Jump to full article: Congressional Quarterly (CQ), 2008-04-02
Author: Alex Wayne, CQ Staff
Intro: An increasingly bipartisan bill that would require the Food and Drug Administration to regulate tobacco products advanced from a House panel on Wednesday, setting up its passage by the full House.
The Energy and Commerce Committee approved, 38-12, the bill (HR 1108). A House leadership aide said timing for floor debate is uncertain.
. . .
The committee rejected nine amendments offered by Republicans, including one by Burgess that would have allowed the FDA to ban tobacco outright. Rogers and Steve Buyer , R-Ind., offered five amendments that would have delayed implementation of the bill for up to 10 years after its enactment, in order to allow the FDA time to improve its regulation of food, drugs, medical devices and overseas factories. . . .
Dingell’s manager’s amendment made a host of changes aimed at pacifying both industry groups and Republicans.
Convenience stores won provisions requiring the regulation of tobacco sales beyond over-the-counter transactions — putting Internet and mail-order retailers on the same footing as them.
Other provisions would require the government to consider whether retailers had programs in place to prevent sales of tobacco products to minors, and whether they had been subject to state fines, before prohibiting stores from selling tobacco products or issuing fines in response to violations.
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