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individuals employed under a PSA to perform such services
outside the United States shall not, by virtue of such em-
ployment, be considered employees of the United States gov-
ernment for purposes of any law administered by the Office
of Personnel Management: Provided further, That such in-
dividuals may be considered employees within the meaning
of the Federal Employee Compensation Act, 5 U.S.C. 8101
et seq.: Provided further, That Government service credit
shall be accrued for the time employed under a PSA should
the individual later be hired into a permanent U.S. Govern-
ment position if their authorities so permit.
SEC. 738. None of the funds made available by this
Act or any other Act may be used to close or relocate a
state Rural Development office unless or until cost effective-
ness and enhancement of program delivery have been deter-
mined.
SEC. 739. Of any shipments of commodities made pur-
suant to Section 416(b) of the Agricultural Act of 1949 (7
U.S.C. 1431(b)), the Secretary of Agriculture shall, to the
extent practicable, direct that tonnage equal in value to not
less than $25,000,000 shall be made available to foreign
countries to assist in mitigating the effects of the Human
Immunodeficiency Virus and Acquired Immune Deficiency
Syndrome on communities, including the provision of—
(1) agricultural commodities to—
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(A) individuals with Human Immuno-
deficiency Virus or Acquired Immune Deficiency
Syndrome in the communities, and
(B) households in the communities, particu-
larly individuals caring for orphaned children;
and
(2) agricultural commodities monetized to pro-
vide other assistance (including assistance under
microcredit and microenterprise programs) to create
or restore sustainable livelihoods among individuals
in the communities, particularly individuals caring
for orphaned children.
SEC. 740. AMENDMENT TO FEDERAL FOOD, DRUG,
AND COSMETIC ACT. (a) SHORT TITLE.—This section may
be cited as the ‘‘Medicine Equity and Drug Safety Act of
2000’’.
(b) FINDINGS.—Congress makes the following findings:
(1) The cost of prescription drugs for Americans
continues to rise at an alarming rate.
(2) Millions of Americans, including medicare
beneficiaries on fixed incomes, face a daily choice be-
tween purchasing life-sustaining prescription drugs,
or paying for other necessities, such as food and hous-
ing.
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(3) Many life-saving prescription drugs are
available in countries other than the United States at
substantially lower prices, even though such drugs
were developed and are approved for use by patients
in the United States.
(4) Many Americans travel to other countries to
purchase prescription drugs because the medicines
that they need are unaffordable in the United States.
(5) Americans should be able to purchase medi-
cines at prices that are comparable to prices for such
medicines in other countries, but efforts to enable such
purchases should not endanger the gold standard for
safety and effectiveness that has been established and
maintained in the United States.
(c) AMENDMENT.—Chapter VIII of the Federal Food,
Drug, and Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C. 381 et seq.) is
amended—
(1) in section 801(d)(1), by inserting ‘‘and sec-
tion 804’’ after ‘‘paragraph (2)’’; and
(2) by adding at the end the following:
‘‘SEC. 804. IMPORTATION OF COVERED PRODUCTS.
‘‘(a) REGULATIONS.—
‘‘(1) IN
GENERAL.—Notwithstanding sections
301(d), 301(t), and 801(a), the Secretary, after con-
sultation with the United States Trade Representative
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and the Commissioner of Customs, shall promulgate
regulations permitting importation into the United
States of covered products.
‘‘(2) 
LIMITATION.—Regulations 
promulgated
under paragraph (1) shall—
‘‘(A) require that safeguards are in place
that provide a reasonable assurance to the Sec-
retary that each covered product that is imported
is safe and effective for its intended use;
‘‘(B) require that the pharmacist or whole-
saler importing a covered product complies with
the provisions of subsection (b); and
‘‘(C) contain such additional safeguards as
the Secretary may specify in order to ensure the
protection of the public health of patients in the
United States.
‘‘(3) RECORDS.—Regulations promulgated under
paragraph (1) shall require that records regarding
such importation described in subsection (b) be pro-
vided to and maintained by the Secretary for a pe-
riod of time determined to be necessary by the Sec-
retary.
‘‘(b) IMPORTATION.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall promul-
gate regulations permitting a pharmacist or whole-
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saler to import into the United States a covered prod-
uct.
‘‘(2) REGULATIONS.—Regulations promulgated
under paragraph (1) shall require such pharmacist or
wholesaler to provide information and records to the
Secretary, including—
‘‘(A) the name and amount of the active in-
gredient of the product and description of the
dosage form;
‘‘(B) the date that such product is shipped
and the quantity of such product that is shipped,
points of origin and destination for such prod-
uct, the price paid for such product, and the re-
sale price for such product;
‘‘(C) documentation from the foreign seller
specifying the original source of the product and
the amount of each lot of the product originally
received;
‘‘(D) the manufacturer’s lot or control num-
ber of the product imported;
‘‘(E) the name, address, and telephone num-
ber of the importer, including the professional li-
cense number of the importer, if the importer is
a pharmacist or pharmaceutical wholesaler;
‘‘(F) for a product that is—
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‘‘(i) coming from the first foreign re-
cipient of the product who received such
product from the manufacturer—
‘‘(I) documentation demonstrating
that such product came from such re-
cipient and was received by such re-
cipient from such manufacturer;
‘‘(II) 
documentation 
of 
the
amount of each lot of the product re-
ceived by such recipient to demonstrate
that the amount being imported into
the United States is not more than the
amount that was received by such re-
cipient;
‘‘(III) documentation that each lot
of the initial imported shipment was
statistically sampled and tested for au-
thenticity and degradation by the im-
porter or manufacturer of such prod-
uct;
‘‘(IV) 
documentation 
dem-
onstrating that a statistically valid
sample of all subsequent shipments
from such recipient was tested at an
appropriate United States laboratory
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for authenticity and degradation by
the importer or manufacturer of such
product; and
‘‘(V) certification from the im-
porter or manufacturer of such product
that the product is approved for mar-
keting in the United States and meets
all labeling requirements under this
Act; and
‘‘(ii) not coming from the first foreign
recipient of the product, documentation that
each lot in all shipments offered for impor-
tation into the United States was statis-
tically sampled and tested for authenticity
and degradation by the importer or manu-
facturer of such product, and meets all la-
beling requirements under this Act;
‘‘(G) laboratory records, including complete
data derived from all tests necessary to assure
that the product is in compliance with estab-
lished specifications and standards; and
‘‘(H) any other information that the Sec-
retary determines is necessary to ensure the pro-
tection of the public health of patients in the
United States.
