Top House Republican Opposes Drug Import Bill (breaks promise)

[Nambe]

WASHINGTON (Reuters)

The House Republican leader said on Tuesday he was "working hard" to defeat a bill set for a vote this week that would allow imports of cheaper drugs from Canada and certain other foreign countries.

House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, a Texas Republican, said the Republican leadership had made the commitment to hold a vote on the bill but "there was no commitment to pass it." ---

However, his stance against the bill angered its key sponsors, who said they had been promised neutrality by Republican leaders.

"I thought we were having a fair fight," said Jo Ann Emerson, a Missouri Republican who gave the Republican leadership the one-vote margin needed to pass a Medicare bill last month after she was promised a vote on drug import legislation.

The House will vote, probably on Thursday, on a proposal by Minnesota Republican Gil Gutknecht that would allow importation of drugs from approved industrialized countries, including much of Europe, Canada, Australia, Japan and South Africa.

Banish bush From Texas Too