House Health Subcommittee Acts to Protect Kids and Save Lives by Approving Bill to...

House Health Subcommittee Acts to Protect Kids and Save Lives by Approving
Bill to Regulate Tobacco Products
Statement of William V. Corr Executive Director, Campaign for Tobacco-Free
Kids

WASHINGTON, March 11 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The U.S. House Energy and
Commerce Subcommittee on Health today acted to protect our children and the
nation's health by approving legislation granting the U.S. Food and Drug
Administration (FDA) authority to regulate tobacco products. This is a very
strong bill that provides the FDA with ample resources and effective authority
to bring about fundamental change that will promote public health.
Today's subcommittee vote moves Congress a critical step closer to
enacting truly historic legislation that can protect our children from tobacco
addiction and save countless lives. There are few actions Congress can take
that would make a bigger difference for our nation's health. Energy and
Commerce Committee Chairman John Dingell, Health Subcommittee Chairman Frank
Pallone and U.S. Reps. Henry Waxman and Tom Davis, the bill's sponsors, have
been true champions of public health in moving this legislation forward.
Companion Senate legislation was approved by the Senate Health,
Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee on August 1. We urge both the
Senate and the House to quickly enact this long-overdue legislation into law
and to reject all efforts to weaken it. It is clear from the strong support
in both political parties and both chambers of Congress that Congress has the
votes to pass this bipartisan legislation now. A Senate majority of 56
senators are sponsoring this legislation, as are 217 members of the House.
This legislation is supported by more than 600 public health, faith and
other organizations across the country, including every major national public
health organization (see list at
www.tobaccofreekids.org/reports/fda/organizations.pdf). According to a
national poll conducted last year, 70 percent of voters support Congress
passing this legislation, with support across political lines, geographic
regions and even by a majority of smokers (detailed poll results:
tobaccofreekids.org/fdapoll/). In 2007, both the Institute of Medicine
of the National Academies of Sciences and the President's Cancer Panel issued
landmark reports endorsing FDA regulation of tobacco products.
The need for this legislation couldn't be clearer. Tobacco use is the
nation's leading preventable cause of death, killing more than 400,000 people
and costing nearly $100 billion in health care bills each year. Every day,
another 1,200 Americans die from tobacco use and more than 1,000 children
become new regular smokers.
Despite the death and disease they cause, tobacco products are virtually
unregulated to protect public health. Tobacco companies take advantage of
this lack of regulation to design and market products that entice children,
create and sustain addiction to nicotine, and discourage current smokers from
quitting, as demonstrated by a report released last month by a coalition of
public health organizations (report: www.tobaccofreekids.org/productsreport).
The report reveals how tobacco manufacturers have responded to declines in
smoking by introducing a new generation of deadly and addictive products,
including candy and fruit-flavored products that appeal to kids and products
that try to deter smokers from quitting by making unproven and misleading
claims that they are less harmful than traditional cigarettes. The
legislation approved today would grant the FDA authority to:

-- Restrict tobacco advertising and promotions, especially to
children.
-- Ban candy-flavored cigarettes.
-- Require tobacco companies to disclose the contents of tobacco
products, changes to their products and research about the health
effects of their products.
-- Require changes in tobacco products, such as the removal or
reduction of harmful ingredients.
-- Prohibit health claims about so-called "reduced risk" products that
are not scientifically proven or that would discourage current
tobacco users from quitting or encourage new users to start.
-- Require larger, more effective health warnings on tobacco products.
-- Prohibit misleading terms such as "low-tar," "light" and "mild."

The FDA is the right agency to regulate tobacco products because it is the
only agency with the combination of regulatory experience, scientific
expertise and public health mandate to do the job right. It is also important
to note that the legislation would require tobacco companies to pay user fees
that would amply fund the FDA's new tobacco-related responsibilities and
ensure they do not impede or take resources from the FDA's other important
work. The legislation also prohibits tobacco manufacturers from claiming that
any tobacco product has been approved by the FDA.
By enacting this legislation into law this year, Congress can finally end
the special protection the tobacco industry has enjoyed for far too long and
instead protect our children and the nation's health.
SOURCE Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids

Joel Spivak; or Nicole Dueffert, +1-202-296-5469, both of Campaign for
Tobacco-Free Kids