madam chairman , i thank my colleague from connecticut for her great work . 
madam chairman , this year , just like last year and the year before , an amendment banning the use of funds to stop reimportation of prescription drugs has been added to this legislation . 
it does feel like ground hog day around here . 
we all know the next part of the story . 
so if you are going to stay up late at night watching c-span , just put it on tivo . 
you do not have to stay up . 
once again , after we pass it here , and we are going to stand and give our speeches , the conferees from both parties , both chambers , are going to go to the conference , and in the dark of night this provision is going to be stripped from the bill that would help our senior citizens and our taxpayers get affordable drugs at affordable prices . 
the pharmaceutical companies will come in and do their bidding , and this congress will turn around and heed their interests . 
after the american people have spoken clearly , this congress last year when we voted for this overwhelmingly , just as recently as 2 weeks ago 221 bipartisan members of congress sent a letter to the speaker asking for an up-or-down vote on this legislation . 
here we have an attempt to make sure that the congress and the voice of the american people is clear on the issue of funding for reimportation ; and in the dark of night , mark my words , they will strip this out , as they did last year , as they did the year before , and ground hog day will come to the united states congress . 
instead of using the money and the limited resources we have to help develop a system to allow for drug reimportation , the fda has insisted on using their time and the precious resources of the american people to crack down on elderly americans who purchase affordable prescription drugs from canada , england , ireland , and the rest of europe because they can not afford those medications here . 
the fda has even seized the drugs purchased through the state-sponsored programs like the illinois i-save rx program . 
as senator frist would say , all we are asking is for an up-or-down vote , and that is what we would like on reimportation . 
let us listen to the american people , to the will of the bipartisan members of congress and allow a vote on this comprehensive prescription drug importation legislation this year . 
i would like to thank my colleague from connecticut for her leadership on this . 
for the members who want it to be clear , i would just hope the american people have an opportunity to watch what happens in the dark of night so we do not repeat ground hog day around here . 
