WASHINGTON -- Votes by U.S. Sens. Cory Booker and Robert Menendez against importing cheaper prescription drugs from other countries drew a rebuke from a fellow New Jersey Democrat.

Assemblyman John Wisniewski (D-Middlesex), who is seeking the Democratic gubernatorial nomination said the two senators "stood in the way" of lower drug prices during a health care forum on Sunday.

Wisniewski led the statewide effort for Bernie Sanders' presidential campaign last year, and the Vermont senator co-sponsored the amendment that Booker and Menendez gave thumbs down to.

"It was profoundly disappointing, inexplicable," Wisniewski said. "We could have passed that and we could be on our way to cheaper prescription drugs but our senators stood in the way and that's disappointing."

He called it an example of "transitional politics trumping the needs of ordinary men and women."

The proposal to allow drug importation failed, 52-46, as 13 Democrats, including Booker and Menendez, voted no. It would have been added to legislation designed to make it easier for Congress to repeal the Affordable Care Act.

The pharmaceutical industry is one of New Jersey's major employers, with several major corporations headquartered in New Jersey. Drug company employees are among the biggest industry givers to both Menendez and Booker, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, a Washington-based research group.

Both senators said they do support importing prescription drugs, but voted against the amendment because it did not include any safety standards.

"Allowing unknown drugs to be imported by uncertified and unverified internet pharmacies puts the well-being of patients at serious risk," Menendez said.

Wisniewski said that drugs from Canada are the same ones Americans use, only cheaper.

"People in Canada aren't risking their lives with unsafe crazy drugs," he said.

The congressional resolution, the first step toward repealing the law, drew no Democratic votes in either house. In the House, Rep. Tom MacArthur (R-3rd Dist.) was one of only nine Republicans to vote no, saying he was opposed to moving towar repeal without offering an alternative.

If Republicans repeal the Affordable Care Act without a replacement, 194,000 New Jersey residents would lose the coverage they gained under the law's Medicaid expansion, 205,242 residents would lose the tax subsidies they received to help them buy insurance, and 211,881 N.J. seniors would lose the extra help they now have to buy prescription drugs.

Jonathan D. Salant may be reached at jsalant@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JDSalant. Find NJ.com Politics on Facebook