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Interview with Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty
Aired October 28, 2003 - 15:11 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JUDY WOODRUFF, CNN ANCHOR: The political ban -- or, rather, battle over the ban on imported prescription drugs has reached a new level, with two state governors now joining those in favor of allowing Americans to buy cheaper drugs in Canada.
Minnesota's Republican governor, Tim Pawlenty, is with me now from Boston, where he testified today at a forum organized by lawmakers who favor lifting the import ban.
Governor Pawlenty, some people see this as a drastic step, what you are trying to do in Minnesota. Is the federal government going to let you get away with this?
GOV. TIM PAWLENTY (R), MINNESOTA: Well, we think so, Judy.
What we're asking is the ability to import or reimport prescription medicines from Canada. There's, under federal law, an FDA guidance which says, as long as you do it for personal use, it's probably legal. And that's the basis upon which we're moving forward.
WOODRUFF: Well, there's some speculation that the Food and Drug Administration may file suit once this actually gets under way and starts to take place. Are you worried about that?
PAWLENTY: Well, we are worried about it, but there is a rebellion brewing across America. I think it's really sweetly ironic that we're in Boston today, because this is obviously the home of the Boston Tea Party. And I think we are doing the prescription medicine equivalent of the Boston Tea Party.
People are fed up. They deserve and need relief. We're trying to give it to them. This is not an ideal solution, but it will bring some near-term relief. And, as importantly, it will push the federal government to make some reforms, which are inevitable. I think the current system is going to fall. It's just a question of when and how now.
WOODRUFF: Governor, let me quote to you something that the food and drug commissioner, Mark McClellan, said. He said: "We're against large new gaps in the nation's ability to protect its citizens from potentially unsafe drugs, at a time when the threats to the safety of our drug supply are greater than ever."
Can you assure Minnesotans that the drugs they're going to be getting from Canada are as safe as the drugs they get here in the U.S.?
PAWLENTY: Well, I think we can, Judy.
One of the things we can bring to bear is, the state of Minnesota will put on its Web site and make available to all Minnesotans those pharmacies and other entities that we know are reputable, that are credible, have an established track record, follow Canadian safety procedures and will follow Minnesota safety expectations. And, as near as I can tell, there's not a lot of Canadians dying because of tainted or unsafe drugs.
And we just want to be able to Federal Express that or UPS down to Minnesota. And, in many ways, it's closer than California or some other states geographically. And they've got advanced and sophisticated safeguards. There's no evidence -- there's no evidence -- that drugs from Canada, medicines from Canada are unsafe and that they can't be safely imported back to the United States.
WOODRUFF: I just read the Food and Drug Administration commissioner position. What about the White House. Is the Bush administration weighing in on this?
PAWLENTY: Well, they haven't yet. But I have some hope that Secretary Thompson, who has got a really long and established track record of being a reformer and an innovator, will give this some consideration, at least let us try it.
The other thing is, this is already happening in a rogue way. Americans, millions of Americans, are already doing this in the domestic market, in the Canadian market. And so they're already voting with their mouses, voting with their feet, voting with their buses to do this. And the government's got to wake up in America and realize we've got a crisis on our hands. And let's do something about it. Let's try something new.
WOODRUFF: Let me also share with you what a leader in the biotechnology industry is saying. This is a woman who is president of the Massachusetts Biotechnology Council, maybe somebody at this hearing with you today.
She said, "Importing drugs from other countries that set artificially low prices will hinder the industry's ability to develop new, innovative medicine." She says, "If the U.S. biotech industry doesn't continue to drive innovation, then who will?"
PAWLENTY: Well, innovation is really important. Research and development is really important. And I think Americans should be willing to pay a premium for that.
But there's a difference between paying a premium and being taken advantage of. I'm a conservative. I'm for free markets. But what's going on in the rest of the world isn't free markets. We also have the opportunity to take, for once, the advantage of globalization to our benefit. I'm a Republican. Let's go out into the world market and try to get a better deal for Americans.
And this argument that we're reimporting Canadians' price controls is ridiculous. You could make that argument anytime we import anything from another country. China, for example, we import a good from there, are we importing their human rights policies, their environmental policies, their labor policies, their form of government, etcetera?
WOODRUFF: All right, Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty, I hope we can talk to you again once this actually gets under way in your state.
PAWLENTY: Well, thank you, Judy. Hope to be able to...
WOODRUFF: Thank you very much.
PAWLENTY: Thank you very much.