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‘‘(c) TESTING.—Testing referred to in subparagraphs
(F) and (G) of subsection (b)(2) shall be done by the phar-
macist or wholesaler importing such product, or the manu-
facturer of the product. If such tests are conducted by the
pharmacist or wholesaler, information needed to authen-
ticate the product being tested and confirm that the labeling
of such product complies with labeling requirements under
this Act shall be supplied by the manufacturer of such prod-
uct to the pharmacist or wholesaler, and as a condition of
maintaining approval by the Food and Drug Administra-
tion of the product, such information shall be kept in strict
confidence and used only for purposes of testing under this
Act.
‘‘(d) STUDY AND REPORT.—
‘‘(1) STUDY.—The Secretary shall conduct, or
contract with an entity to conduct, a study on the
imports permitted under this section, taking into con-
sideration the information received under subsections
(a) and (b). In conducting such study, the Secretary
or entity shall—
‘‘(A) evaluate importers’ compliance with
regulations, and the number of shipments, if
any, permitted under this section that have been
determined to be counterfeit, misbranded, or
adulterated; and
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‘‘(B) consult with the United States Trade
Representative and United States Patent and
Trademark Office to evaluate the effect of impor-
tations permitted under this Act on trade and
patent rights under Federal law.
‘‘(2) REPORT.—Not later than 5 years after the
effective date of final regulations issued pursuant to
this section, the Secretary shall prepare and submit
to Congress a report containing the study described in
paragraph (1).
‘‘(e) CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this section shall be
construed to limit the statutory, regulatory, or enforcement
authority of the Secretary relating to importation of covered
products, other than the importation described in sub-
sections (a) and (b).
‘‘(f) DEFINITIONS.—In this section:
‘‘(1) COVERED
PRODUCT.—The term ‘covered
product’ means a prescription drug under section
503(b)(1) that meets the applicable requirements of
section 505, and is approved by the Food and Drug
Administration and manufactured in a facility iden-
tified in the approved application and is not adulter-
ated under section 501 or misbranded under section
502.
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‘‘(2) 
PHARMACIST.—The 
term 
‘pharmacist’
means a person licensed by a State to practice phar-
macy in the United States, including the dispensing
and selling of prescription drugs.
‘‘(3) 
WHOLESALER.—The 
term 
‘wholesaler’
means a person licensed as a wholesaler or distributor
of prescription drugs in the United States.
‘‘(g) CONDITIONS.—This section shall become effective
only if the Secretary of the Department of Health and
Human Services certifies to the Congress that the imple-
mentation of this section will—
‘‘(1) pose no risk to the public’s health and safe-
ty; and
‘‘(2) result in a significant reduction in the cost
of covered products to the American consumer.’’.
SEC. 741. Section 2111(a)(3) of the Organic Foods
Production Act of 1990 (7 U.S.C. 651(a)(3)) is amended
by adding after ‘‘sulfites,’’ ‘‘except in the production of
wine,’’.
SEC. 742. None of the funds made available by this
Act may be used to require an office of the Farm Service
Agency that is using FINPACK on May 17, 1999, for finan-
cial planning and credit analysis, to discontinue use of
FINPACK for six months from the date of enactment of this
Act.
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SEC. 743. Hereafter, the Secretary of Agriculture shall
consider any borrower whose income does not exceed 115
percent of the median family income of the United States
as meeting the eligibility requirements for a borrower con-
tained in section 502(h)(2) of the Housing Act of 1949 (42
U.S.C. 1472(h)(2)).
SEC. 744. SENSE OF THE SENATE REGARDING PREF-
ERENCE FOR ASSISTANCE FOR VICTIMS OF DOMESTIC VIO-
LENCE. It is the sense of the Senate that the Secretary of
Agriculture, in selecting public agencies and nonprofit or-
ganizations to provide transitional housing under section
592(c) of subtitle G of title IV of the Stewart B. McKinney
Homeless Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 11408a(c)), should con-
sider preferences for agencies and organizations that pro-
vide transitional housing for individuals and families who
are homeless as a result of domestic violence.
SEC. 745. NATURAL CHEESE STANDARD.—(a) PROHI-
BITION.—Section 401 of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cos-
metic Act (21 U.S.C. 341) is amended—
(1) by striking ‘‘Whenever’’ and inserting ‘‘(a)
Whenever’’; and
(2) by adding at the end the following:
‘‘(b) The Commissioner may not use any Federal funds
to amend section 133.3 of title 21, Code of Federal Regula-
tions (or any corresponding similar regulation or ruling),