Key Senate Republicans push tobacco regulation bill

WASHINGTON -- 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.

September debut

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.

Program criticized

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.

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