WASHINGTON, April 2 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The following is a statement of Matthew L. Myers, President, Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids:
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The U.S. House of Representatives today put Congress on the brink of truly historic action to reduce tobacco use -- the nation's No. 1 cause of preventable death -- by approving legislation granting the FDA authority over tobacco products. We urge the Senate to quickly pass this legislation and resist all efforts to weaken it. There are few steps Congress can take that would make a bigger difference for America's health than to pass this long-overdue legislation. It will end the special protection the tobacco industry has enjoyed for too long and protect our children and the nation's health instead.
We applaud House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Henry Waxman (D-CA) and Representative Todd Platts (R-PA) for their leadership in introducing this strong legislation and quickly moving it forward.
Today's 298-112 vote underscores the broad, bipartisan support for this legislation and provides strong momentum for enacting it into law this year. It has been endorsed by more than 1,000 public health, faith, medical and other organizations (see list at www.tobaccofreekids.org/reports/fda/organizations.pdf). A poll last year found that 70 percent of American voters support FDA regulation of tobacco products (see details at www.tobaccofreekids.org/fdapoll/). It has been endorsed by scientific authorities including the Institute of Medicine and the President's Cancer Panel.
Tobacco use kills more than 400,000 Americans and costs the nation $96 billion in health care bills each year. Every day, more than 1,000 children become new regular smokers. Yet tobacco products are exempt from the FDA's common-sense regulations that apply to virtually every other product we consume, from food to drugs to cosmetics. This allows tobacco companies to market their deadly and addictive products to children, deceive consumers about the harm their products cause, make changes to their products without disclosing them (such as manipulating nicotine levels in cigarettes), and resist any meaningful change to make their products less harmful.
This legislation would grant the FDA the authority and resources to effectively regulate the manufacturing, marketing and sale of tobacco products. Among other things, it would:
SOURCE Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids Copyright©2009 PR Newswire. All rights reserved |