WASHINGTON — A top U.S. Democrat says his first order of business in January will be a new push to legalize prescription drug imports from Canada.

Illinois Congressman Rahm Emanuel, the House Democratic caucus chairman and a key architect of the party's election sweep of Congress, said this week his top priority is introducing another bill allowing Americans to buy cheaper Canadian medicines.

It's one of a number of Canadian issues that will hit Capitol Hill as Democrats take over in January, when legislators are also expected to have a second look at the U.S. rule requiring passports at land border crossings and new user fees on Canadian commercial shipments.

Emanuel, long a staunch supporter of imported drugs, said it's time American seniors stop paying as much as 55 per cent more for brand-name medicines than some other industrialized countries like Canada.

"It will be my first piece of legislation in the new Congress under Democratic majority," he told a news conference in Chicago.

"People come from around the world to America for first-class medical care, but Americans travel around the world for affordable medications," said Emanuel, whose office keeps a running comparison of drug prices in Canada and the United States.

Analysts say the move could eventually force Canada to move on banning bulk exports, although any threat to the Canadian supply from the U.S. drive to curb costs is much lower now.

Most drugs supplied by mail order from Canadian companies, a $1 billion Cdn industry supplying some two million Americans, actually now come from some 30 foreign countries, including the European Union.

Also, there's a new U.S. drug benefit that provides some help for Medicare's 43 million seniors and the disabled. And incoming House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is vowing to pass a bill requiring the government to negotiate directly with pharmaceutical companies for lower prices under Medicare.

"Canadians have less to fear than ever because the market isn't a Canadian market anymore," said David MacKay, a consultant for several Internet pharmacies in Canada.

"There really isn't a huge panic here."

There's also a natural cap on the number of Americans, about six million, who would ever consider mail-order medicine from Canada, said MacKay.

Canadian officials say they're watching the situation but have no immediate plans for legislation north of the border because there's no evidence the cross-border trade is putting Canadians at risk.

And while Emanuel said he thinks the bill to legalize imports from Canada and other countries is likely to pass the House of Representatives, he's not predicting if the Senate will endorse it.

Besides, President George W. Bush, who has veto power, opposes drug imports. The U.S. government and the drug industry maintain they aren't safe.

Other Democrats are considering changes to rules that Canada opposes, including fees on commercial shipments and air passengers kicking in next year.

The fees will fund more inspections of food and other goods crossing the border to guard against pests, disease and bioterrorism but Canada says they're unnecessary and wants them dropped.

New York Representative Louise Slaughter, who will chair the powerful House rules committee, has been backing Canada's position, saying it doesn't make sense to impose blanket user fees on all commercial vehicles when less than 20 per cent of them carry agricultural products.

Slaughter's spokesman Frank Benenati said this week she's consulting with other legislators on a bill that would change or kill the fees.

"It's in the initial stages," he said. "A lot of groups are talking right now. We have to ensure that Canada and the U.S. work together and come to an agreement about the fees."

Slaughter has also backed Canada's concerns about requiring passports from everyone entering the United States by car or ferry by June 2009 at the latest and has formally requested an in-depth analysis of the costs to trade and tourism.

Vermont Senator Patrick Leahy, incoming chair of the upper house's judiciary committee wants the rule rewritten.

In a submission this week to the State Department, Leahy said there should be more safeguards to ensure that a proposed alternative high-technology passcard for Americans actually works properly.

He also complained the rule doesn't specifically lay out that any technology developed by the United States should be shared with Canadian officials.

American schoolchildren crossing into Canada for sports activities, field trips and the like should be exempt, he said, or have their passcard fee waived.