(8/22/03) In early August, I attended the annual meeting of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) in Washington, DC. ALEC is a national organization of legislators who are committed to the Jeffersonian principles of free markets, limited government, and individual liberty. Ninety-eight members of Congress are former ALEC members.Over 2,700 participants attended the meeting including state and national leaders, senior business executives, leading public policy experts and members of the media. Vice President Richard Cheney, Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge, Colorado Governor Bill Owens, former Congressman J.C. Watts, Jr. and Washington, DC Mayor Anthony Williams headlined this annual meeting.
Over three days, twelve workshops were held on tort reform, homeland security, school choice, state budgets, prescription drugs Medicare/Medicaid reform and environmental health. Experts discussed and in some cases debated these issues and presented various views for legislators to consider in their states.
Sec. Tom Ridge stressed that terrorism is now a permanent condition that must be fought on the local level and it impacts many facets of our lives including utilities, banking, telecommunications, agriculture etc. However he cautioned that in protecting our freedom, we must strive for the proper balance between data gathering and the rights of people’s privacy.
The “rule of insanity” in education was highlighted in Mayor William’s remarks. “Doing something the same way and expecting different results” is insane. He stressed the need for strenuous education outcomes to improve performance and that more money isn’t the answer. The Mayor was a strong advocate for school vouchers, charter schools and parental empowerment to improve quality and he’s not relying on the Democrats or the NEA in DC to provide needed education reform.
There was a lengthy debate between an environmentalist from the Natural Resources Defense Council and a free market think tank representative from the Cato Institute. Both agree the earth’s temperature is rising but they couldn’t agree on the severity of the problem. The environmentalists wanted direct intervention to mitigate global warming using new technology for clean power and cars and the free market speaker statically demonstrated how the problem would take care of itself as it has for prior centuries.
A major focus of the meeting was on prescription drugs. Our local press has praised the Maine Rx Supreme Court decision that allegedly expanded Medicaid pharmaceutical discounts to all citizens of the state. What was not reported was that the case wasn’t decided by the Supreme Court but sent back to the Federal Circuit Court in Maine for action. In doing so, the court said the Maine’s Rx program must be tied to Medicaid eligibility, which it isn’t. The consumer victory lauded by the press appears to be premature and will likely not be upheld by the Federal Government or the Courts.
Many politicians in Vermont and New England are pushing for the reimportation of prescription drugs from Canada. It’s an appealing issue as a way to buy cheaper prescription drugs. However, speakers from academia and industry presented data showed the risk associated with that practice.
There’s no doubt reimportation is an attempt to equalize prices internationally by law that would effectively apply foreign price controls in the U.S. Also, reimportation creates safety problems. Mexican drugs have killed consumers; Royal Canadian Mount Police warn that pharmaceutical counterfeiting is an “epidemic”. In some countries 70-80% of the drugs sold are counterfeit. It was further reported that terrorists are using counterfeit drugs to finance their operations against the US. After listening to the data presented, I think the re-importation of drugs has serious implications to consumers and our country regardless of what Bernie says in Congress.
Vice President Cheney was awarded the Thomas Jefferson Freedom Award for his outstanding life-long record of public service, extraordinary courage and leadership. In his remarks he stressed the security of our country is the key to our freedom and economic future. The Vice President indicated the weapon of mass destruction in Iraq is not a myth. He further stated the Administration’s domestic policy to stimulate the economy via tax cuts is working and that people should have more freedom to use their money for health care and insurance as well as retirement plans.
David Horowitz, a nationally known author and life long civil rights activists, surprised many with his bluntness. He spoke about how our higher education is being taken over by extremists and cited several examples around the country where various radical, socialistic and treasonous views are advocated by professors and students who also stifle debate on the issues. Horowitz advocated intellectual diversity to protect academic diversity for political, ideological and religious debate in higher education. He said that “without diversity of viewpoint, there is no academic freedom.”
Although I enjoyed the visit to DC and was able to spend some time at the Smithsonian, it was good to return to the Green Mountains. The ALEC meeting was productive, informative and interesting. It also enabled me to share ideas, policies and information across party and state lines.
Thank you for your calls and notes. I can be reached at 658-3975 (home), 1-800-322-5616 or 228-2228 (State House) and via e-mail.
Rep. Frank Mazur
South Burlington