Posted At Bloomberg News
By: Catherine Dodge
June 16 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. House barred the Bush administration from including any language in trade agreements that blocks prescription-drug imports to the U.S. as part of a $57.5 billion funding measure.
The funding legislation, approved by a 418-7 vote, also scales back a section of the U.S. Patriot Act by requiring the FBI to get a warrant before obtaining library and bookstores records on patrons' reading habits. The bill funds the Commerce, Justice and State departments for fiscal year 2006 and must be reconciled with a Senate version and signed by the president to become law. Fiscal year 2006 begins Oct. 1.
Supporters of the drug-import measure said it is aimed at preventing agreements similar to those signed with Australia, Singapore and Morocco that would bar Americans from buying drugs from those countries even if the U.S. decides to legalize the imports. Americans in 2003 spent about $1.4 billion on medicines from other countries, where prices are as much as 70 percent lower.
``We're trying to crack this nut from about three or four different angles, and one is on the trade front,'' said Representative Gil Gutknecht, a Minnesota Republican who is seeking support for legislation to legalize drug imports. Gutknecht said in an interview this week that there are enough votes in the House and Senate to pass a measure legalizing drug imports.
Counterfeit
Trade agreements shouldn't stand in the way of such a move by Congress, said Representative Anne Northup, a Kentucky Republican, after winning support of the amendment last week when the bill was in committee.
The trade agreements included language that let U.S. patent- holders bar importation of their products. Drugmakers such as Pfizer Inc. oppose importation, saying it would increase the flow of counterfeit medicines into the U.S.
The drugmakers' industry group, the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, said the provision harms rights of all U.S. patent holders abroad.
The House yesterday voted to include in the legislation a measure to require the Justice Department to get search warrants from a court before obtaining records from libraries and bookstores about patrons' reading habits.
The move to scale back the provision of the U.S. Patriot Act, passed after the Sept. 11 attacks to help fight terrorism, is a rebuke to the White House. President George W. Bush's advisers have said he may veto the bill if the final version includes provisions that weaken the act.
Some lawmakers said federal law enforcement officers need access to the records to prevent terrorism. Lawmakers who supported the measure to require search warrants said government monitoring of the reading materials of individuals is an invasion of privacy and does little to improve security.
