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By Mark Sherman, the Associated Press Republican leaders in the
Senate want to vote to confirm McClellan by the end of the week, as the
Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services tries to put in place the
Medicare overhaul that Bush signed last year. However, McClellan's
rejection of the request from Republican John McCain of McClellan, at a hearing on
his nomination at the Senate Finance Committee, said he would answer the
senators' questions "as soon as this confirmation process is
concluded." The senators want him to
appear before the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee,
which McCain leads and where he could expect more aggressive questioning
than he received Monday. Told of McClellan's
comments, Dorgan spokesman Barry Piatt said: "That's an absurd
response that borders on the arrogant. He doesn't get to choose which
senators can ask him questions." McCain spokesman Marshall Wittman
said the senator is still awaiting a formal response from McClellan. As commissioner of the
Food and Drug Administration, McClellan has been the Bush administration's
leading voice in opposition to allowing prescription drugs into this
country from Health and Human Services
Secretary Tommy Thompson recently named McClellan to lead a panel to study
whether and at what cost drugs could be safely imported. Critics argued
the study would be one-sided, although Thompson pledged the panel would be
balanced. Drug importation has
widespread support in Congress and across the country as a result of
several years of double-digit increases in prescription drug prices.
Nearly two-thirds of those surveyed in an Associated Press poll released
last month said the government should make it easier to buy cheaper drugs
from AARP, the
35-million-member seniors organization, released a letter Monday that
chief executive William Novelli sent to 16 drug manufacturers, urging them
to support drug importation legislation "with strict procedures to
ensure safety." Novelli also called on the companies to limit price
increases to the rate of inflation. McClellan's nomination is
expected to clear the Senate easily once it comes to a vote. In 2002, the
Senate confirmed McClellan to lead the FDA with no opposition. There is no dispute about
qualifications. McClellan is a physician and economist who was a member of
Bush's Council of Economic Advisers before taking over at the FDA. He also
served in the Copyright © 2004
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