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Hi Marjorie, The Agriculture Appropriations Bill has not yet been passed by the Senate but the Conference Report was presented on the Senate floor on Fri 10/13 and the vote is expected to take place next week. Current Status of FY2001Appropriations Bills Last update: Fri, 13 Oct 2000 18:02:37 GMT http://lcweb.loc.gov/global/legislative/appover.html Did you read the tribute to retiring Senator Connie Mack? (Congressional Record Friday Oct. 13 - Senate) http://thomas.loc.gov/r106/r106s13oc0.html Cheers ............. murray > As you all know, I have a new Hard Drive, > and I have spent most of the week restoring > from backup, all my files. > > Well, my computer got smart with me this morning > and told me to delete some files because I was getting > short on Memory in MS Word. I hate it when a computer > is smarter than I am!!! > > Anyway, I'm in the process of reading 398 files I have saved > and will transfer what I want to keep to a CD with my CD/RW, > and delete them from MS Word, to keep it from talking back to me! > but I came across this information, and thought since we have > been discussing drug cost, that you might like to read it. > Maybe Murray, who has a divine gift for finding information , > could find out what happened to this amendment, Please!! > just me, > Marjorie > ************************************************************************************ > Burns Backs Legislation to Lower Drug CostsFor immediate release: > July 19, 2000 > Burns Backs Legislation to Lower Drug Costs > Amendment Requires Health Secretary to Certify Safety, Lower Prices > WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Montana Senator Conrad Burns today backed legislation > designed to make prescription drugs less expensive by giving community > pharmacies and distributors the ability to buy medicine in foreign > countries so > long as they meet strict government safety requirements. > "We need to do what we can to lower the price of medicine in America," Burns > said, "and if the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) says we can > do it > safely, allowing foreign purchases might help." > Burns said allowing importation of FDA-approved medicine is only one part > of his > plan to make prescription drugs more affordable and more available for all > Montanans, but especially for senior citizens. > Some prescription drugs cost substantially less in Canada and Mexico than they > do in the United States. Under a law passed in 1988, only a drug manufacturer > can "reimport" medicine form foreign countries. Consumer advocates charge the > law results in unfair price differences between countries. > According to Burns, the Democratic-controlled Congress passed the > reimportation > ban in 1988 out of concerns for counterfeit drugs and drugs that were > improperly > stored or handled overseas. Burns said he insisted on strong safety > measures as > a condition of supporting today's legislation. > "The legislation we passed today has iron-clad protections for people who > purchase reimported medicine," Burns said, "including a requirement that the > Secretary of HHS tells us we can do it safely, and in a way that will lower > prices, before we move forward." > Burns said he has sponsored other legislation to make medicine more affordable > and more available, including a plan to give Medicare recipients access to > discount prescription drugs, and also a plan to give tax credits to low and > moderate income families to buy health insurance. > "Allowing reimportation won't solve the problem of high priced drugs by itself > but, so long as we can do it safely and as part of a larger package, it might > help," Burns said. > The Senate adopted the legislation on a vote of 74 to 21 as an amendment to > the > annual agricultural appropriations bill. The appropriations bill must still > pass > the Senate, and differences with the House ironed out, before it can be > sent to > the president. > # # # [log in to unmask]