authorize and spend $29 billion taxpayer dollars on basic research. In fact, there was a study done, and I want to recommend a book, if you have not seen this book, I hope every one of my colleagues will pick up a copy of this book. The title is ``The Big Fix.'' The subtitle is ``How the Pharmaceutical Industry Rips Off American Consumers.'' It is written by Katharine Greider. What is in this book is compelling, and every American ought to read some of the things that are in here. You talk about the research. A study was done by the Boston Globe just a few years ago, and they found that of the 35 largest selling drugs in the United States, 33 of them had most of their research and development costs paid for by the taxpayers. Now, it is one thing to say we have all these research costs, and therefore American consumers have to pay all the freight. But the bottom line is, we subsidize the pharmaceutical industry in three separate ways. First of all, in that $29 billion we will spend this year in basic research through the NIH, the National Science Foundation and even DOD; we do an awful lot of basic research in the DOD that ultimately benefits the pharmaceutical industry. We do all of that on that side. Secondly, we subsidize them in the Tax Code. They get very generous write-offs for the amount of research and the other expenses that they have. Finally, we subsidize them in the prices we pay. Let me share with you some of the other prices that we got at the pharmacy at the Munich Airport in Munich, Germany. Glucophage, a miracle drug. I want to pay homage to the people who helped develop it. Millions and millions of Americans and people around the world are living better quality lives because of Glucophage. So I am not here to beat up on the pharmaceutical industry. They have done a lot of wonderful things. But how do you justify this difference? This package of Glucophage here in the United States, we checked the price, is $29.95. We bought this one month ago in Munich, Germany, for $5 American. Let us look at Cipro. We all know a little more about Cipro in the last couple of years because of what happened with the anthrax scare. We bought Cipro in Germany. This is actually made by a German company called Bayer. They also make aspirin. But Bayer makes this drug. We bought Cipro in Germany for $35.12. Here in the United States this same package sells for $55. $20 does not seem like much, but it adds up. We bought Coumadin. My 86-year-old father takes Coumadin. This package of Coumadin we bought in Germany, we paid about $14 for this drug. Here in the United States, it is about $64. Those numbers just go on and on. Zocor, very commonly prescribed, we bought it for $41.20. Here in the United States, $89.95. As Will Rogers said, all I know is what I read in the newspapers. Well, read the newspapers. Read today's Wall Street Journal, the front page, about what the drug companies and PhRMA are doing, not only to make certain that Americans keep paying the highest prices in the world, but they are literally now saying to sub-Saharan Africa, well, we will subsidize AIDS drugs for you, but we will not let you have access to many other drugs, including insulin. Right now, you cannot get insulin in Chad at any price. Read the article. In fact, if I have time, I will read one of the paragraphs here, just a few sentences. They talk about how all of the countries, 148 countries in the world, were ready to come up with a trade agreement, some language, to deal with some of these problems about drugs going across borders. But last December, when all of the other 148 countries in the World Trade Organization had lined up behind a new plan on the trade of medicines, the United States blocked the proposal. As you read, it gets worse, why they blocked it. It was all about the big pharmaceutical companies afraid that they might lose some profits. This is not a matter of right versus left; this is right versus wrong. The time has come for Congress to stand up and say we are not going to be played the fool any longer. It is time that Americans have access to world-class drugs at world-market prices. That is not too much to ask. That is not a Republican idea, that is not a Democrat idea; that is an American idea. We have what is called NAFTA. Many of us believe in free trade. But, it is interesting, we have free trade when it comes to plantains, have free trade when it comes to pork bellies, we have free trade with things called pears. In fact, we import hundreds of thousands of tons of fruits and vegetables every year, hundreds of thousands of tons; and that is regulated by a group called the FDA, the Food and Drug Administration. Do you know how much inspection they do of all of those fruits and vegetables crossing our borders every year? Almost none. Do you know how many people get sick every year from imported fruits and vegetables? Thousands. In fact, one estimate is, thousands die as a result of eating contaminated foods that have come from other countries, that have food-borne pathogens. The FDA's own study said that 2 percent of all fruits and vegetables that come into the United States are contaminated with food-borne pathogens, including things like salmonella. Salmonella will kill you. But we have to stop these prescription drugs because our own research says people could get sick and die. Do you know how many people have died? The FDA keeps records of all the people who have taken legal FDA- approved drugs coming in from other countries. It is an easy number to remember. It is a nice round number. It is zero. Zero. More importantly, we are going to introduce a bill sometime by the end of the week that is going to require the FDA to begin to put counterfeit-proof blister packs in place, whether they come from the United States or wherever they come from. Once we begin to require this, this whole safety thing just goes out the window, and we begin to realize it is not about safety, it is about profits; it is about making American consumers pay the highest prices in the world. Let me just close with one other thing, because I say, shame on us. I do not say, shame on the pharmaceutical industry; shame on us. We let this thing happen. But the most shaming thing of all was a study done by the Kaiser Foundation a few years ago. What they found out was 29 percent of seniors say that they have let prescriptions go unfilled because they could not afford them. Two weeks ago, I spoke to the Community Pharmacists, and I asked them, we had hundreds of pharmacists from around the country here in Washington, and I asked them, has this ever happened to you, where a little old lady comes up, hands you a prescription, and you tell her how much it is going to be, and she drops her head and she says, well, maybe I will be back tomorrow, and she never comes back. And every head in that place shook like this. It has happened. It happens every day. And I do not say, shame on the pharmaceutical industry as much as I say, shame on us, because we have the power to do something about that. Twenty-nine percent of prescriptions go unfilled. That is an outrage, and we can do something about it. And the reason is they cannot afford it. They can afford $14 for Coumadin; they cannot afford $64.

Mr. GUTKNECHT. If I could have one additional minute, I do want to mention to all my colleagues, we have been working for a year trying to come up with a bill that would make sense. We think we have it. It is called the Pharmaceutical Affordability Act of 2003. Now, some may not like the acronym; it works out to PHARMAA. But the bottom line is, we think we have come up with language which really deals with the issues that people have raised, ultimately safety. I hope that Members will join me in cosponsoring that bill. Hopefully, if we put enough pressure on all of the people here in this body, we will get a vote on it this year. If we do, it will pass.

Mr. GUTKNECHT. Mr. Speaker, the gentleman quoted one of my favorite Presidents. Let me quote another one. Ronald Reagan said, ``Markets are more powerful than armies.'' This idea that American consumers should be charged $360 for these pills when we can buy them in Munich, Germany, at the airport pharmacy for $59.05.

Mr. GUTKNECHT. One-sixth. That will not stand. That is defending the indefensible, and sooner or later, it may not happen this year, may not happen next year, but sooner or later this wall will collapse just like the walls of Jericho. I want to thank the gentleman for his leadership, and I want to thank my colleagues on both sides of the aisle. As I said at the beginning, this is not a matter of right versus left. This is right versus wrong. This is wrong, and we should do something to stop it.

Mr. GUTKNECHT

Mr. GUTKNECHT. I thank the gentleman.