Republicans on Key Committee Push Tobacco Regulation Bill

Associated Press ^ | Jul 31, 2003 | Nancy Zuckerbrod

[mdittmar]

Republicans on the Senate committee that oversees the Food and Drug Administration are circulating a bill that would give the agency the power to regulate tobacco products.

"I think we've drafted a pretty good bill, and I think the chances of passage are excellent," the committee chairman, Sen. Judd Gregg of New Hampshire, said Thursday.

The legislation would give the FDA authority over the marketing, production and distribution of tobacco products.

Sen. Mike DeWine, the lead sponsor of the bill, said the legislation was "very tough" and he predicted it would win support from Democrats.

Last year, DeWine, R-Ohio, and Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., introduced a similar bill. Kennedy has not said whether he would support the new version.

The bill would bar the FDA from banning cigarettes, a prohibition that was not in the Kennedy bill.

DeWine's proposal also says states cannot enact production or labeling standards that are tougher than those established by the FDA, another prohibition that was not in Kennedy's bill.

Gregg said the legislation would be introduced in September. Committee hearings would follow.

The FDA asserted jurisdiction over tobacco and sought to crack down on cigarette sales to minors in 1996. The Supreme Court subsequently ruled that the agency needed congressional approval.

Historically, tobacco farmers and tobacco-state lawmakers have opposed FDA regulation, but now say they will support it.

In exchange, farmers want to be paid for giving up their Agriculture Department quotas, which are allotments dictating how much leaf they can grow under the federal price-support program.

Tobacco-state senators say the federal program is not helping farmers anymore because it keeps U.S. tobacco prices too high to be competitive in world markets. On Wednesday, those senators introduced a tobacco buyout bill. They acknowledge it will have to be linked to the FDA legislation to win passage.

Legislation giving the FDA authority over tobacco products and paying farmers to get out of the federal tobacco program has been introduced in the House.

Industry leader Philip Morris USA has supported a buyout and legislation giving the FDA authority to regulate tobacco, but most of the other companies have been cool to the idea. They argue FDA regulation would be too burdensome and say new restrictions on advertising would make it increasingly difficult for smaller companies to tap into Philip Morris' market share.

[mdittmar]

The legislation would give the FDA authority over the marketing, production and distribution of tobacco products.

The bill would bar the FDA from banning cigarettes, a prohibition that was not in the Kennedy bill.

Wow, a twofer,bigger goverment and they get to keep them tobacco taxes!

These guys are good!

[goldstategop]

Republicans are positioning themselves as "Democrat Lite." Like in this bill.

[JohnGalt]

This Congress is proving to be a disaster.

[thtr]

The question is: Can the FDA regulate tobacco on Indian reservations?

[goldstategop]

Nope. The Indian Nations are sovereign.

[Wolfie]

They're not that sovereign. They can't legalize drugs for example.

[mdittmar]

The "regulating" would happen before my cigars got to my Little Brown Smokeshack.

This has higher tobacco taxes written all over it.

[billbears]

Tobacco-state senators say the federal program is not helping farmers anymore because it keeps U.S. tobacco prices too high to be competitive in world markets. On Wednesday, those senators introduced a tobacco buyout bill. They acknowledge it will have to be linked to the FDA legislation to win passage.

Of course we couldn't have the first part of the program alone without FDA approval (read more government regulations). Giddy will get to say she did something for 'the people back home' (of which she didn't mysteriously visit for 30 years until it was a political necessity) with the buyout program and keep big government involved at the same time. Now on to grabbing guns and possibly seeing if she can get another seatbelt law through the Senate

Boy howdy am I sure glad national organizations and institutions pick our Senators for us < /sarcasm>

[goldstategop]

But they can raise revenue and fund their governing authorities right?

[Extremely Extreme Extremist]

I'm glad to be a Libertarian. Conservatives are to the GOP what blacks are to the Democrats.

[Wolfie]

I don't know what the limits are, but I know the Feds often disagree. The Feds insist, for example, that the Jenkins Act (requiring taxes on cigarettes) applies to the reservations, but the Indians disagree.

[goldstategop]

Yep. I think smuggling will move to the reservations.

[Howlin]

(of which she didn't mysteriously visit for 30 years until it was a political necessity)

That's not true, bill.

[mdittmar]

I'm glad your a libertarian too,one more vote that won't count.

[azhenfud]

"Giddy will get to say she did something for 'the people back home"

Kansalinians.

[Extremely Extreme Extremist]

I'm glad your a libertarian too,one more vote that won't count.

...until your candidate loses by 500 votes and blames us for not supporting his me-too liberalism.

[mdittmar]

Put up a decent candidate,I may switch,thank God we're all livi'n in the Promise land.

[INSENSITIVE GUY]

By the same token,people should be able to grow unlimited amounts of tobacco,ie:you got 100 acres you can grow 100 acres.

[billbears]

Come now Howlin. I'll admit Giddy probably went to go see Momma a few times during that 30 years, probably to soften her up for that commercial spot she pulled in 2002 (you remember that sad experience of her using her own 100 year old mother to get votes don't you?), but really how many trips did one hear of from her during her illustrious (which should be infamous considering the ticket money that's pouring into state coffers and the high expense of an automobile more than partially can be laid at her feet) career as Secretary of Transportation, or maybe a visit or two as head of the Red Cross (another infamous spot for her).

Having lived here all my life, I can say they could probably be counted on one hand, maybe two. For someone that 'loves' North Carolina as much as Giddy, one would think it would be more....