By Kara Scannell

White House aide David Axelrod said President Barack Obama was “committed” to allowing the re-importation of pharmaceutical drugs into the U.S. and would push ahead with efforts to open the market.

During debate on the health-care bill, some senators had unsuccessfully sought to attach language that would allow the re-importation of drugs into the U.S. from Canada and other countries. Obama had endorsed re-importation during the presidential campaign.

“Let me be clear: The president supports re-importation, as he said, safe re-importation of drugs into this country,” Axelrod told CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday. “There’s no reason why Americans should pay a premium for the pharmaceuticals that other people in other countries pay less for.”