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U.S. Sen. Kohl: Introduces First Bills for 110th Congress
Thursday, January 4, 2007
Contact: Lynn Becker or Joe
Bonfiglio
(202) 224-5653
Priorities
for next session include affordable generic
drugs, food safety and manufacturing jobs
WASHINGTON - As the U.S. Senate
convened for the 110th Congress today, U.S.
Senator Herb Kohl was sworn in for his fourth
term and introduced several bills related to
his priorities for the new session of Congress.
Kohl will serve on the Appropriations and
Judiciary Committees and will be Chairman of
the Special Committee on Aging; he will also
become chairman of the Agriculture
Appropriations panel and the Antitrust,
Competition Policy and Consumer Rights
panel.
“I look forward to the new
session and the opportunity it brings to get
things done on behalf of the people who sent me
here,” Kohl said. “There are a lot of
challenging issues before us, and I’m fortunate
that my assignments in the Senate intersect
with some of my top legislative
priorities.”
Among the first bills Kohl
will introduce in the 110th Congress:
·
Preserve Access to Affordable Generics Act:
Kohl’s bill will explicitly prohibit brand-name
drug manufacturers from using pay-off
agreements to keep cheaper generic equivalents
off the market. Payoff settlements occur when a
brand name drug company pays a generic drug
maker to delay the sale of their competing
generic drug. Last year, Senators Patrick Leahy
(D-VT), Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and Charles
Schumer (D-NY) joined Kohl in sponsoring this
bill which was introduced in the wake of the
Supreme Court refusal to hear the drug patent
case, Federal Trade Commission (FTC) v.
Schering-Plough.
· Citizen Petition
Fairness and Accuracy Act: In an effort to
increase generic drug availability, Kohl’s
legislation will prohibit brand name drug
companies from abusing the Food and Drug
Administration’s (FDA) “citizen petition”
review process. The bill gives the Department
of Health and Human Services (HHS) - the FDA’s
parent agency - the power to sanction those who
abuse the citizen petition process, or who file
citizen petitions simply to keep competition
off the market. The bill also instructs HHS
that all citizen petitions be reviewed within
six months of filing - putting an end to
excessive delays which have stalled new generic
drug approval by months or years.
·
Generics First Act: Kohl’s “Generics First Act”
requires the use of available generic drugs
under the Medicare part D prescription drug
program, unless the brand name drug is
determined to be medically necessary by a
physician. Modeled after similar provisions in
many state-administered Medicaid programs, this
measure would help reduce the high costs of the
new prescription drug program and keep seniors
from reaching the current “donut hole” in
coverage by guiding beneficiaries toward
cost-saving generic drug alternatives.
·
Extension of the Manufacturing Extension
Partnership Program (MEP). Kohl’s bill will
establish funding for the MEP program for five
years. MEP is a network of over 60 centers
across the country that provide assistance to
small manufacturers and help retain
manufacturing jobs.
Kohl will
also meet next week with the new Commissioner
of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Dr.
Andrew von Eschenbach, to discuss the FDA’s
ability to ensure a safe food supply. In
December, Kohl sent a letter to von Eschenbach
requesting the meeting to discuss his agency’s
future plans to control outbreaks of E. coli
and other foodborne diseases. Kohl’s
Agriculture Appropriations panel has
jurisdiction over the FDA’s budget.
Kohl also said he will work this year
to include an extension of the Milk Income Loss
Contract (MILC) program as part of the 2007
Farm Bill. Kohl helped create this
counter-cyclical support program that provides
a critical safety net for
