Congressman Bernie Sanders said, "I strongly support the efforts of Republican Senator David Vitter to block the Administration’s nomination of Andrew C. von Eschenbach to head the FDA until a meaningful reimportation program is established. At a time when Americans are paying the highest prices in the world, by far, for prescription drugs it is outrageous that the Bush Administration is preventing safe and affordable Canadian and European medications from being sold in this country. Our neighbors to the North and across the Atlantic buy the exact same medicines, made in the exact same facilities, to the exact same safety standards at a fraction of the prices we pay here. Reimportation has the strong support of a bipartisan majority of Congress and the American people. It's time for this Administration to put the public interest ahead of the pharmaceutical companies' bloated bottom line and allow Congress to act."

A pioneering supporter of prescription drug importation, Congressman Sanders was the very first member of Congress to bring constituents across the Canadian border to highlight the wide disparity in prices between the U.S. and Canada for the very same medicines made by the same company in the same factory. He is currently a cosponsor of H.R. 328 and H.R. 700, both of which would allow consumers access to safe and affordable medicines through reimportation. He was also a coauthor of H.R. 2426, The Pharmaceutical Market Access Act, which overwhelmingly passed in the House in 2003 and would have allowed importation from 26 countries.