4/23/98 FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT THE NATIONAL TOBACCO POLICY AND YOUTH SMOKING REDUCTION ACT   1. What is the bill designed to achieve?
The bill is designed to stop children from taking up smoking. Every day, 3,000 kids begin smoking. One thousand of them will die early from smoking-related diseases. The Centers for Disease Control reports that tobacco use among American youths is on the rise.

Nationally, smoking-related illnesses kill over 400,000 people a year, and cost taxpayers over $45 billion annually in medical costs.

Experts indicate only a comprehensive approach including a ban on advertising appeals to children, hiking the price of cigarettes, and providing FDA authority to oversee the industry will stop what public health officials call a "pediatric epidemic."

The bill passed by the Senate Commerce Committee by an overwhelming majority, 19-1, is intended to achieve these goals, while protecting retailers and farmers.

2. How can I get a copy of the bill as reported by the Senate Commerce Committee?
The bill will be available on the Library of Congress's THOMAS Server after being introduced on the Senate Floor.

3. When is the full Senate expected to consider the bill?
Tobacco legislation is expected to be considered by the full Senate by June 1, 1998.   The goal is to have a bill approved by both the House of Representatives and the Senate, which can be sent to the President and signed into law before the end of 1998.
 
4. With Senate action around the bend, who would be the best person I can voice my opinion to about this measure?
Interested citizens should contact their Senators and Representatives to share their views on tobacco legislation or any other measure before Congress.
 
5. What is the House of Representatives going to do about tobacco legislation?
The leadership of the House of Representatives agrees that Congress must move forward on the issue of kids smoking this year, but have not said officially how and under what time line tobacco legislation will be considered.
 
6. The bill appears to be unconstitutional, in violation of the 1st and 14th Amendments.
Last year the tobacco industry said they would sign protocols agreeing not to engage in certain forms of advertising as part of a global tobacco settlement, particularly with respect to children. Legal experts agree that the industry has every right under the Constitution to curtail its own activities, including commercial speech.

If the industry does not agree, Congress constitutionally can take action, though not as broad as last year's agreement, to curtail advertising aimed at children.
 
7. The price per pack of cigarettes will increase. Isn't the price increase a tax? Who will have to pay the increase?
Consumers of tobacco products will pay for increases in the price per pack of cigarettes. Whether it is called a settlement payment, a franchise fee or a tax, the reality is the industry and consumers will pay more. That is part of the cost of stopping kids from smoking and for reimbursing the tens of billions of taxpayers' dollars expended to treat victims of smoking-related diseases.
 
8. Why did Republicans vote for this measure?
Republicans and Democrats alike voted for this measure because stopping kids from smoking is a national, not a partisan, imperative. Documents released in Court and to Congress indicate that the industry has long known the harmful and addictive nature of tobacco, and yet actively worked to hook kids early--even though doing so would kill one-third of them.
 
9. Isn't this a get-rich scheme for the politicians and lawyers?
No, the bill is a comprehensive plan developed in a bi-partisan fashion with the help with public health experts, including Dr. C. Everett Koop and Dr. David Kessler, and the Administration to solve a serious national problem. If we do nothing, kids will continue to get hooked in greater numbers, and the yearly death toll and health care costs will continue to skyrocket.

10. If enacted into law, how will the following be affected?

A. Tobacco industry? According, to the Department of Treasury, the price increases requested by public health and the President, and included in the Commerce Committee bill, will not bankrupt any company. Volumes of tobacco consumption will drop with decreases in underage usage, but cigarettes will remain legal and smoking a choice to be made by adults.

B. Tobacco farmers?  The bill contains legislation drafted by tobacco state Senators to provide comprehensive assistance to farmers and rural communities. Congress is committed to ensuring that innocent, hardworking American farmers and tobacco dependent rural communities will receive the support and assistance they need.

C. Vending machine owners/operators?  The Committee believes the tobacco vending machine companies and employees should be compensated if their industry is adversely affacted by a tobacco settlement. The tobacco bill passed by the Commerce Committee would create a non-profit corporation that includes tobacco vending machine industry representatives, to provide payments to vending machine companies. The amount of compensation provided to individual vending companies would be determined by this non-profit Board. The vending machine industry strongly supported this proposal and urged the Committee to include the provision in the bill.

D. Indian tribes?  The bill ensures that tobacco taxes will be collected on Indian lands so that disparate pricing of tobacco products does not create a youth access problem. This will be accomplished in a manner that protects tribal sovereignty and the federal trust relationship.

E. Veterans? The bill includes an amendment by Senator Rockefeller granting the Department of Veterans Affairs the right to sue on behalf of veterans for tobacco-related compensation.

How revenues derived from the settlement will be divided, including for veterans health care, is an issue that will be dealt with by the full Senate.

11. Aren't the tobacco companies being treated unfairly?
No. But, unfortunately, the tobacco companies have treated the nation unfairly by targeting kids in their marketing. As a result, we have a serious public health problem that must be answered with tough legislation.
 
12. If the tobacco industry goes bankrupt, won't it have an adverse effect on the U.S. economy?
The goal of this legislation is not to put any company out of business. The Department of Treasury says the bill will not have that effect. If bankruptcy is a real threat, rather than walk away from the table, the industry should make their case to the Administration.
 

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