Gore Accuses Bradley of Siding With Drug Makers

Vice President Al Gore sharpened his attack Monday on Bill Bradley’s relationship with the pharmaceutical industry, saying his rival for the Democratic presidential nomination consistently sided with drug companies at the expense of consumers.

Gore noted that Bradley, during his three terms in the Senate, championed legislation to extend the life of patents on drugs, which Gore said would have delayed the approval of generic competition and “artificially kept prices very, very high.”

Gore added: “Now in many of those battles when I was fighting for the consumers, Sen. Bradley was understandably--because many of them [drug makers] are headquartered in New Jersey--one of their principal advocates.”

Eric Hauser, Bradley’s spokesman, acknowledged that the pharmaceutical industry is New Jersey’s largest employer, but he rejected Gore’s contention that Bradley ever sided with drug makers and against consumers.

“In making decisions about health care or drug policy, Sen. Bradley always followed what he thought was best for the people,” Hauser said, noting also that Bradley’s proposal to offer Medicare prescription drug coverage encourages the use of generic medicines.

In a wide-ranging interview with the reporters and editors of The Times’ Washington Bureau, Gore also pledged to “aggressively” seek legislation granting the Food and Drug Administration authority to regulate nicotine in cigarettes if, as expected, the Supreme Court strikes down the FDA’s assertion that it possesses such authority.

And he refused to say whether he would pardon President Clinton for any potential legal offenses arising out of the Monica S. Lewinsky scandal, saying the question was “completely hypothetical.”

Taken aback by the question, Gore said: “I don’t think it’s responsible to . . . I don’t think it’s a responsible way to deal with an issue like that, the political context.”

On foreign policy issues, the vice president expressed annoyance at Moscow when asked about a sophisticated listening device that Russia allegedly planted in a high-level State Department conference room.

“They have not been nearly as responsive as I would like them to be in cutting back the budget and personnel they’ve devoted to espionage,” said Gore, who, as point man for U.S.-Russian relations, meets frequently with his Russian counterparts. “. . . It’s ridiculous for them to be doing what they’re doing in the aftermath of the Cold War--at these levels. . . . We can save both nations a lot of time and effort and money if we agree to cut way back on this, and I hope that they will.”

The vice president sidestepped a question about whether he would provide Taiwan with any form of a missile-defense system.

“I don’t rule it out. But anything we do that affects the balance across the Taiwan Strait has to be done very carefully and not with an eye to politics,” Gore said.

In the interview, Gore portrayed himself as a fighter against tobacco interests as well and said he would consider raising tobacco taxes to help expand access to health insurance.

Asked if he would support legislation granting the FDA authority to regulate nicotine in cigarettes, he replied:

“I would aggressively pursue the authority for FDA to regulate nicotine. It is a drug. It’s obviously a drug . . . according to many scientists, it’s more addictive than heroin or cocaine. And it certainly kills a lot more people.”

In 1996, the Clinton administration announced regulations to curtail teenagers’ access to cigarettes and restrict tobacco advertising that targeted youths--measures that were quickly challenged by the industry.

The FDA subsequently concluded that it has the legal authority to regulate nicotine as a drug--because of its addictive nature--and cigarettes as “drug delivery systems” because they contain nicotine. The case was recently argued before the Supreme Court and a ruling is expected next year.

On another hot-button issue, Gore walked a tightrope when asked about Internet taxes. He said he favors the current moratorium but seemed to leave the door ajar to such taxes.

”. . . I favor aggressive efforts by the parties involved--local and state authorities and Internet service providers and e-commerce leaders--to arrive at some compromise that protects the burgeoning growth of e-commerce in a way that doesn’t distort unfairly the marketplace, part of which is traditionally relied upon by state and local governments as a source of their revenue,” Gore said.

Congress has imposed a three-year moratorium on Internet taxes and created a 19-member advisory commission to recommend how e-commerce should be treated by federal tax law.

The issue has huge economic as well as political ramifications.

Sometime during the next president’s term in office, experts say, the amount of e-commerce will rival the more than $2.7 trillion in sales generated by shoppers in stores. Since sales taxes are the single largest source of revenue for most states and local governments--about $189 billion in 1998--the skyrocketing growth of online sales could take a huge bite out of state and city budgets.

Opponents of Internet levies say keeping e-commerce tax-free will help the economy continue expanding. But Main Street merchants fear that e-commerce may force them out of business--and states and localities would lose both retail sales and property taxes.

Gore cited the possibility of raising the federal cigarette tax (now 24 cents a pack and scheduled to increase to 34 cents on Jan. 1) as a way to help fund the expansion of medical insurance.

The vice president also said additional funds for expanding coverage would come as a result of a continued strong national economy.

Gore also elaborated on his newly expressed opposition to Clinton’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy of allowing gays and lesbians to serve in the military if they do not make an issue of their sexual orientation.

The president last week said the policy was “out of whack” and asked the Pentagon to reexamine its implementation.

After that, Gore said, gays and lesbians should be allowed to serve without discriminatory conditions. Bradley has said the same thing.

If elected president, Gore said, he would simply dictate the policy as commander-in-chief, although he added that the likely reservations about the policy by military commanders “have to be dealt with sensitively and carefully--but they have to be dealt with because we have to do this.”

“You know, this is one of the turning points in civil rights, when people have to pick sides,” Gore said. “There’s nothing easy about this.”

The vice president likened his nondiscrimination stance to actions taken by former President Harry S. Truman to racially integrate the armed services.

“He said do it. It’s the right thing to do. And look at the record as a result,” Gore said.

Finally, asked what leadership traits distinguish him from Bradley, Gore said that, after eight years in the House, eight years in the Senate and seven years as vice president, “I think that I’ve gained the experience to make the big decisions on the budget and economic policy well.”

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Times staff writers Ronald Brownstein, Marlene Cimons and Jube Shiver contributed to this story.

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Extended text and audio excerpts from the interview with the vice president are available on The Times’ Web site: https://www.latimes.com/gore.