To require the United States Trade Representative to enter into negotiations to eliminate price controls imposed by certain foreign countries on prescription drugs.
Latest action. Referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means.
Directs the United States Trade Representative (USTR) to enter into negotiations with the Governments of the other G-8 countries (Canada, France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Japan, Russia, and the United States) in order to achieve their agreement to eliminate price controls on innovative medicines and the unfair trade practices that result from the application of price controls. Declares that, if within 12 months negotiations have not achieved such objectives, the USTR shall recommend to Congress the most effective measures (including those specified by the Trade Act of 1974) for eliminating the disparity between the price of prescription drugs in the United States and the price of prescription drugs in the other G-8 countries, with the goal of reducing the price of prescription drugs for U.S. consumers. Requires recommended measures to be of a nature and amount that fully reflect the economic harm inflicted on patients and health care in the United States, and the harm inflicted on the U.S. economy when countries pay the country specific marginal costs of prescription drugs and let the United States cover the research and development costs of innovative prescription drugs.
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Introduced in House" stage on June 27, 2000. It describes the bill, it is not the legal text.
Where is it in the process, and what happens next?
4 steps remain before this bill could become law.
The record's latest action, on June 27, 2000: Referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means.
- Clearing the committees it was referred to, and being scheduled for a floor vote
- Passage by the House
- Passage by the Senate
- The President's signature. If the President vetoes it, two-thirds of both chambers must vote to override.
How likely is it to become law?
Civibrief does not forecast outcomes and this page has no opinion about this one. What the record supports is a base rate, which is a fact about the whole pile, not a prediction about this measure.
In the 106th Congress (1999-00), 580 of the 9,158 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 6.3 percent. That count covers every measure at every stage, including the many that never left committee.
This one is not there yet: 4 steps are still outstanding, listed above.
Has anyone actually voted on it?
No. No roll call in this Congress cites this measure. That is the ordinary outcome: most measures never reach a recorded floor vote, and a committee ends most of them simply by not acting.
A vote is not the only thing that happens to a measure. Hearings, markups, and referrals are all recorded actions, and none of them is a vote of the full chamber.
Who is behind it?
THOMAS EWING (R-IL) introduced it on June 27, 2000, and 2 members have since signed on as cosponsors.
They are 2 Republicans.
Cosponsoring is a formal signature on the text. It is not a commitment to vote for the measure, it does not bind anyone's party, and a long list of cosponsors is a measure of attention rather than of prospects.
How long has it been in play?
It was introduced on June 27, 2000, 9618 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 9618 days ago, on June 27, 2000.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 106th Congress has not finished by January 3, 2001 dies when the term ends, and has to be introduced again from the start in the next Congress.
Every answer above is assembled from this measure's own record on Congress.gov and from published counts of what Congress has passed before. Civibrief does not predict outcomes and takes no position on any measure.
Vote history
- HouseIn committee, no floor vote yet
- SenateAwaits House passage
- PresidentAwaits both chambers