Levin, Stabenow Support Prescription Drug Measure: 07/16/06
Associated Press
WASHINGTON — Sens. Carl Levin and Debbie Stabenow helped the Senate pass a measure letting people buy their prescription drugs from Canada.
The Senate’s homeland security spending bill approved last week allows Americans to import prescription drugs from Canada despite a Food and Drug Administration ban on importing prescription medicine into the United States.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection, an arm of Homeland Security, began aggressively enforcing the ban last November by seizing incoming medications at borders.
Prescription drugs are generally sold at cheaper prices in Canada and other countries because of government price controls. The Senate passed the measure on a 68-32 vote.
Stabenow, D-Mich., said the vote was a first step and urged the Senate to pass legislation letting American pharmacies reimport cheaper drugs from Canada so that seniors and families can better afford their medicines.
“Now that thousands of Michigan seniors are falling into the Medicare prescription drug coverage gap, removing roadblocks to affordable medicine is more important than ever,” Stabenow said.
Levin, D-Mich., and Stabenow successfully added measures to the Homeland Security bill to target the influx of Canadian trash into Michigan landfills. The provisions would force Canadian companies that bring trash into the state to pay fees for security inspections and require a study of the screening process for trash — opening the door for the barring of the trucks.
“With thousands of trash trucks coming into Michigan from Canada each week, this provision is critical for addressing the risks this garbage poses to our country’s security, public health, and the environment,” Levin said.
In the House, Democratic Reps. Bart Stupak of Menominee and Sander Levin of Royal Oak joined with Michigan Republicans to pass legislation preventing gamblers from using credit cards to bet online.
The bill would prohibit credit cards and other payment forms from being used to settle Internet wagers and would clarify and update current law to say that most gambling is illegal online.
It also would allow law enforcement officials to work with Internet providers to block access to gambling Web sites. The bill exempts state-run lotteries and horse racing.
“Online gambling in the United States has increased at an explosive rate,” said Rep. Pete Hoekstra, R-Holland. “It is an unintended outcome of the revolution in communications technology created by the Internet that needs to be addressed.”
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