Source: Seattle Times (WA)
Contact:  http://www.seattletimes.com/
Pubdate: Fri, 19 Jun 1998
Author:  Laurie Kellman, The Associated Press

REPUBLICANS PREDICT SLIMMER TOBACCO BILL WILL PASS

WASHINGTON - A day after tobacco legislation died in the Senate, Republican
leaders predicted that they would pass a smaller measure to curb teen
smoking and drug use this election year and that President Clinton would
sign it.

"What I want is a result that is fair, that will deal with the problem,
that will restrict, limit and fight teenage smoking and, in fact,
discourage smoking as a whole," Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott, R-Miss.,
told reporters yesterday. "That's all."

Democrats said the GOP's tobacco policy would be a token, "a fig-leaf bill"
targeted at protecting the interests of tobacco-industry campaign
contributors, not children.

"This will be revisited," said the bill's Democratic floor manager, Sen.
John Kerry of Massachusetts.

To that end, Senate Democratic leader Tom Daschle of South Dakota twice
yesterday tried to revive Sen. John McCain's tobacco bill by offering it as
amendments to unrelated measures being debated on the Senate floor. The
first amendment failed, 54-44, while the second is likely to be voted on
next week.

Sen. Don Nickles, R-Okla., said he believes that Congress will pass a
tobacco bill before the session ends but that the legislation will work
within the budget. The Republican whip said there is support among his
party members for a measure that would curb both tobacco and drug use among
teenagers.

House GOP leaders yesterday privately discussed a plan to impose limits on
the placement of vending machines to make it harder for teenagers to buy
cigarettes. Also under review was a plan to offer financial incentives to
states that take steps on their own to crack down on youth smoking - and
additional incentives to states that impose limits on attorney fees in
industry lawsuits.

In the House, officials said Republicans were discussing an approach that
would pay for an ad campaign discouraging teen smoking and give the FDA
authority over the manufacture of cigarettes, but not necessarily over
nicotine. They also were seeking to impose restrictions on advertising to
minors.

Republicans said they had come to no decision on how to finance the ad
campaign envisioned. One suggestion, to reduce or eliminate the tax break
that tobacco companies receive for advertising, was ruled out, several
sources said.

The emerging House bill was not expected to seek higher cigarette prices -
a centerpiece of the Senate bill and a key demand of public-health groups
that advocated its passage.

It also wouldn't offer the legal-liability protection the industry has
demanded or expected to touch directly on three dozen pending state
lawsuits.

Those terms contrasted sharply with Congress' first tobacco bill, which was
killed Wednesday by procedural votes in the Senate.

Modeled on the $368 billion settlement reached a year ago between states
and the tobacco industry, McCain's bill would have charged tobacco
companies at least $516 billion over 25 years, in part by raising cigarette
prices $1.10 a pack.

It also would have severely curbed the industry's ability to advertise - a
term experts believe would not survive court challenge without the tobacco
industry's cooperation.

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Checked-by: (Joel W. Johnson)