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-