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Sen. Edward M. Kennedy said his committee will mark up a tobacco regulation bill during the next several weeks, and that he hopes for floor debate “before the summer.”
Kennedy, D-Mass., chairman of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, wants to give the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) authority over most tobacco advertising, as well as some ability to regulate, or at least disclose, the ingredients of cigarettes. His bill (S 625) would subject to scrutiny industry claims about “light” and “low tar” cigarettes and would limit or eliminate advertising targeted toward children.
But several Republicans on the committee questioned whether the FDA is the best choice to regulate tobacco.
Kennedy’s committee heard testimony Tuesday from tobacco experts, physicians and a religious leader.
“The largest disinformation campaign in the history of the corporate world must end,” Kennedy said at the hearing.
Kennedy’s bill would not allow the FDA to ban tobacco or nicotine.
Panelists for Tuesday’s hearing concurred that it would be unwise to ban tobacco but said the government should find a way to tighten regulation.
Although some panelists supported FDA regulation of tobacco, Alan Blum, director of the University of Alabama’s Center for the Study of Tobacco and Society, said such a move would amount to an endorsement of tobacco products.
Michael B. Enzi of Wyoming, the top Republican on the committee, showed no signs of softening his opposition to Kennedy’s bill. He argues that the measure should give the FDA the power of prohibition — a move that would significantly complicate efforts to enact the legislation.
“I am no friend of big tobacco,” Enzi told the panel. But he added that “having the FDA review and approve cigarettes sends mixed and confusing messages to the public.”
Committee Republicans Richard M. Burr of North Carolina and Tom Coburn of Oklahoma said the FDA is not the best agency for the job, given the bill’s focus on advertising and marketing. Coburn said the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) might be better-suited to regulate the industry’s advertising claims, prompting a quick response from one panel member.
“The FTC is clueless” about tobacco, said Jack E. Henningfield, a behavioral biology professor at Johns Hopkins University.
Coburn fired back, “What makes you think the FDA is more or less than clueless?”
Christopher J. Dodd, D-Conn., said that although the FDA might not be perfect, it is the agency best-suited to enforce regulation. “Finding fault with the FDA is a way of stopping any type of progress with respect to regulating what’s in cigarettes,” Dodd said.
After the hearing, Kennedy and aides spent a few minutes with Richard Land, president of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention, an organization of some 44,000 Baptist churches.
Although Land’s conservative organization and Kennedy do not see eye to eye on every issue, the senator signed a coaster for Land, adding a personal note.
The constituency represented by Baptist churches might be able to bend the ear of some lawmakers who might not be natural allies for Kennedy. A Kennedy aide said of Land’s commission, “They’ve been helpful for a couple of years.”
Land’s commission has promoted anti-smoking efforts and encouraged Baptist tobacco farmers to switch to other crops.
Kennedy, D-Mass., chairman of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, wants to give the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) authority over most tobacco advertising, as well as some ability to regulate, or at least disclose, the ingredients of cigarettes. His bill (S 625) would subject to scrutiny industry claims about “light” and “low tar” cigarettes and would limit or eliminate advertising targeted toward children.
But several Republicans on the committee questioned whether the FDA is the best choice to regulate tobacco.
Kennedy’s committee heard testimony Tuesday from tobacco experts, physicians and a religious leader.
“The largest disinformation campaign in the history of the corporate world must end,” Kennedy said at the hearing.
Kennedy’s bill would not allow the FDA to ban tobacco or nicotine.
Panelists for Tuesday’s hearing concurred that it would be unwise to ban tobacco but said the government should find a way to tighten regulation.
Although some panelists supported FDA regulation of tobacco, Alan Blum, director of the University of Alabama’s Center for the Study of Tobacco and Society, said such a move would amount to an endorsement of tobacco products.
Michael B. Enzi of Wyoming, the top Republican on the committee, showed no signs of softening his opposition to Kennedy’s bill. He argues that the measure should give the FDA the power of prohibition — a move that would significantly complicate efforts to enact the legislation.
“I am no friend of big tobacco,” Enzi told the panel. But he added that “having the FDA review and approve cigarettes sends mixed and confusing messages to the public.”
Committee Republicans Richard M. Burr of North Carolina and Tom Coburn of Oklahoma said the FDA is not the best agency for the job, given the bill’s focus on advertising and marketing. Coburn said the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) might be better-suited to regulate the industry’s advertising claims, prompting a quick response from one panel member.
“The FTC is clueless” about tobacco, said Jack E. Henningfield, a behavioral biology professor at Johns Hopkins University.
Coburn fired back, “What makes you think the FDA is more or less than clueless?”
Christopher J. Dodd, D-Conn., said that although the FDA might not be perfect, it is the agency best-suited to enforce regulation. “Finding fault with the FDA is a way of stopping any type of progress with respect to regulating what’s in cigarettes,” Dodd said.
After the hearing, Kennedy and aides spent a few minutes with Richard Land, president of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention, an organization of some 44,000 Baptist churches.
Although Land’s conservative organization and Kennedy do not see eye to eye on every issue, the senator signed a coaster for Land, adding a personal note.
The constituency represented by Baptist churches might be able to bend the ear of some lawmakers who might not be natural allies for Kennedy. A Kennedy aide said of Land’s commission, “They’ve been helpful for a couple of years.”
Land’s commission has promoted anti-smoking efforts and encouraged Baptist tobacco farmers to switch to other crops.
