� S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S � PAGE 9Saturday, November 21, 2009
IN THE STATES
Senate
Minority Leader
Sen. Mitch
McConnell, cen-
ter, and several
other senators
holds a news
conference on
health care re-
form on Capitol
Hill in Washing-
ton on Friday.
The Senate will
be debating and
voting on the bill
this weekend.
MANUEL BALCE/AP
Senate Dems push ahead
on key health reform vote
BY ERICA WERNER
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON -- With no margin for rebellion,
Senate Democratic leaders pushed ahead Friday to-
ward a crucial weekend test vote on their sweeping
health care bill amid indications the rank-and-file
would stand together on President Barack Obama's
signature issue.
"We are not assuming a thing. We are working
hard to bring all Democrats together for the 60 votes
necessary to proceed to this historic debate," said
Dick Durbin of Illinois, the No. 2 Senate Democrat.
"I'm hoping that we can muster our ranks."
The nearly $1 trillion, 10-year Senate bill would
extend coverage to millions of uninsured Ameri-
cans, bar insurance company practices like denying
coverage to people with medical conditions and re-
quire nearly all individuals to purchase insurance.
Sixty votes are required to clear Saturday's must-
pass procedural vote allowing debate to begin,
meaning that all 58 Senate Democrats and the two
independents that generally vote with them will
need to hold together.
There have been just three question marks in re-
cent days: moderate Democratic Sens. Ben Nelson of
Nebraska, Mary Landrieu of Louisiana and Blanche
Lincoln of Arkansas.
Nelson and Landrieu have made comments sug-
gesting they'd allow debate to begin, focusing the
spotlight on Lincoln, who's facing a difficult re-elec-
tion next year.
Durbin said Friday that Lincoln has informed
Majority Leader Harry Reid how she plans to vote.
Durbin wouldn't disclose Lincoln's answer and a
spokeswoman for Lincoln had no immediate com-
ment, but Democrats are moving ahead with the
vote.
"I would say to Senator Lincoln that I believe most
people in Arkansas would be relieved and happy to
see health care reform that gives them the peace
of mind about the cost of health insurance and the
protection of their ability to fight these health insur-
ance companies," Durbin said.
"I think the failure to pass a bill is not good for
America, it's not good for any of us in Congress, or
those standing for re-election," Durbin said.
Ahead of Saturday's vote Republicans and Demo-
crats spent Friday trading barbs on the Senate floor
over the 2,074-page bill. Republicans displayed the
Senate bill and the 1,990-page House bill -- stacked
on top of each other to form a tall pile -- to criti-
cize the legislation as an unwarranted government
intrusion.
Nationwide raids target counterfeit drugs
BY YLAN Q. MUI
The Washington Post
NEW YORK -- In highly orchestrated raids
around the world this week, Interpol officers in
Europe, drug agents in the United States and task
forces from Sweden to Singapore hunted down coun-
terfeit prescription drugs to stem a rapidly growing
criminal business preying on financially pressed
consumers looking for bargains.
The operation, code-named Pangea, is an effort
to fight back against fraudulent businesses, which
have become a $28 million industry in the United
States alone.
The national crackdown uncovered nearly 800
alleged packages of fake or suspicious prescrip-
tion drugs including Viagra, Vicodin and Claritin,
and shut down 68 alleged rogue online pharmacies.
Some counterfeit drugs may have as much as three
times more of an active ingredient than is typically
prescribed; others may be placebos. Drywall mate-
rial, antifreeze and yellow highway paint have been
found in counterfeit pills.
The front line of the operation is deep in the bow-
els of a sprawling mail center in the industrial out-
skirts of John F. Kennedy International Airport.
This week, federal agent Stephen Buzzeo, wielding
a letter opener, ripped open a manila envelope lined
with cardboard from a diaper package and pulled
out three packages of what looked like diet pills,
anxiety medicine and OxyContin, an often abused
painkiller.
Hundreds of packages of potentially fake medi-
cines were dumped into orange bins, piled on skids
and stacked high around him and the half-dozen
others from the alphabet soup of government agen-
cies -- ICE, CBP, FDA, DEA -- hoping to intercept
them before they were shipped to often unwitting
consumers. Overseas, Interpol officers and task
forces stormed suspected counterfeit drug ware-
houses and distribution centers.
University of California
passes 32 percent fee hike
The Associated Press
LOS ANGELES -- As protests
resounded outside, the University
ofCaliforniaBoardofRegentsap-
proved a 32 percent fee increase
for students attending the state's
premier public schools.
The vote in a windowless Uni-
versityofCalifornia,LosAngeles,
meeting room took place Thurs-
day as hundreds of students and
union members gathered nearby,
waving signs, pounding drums
and chanting, "We're fired up,
can't take it no more" and "Shame
on you."
The $2,500 increase will push
the cost of an undergraduate
education to more than $10,000
a year by next fall, about triple
the cost of a decade ago. The fees,
the equivalent of tuition, do not
include the cost of housing, board
and books.
"Our hand has been forced,"
UC President Mark Yudof said.
"When you don't have any money,
you don't have any money."
Armed police, some with bean-
bag-firing shotguns, lined up be-
hind steel barricades, watching
over the protesters.
Some staff and board mem-
bers were trapped in the building
for up to several hours after the
meeting. A van carrying regents
and staff was surrounded and de-
layed by protesters as it tried to
leave campus.
Ethics committee
admonishes senator
WASHINGTON -- The Sen-
ate ethics committee on Friday
admonished Sen. Roland Burris,
D-Ill., for making "inconsistent,
misleading or incomplete" state-
ments about the circumstances
surrounding his appointment
to the seat once held by Barack
Obama. The committee didn't
recommend any punishment.
Burris was appointed by dis-
graced former Illinois Gov. Rod
Blagojevich, who was impeached
and driven from office after he
was accused of trying to sell the
Senate seat.
The committee's "Public Let-
ter of Qualified Admonition"
told Burris that while it found no
violations of law, "Senators must
meet a much higher standard of
conduct."
From The Associated Press

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