US Senate Panel Approves FDA Tobacco-Regulation Measure
May 20 2009 - 8:04PM
Dow Jones News
A bill giving the Food and Drug Administration power to regulate
tobacco products won approval from a key U.S. Senate panel
Wednesday, clearing the way for a full Senate vote.
The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee
approved the bill by a 15-8 vote. According to Sen. Christopher
Dodd, D-Conn., who shepherded the bill through the committee, the
Senate could take up the legislation as soon as the first week of
June.
The bill, introduced by Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., would give
the FDA limited authority to monitor smoking products. It would
impose strict controls on advertising that restrict ads to black
and white and stop the use of terms "mild" and "low tar." A similar
bill passed the House last month.
Dodd expressed confidence that supporters of the bill could
overcome a 60-vote threshold to avoid a filibuster in the
Senate.
"I think we'll be in fairly good shape," Dodd said.
An amendment introduced Wednesday by Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C.,
would have replaced the bill with his own legislation. Burr's
amendment was defeated by a 13-9 vote.
Tobacco producers have a large presence in North Carolina, the
home state of Burr and Democratic committee member Sen. Kay Hagen,
who said Tuesday that 65,000 jobs would be affected by the
legislation.
Reynolds American Inc. (RAI) and Lorillard Inc. (LO), two
leading tobacco companies, are based in North Carolina.
Burr's alternative measure would have created a new agency
within the Health and Human Services Department to regulate
tobacco. Many Senate Republicans objected to giving the FDA power
to regulate tobacco, saying that the agency is already hard-pressed
to perform its drug-safety mission.
-By Patrick Yoest, Dow Jones Newswires; 202-862-3554;
patrick.yoest@dowjones.com --0-