WOODRUFF: Good to see you.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired October 28, 2003 - 15:11 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JUDY WOODRUFF, CNN ANCHOR: The political ban -- or, rather, battle over the ban on imported prescription drugs has reached a new level, with two state governors now joining those in favor of allowing Americans to buy cheaper drugs in Canada.
Minnesota's Republican governor, Tim Pawlenty, is with me now from Boston, where he testified today at a forum organized by lawmakers who favor lifting the import ban.
Governor Pawlenty, some people see this as a drastic step, what you are trying to do in Minnesota. Is the federal government going to let you get away with this?
GOV. TIM PAWLENTY (R), MINNESOTA: Well, we think so, Judy.
What we're asking is the ability to import or reimport prescription medicines from Canada. There's, under federal law, an FDA guidance which says, as long as you do it for personal use, it's probably legal. And that's the basis upon which we're moving forward.
WOODRUFF: Well, there's some speculation that the Food and Drug Administration may file suit once this actually gets under way and starts to take place. Are you worried about that?
PAWLENTY: Well, we are worried about it, but there is a rebellion brewing across America. I think it's really sweetly ironic that we're in Boston today, because this is obviously the home of the Boston Tea Party. And I think we are doing the prescription medicine equivalent of the Boston Tea Party.
People are fed up. They deserve and need relief. We're trying to give it to them. This is not an ideal solution, but it will bring some near-term relief. And, as importantly, it will push the federal government to make some reforms, which are inevitable. I think the current system is going to fall. It's just a question of when and how now.
WOODRUFF: Governor, let me quote to you something that the food and drug commissioner, Mark McClellan, said. He said: "We're against large new gaps in the nation's ability to protect its citizens from potentially unsafe drugs, at a time when the threats to the safety of our drug supply are greater than ever."
Can you assure Minnesotans that the drugs they're going to be getting from Canada are as safe as the drugs they get here in the U.S.?
PAWLENTY: Well, I think we can, Judy.
One of the things we can bring to bear is, the state of Minnesota will put on its Web site and make available to all Minnesotans those pharmacies and other entities that we know are reputable, that are credible, have an established track record, follow Canadian safety procedures and will follow Minnesota safety expectations. And, as near as I can tell, there's not a lot of Canadians dying because of tainted or unsafe drugs.
And we just want to be able to Federal Express that or UPS down to Minnesota. And, in many ways, it's closer than California or some other states geographically. And they've got advanced and sophisticated safeguards. There's no evidence -- there's no evidence -- that drugs from Canada, medicines from Canada are unsafe and that they can't be safely imported back to the United States.
WOODRUFF: I just read the Food and Drug Administration commissioner position. What about the White House. Is the Bush administration weighing in on this?
PAWLENTY: Well, they haven't yet. But I have some hope that Secretary Thompson, who has got a really long and established track record of being a reformer and an innovator, will give this some consideration, at least let us try it.
The other thing is, this is already happening in a rogue way. Americans, millions of Americans, are already doing this in the domestic market, in the Canadian market. And so they're already voting with their mouses, voting with their feet, voting with their buses to do this. And the government's got to wake up in America and realize we've got a crisis on our hands. And let's do something about it. Let's try something new.
WOODRUFF: Let me also share with you what a leader in the biotechnology industry is saying. This is a woman who is president of the Massachusetts Biotechnology Council, maybe somebody at this hearing with you today.
She said, "Importing drugs from other countries that set artificially low prices will hinder the industry's ability to develop new, innovative medicine." She says, "If the U.S. biotech industry doesn't continue to drive innovation, then who will?"
PAWLENTY: Well, innovation is really important. Research and development is really important. And I think Americans should be willing to pay a premium for that.
But there's a difference between paying a premium and being taken advantage of. I'm a conservative. I'm for free markets. But what's going on in the rest of the world isn't free markets. We also have the opportunity to take, for once, the advantage of globalization to our benefit. I'm a Republican. Let's go out into the world market and try to get a better deal for Americans.
And this argument that we're reimporting Canadians' price controls is ridiculous. You could make that argument anytime we import anything from another country. China, for example, we import a good from there, are we importing their human rights policies, their environmental policies, their labor policies, their form of government, etcetera?
WOODRUFF: All right, Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty, I hope we can talk to you again once this actually gets under way in your state.
PAWLENTY: Well, thank you, Judy. Hope to be able to...
WOODRUFF: Thank you very much.
PAWLENTY: Thank you very much.
WOODRUFF: Good to see you.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
