By Neil H. Simon, Media General News Service
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WASHINGTON--A House panel passed a sweeping tobacco regulation bill last night that has divided the country's biggest tobacco companies over the potential for new government control.
After blocking repeated Republican attempts to delay the legislation, the Democrat-controlled Health Subcommittee of the House Energy and Commerce Committee voted 18-9 to pass a bill to give the Food and Drug Administration regulatory control over tobacco products.
"The fact the vote was a two-to-one margin demonstrates the momentum and the broad support for the legislation," said Matthew Myers, president of the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids. The bill will have "a hard fight going forward," Myers said, acknowledging the contentious subcommittee meeting.
Reynolds American has argued against the bill, saying the FDA should not have the power to oversee their products and that limitations on the cigarette-maker's marketing would unduly favor their main competitor in the tobacco industry, Philip Morris.
"This effectively kills our ability to communicate the reflective health risks and treats all products as equally harmful," said Tommy Payne, executive vice president of public affairs at Reynolds American. "They want to shut down the communication, and when you do that you shut off competition."
Steve Parrish, a senior vice president at Altria Group Inc., the parent company of Philip Morris USA, left the House office building after the panel passed the bill, only stopping to call the vote an "important step forward," as he passed health advocates - allies on this bill - who were celebrating a legislative victory.
Throughout the two days of debate, Republicans largely sided with Reynolds American, using similar arguments as the tobacco giant during the subcommittee's discussions.
"It should not be left to Congress to pick winners and losers," said Republican Rep. John Shadegg of Arizona.
Philip Morris executives have said the bill does not favor their company because they and their customers would pay the lion's share of the fees imposed to fund the new FDA powers, as Philip Morris is the cigarette-industry leader.
The fees would start at about a penny per cigarette pack this year and go to at least 5 cents per pack by 2018, generating between $85 million and $712 million a year, according to committee staff.
Reynolds American also objects to the bill because it would ban them from marketing smokeless tobacco as safer than smoking.
Aside from quitting smoking, health experts have said the most effective way to reduce the harmful effects of tobacco is to turn smokers into smokeless-tobacco users, Payne said.
A similar bill, sponsored by Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., awaits a vote in the Senate. Aides said there is no timeline for the bill to be heard on the Senate floor or before the full House Energy and Commerce Committee, though Democratic leaders in both chambers have called the issue a high priority.
Republican Rep. Steve Buyer of Indiana sought a change to the bill to delay when the new regulations would take affect by at least a year. He sponsored a host of amendments to delay enactment anywhere from one to 10 years, but all failed on party line votes.
"We should make sure the core mission of FDA is protected before we give the FDA a new mission," Buyer said, citing the agency's need to secure food supplies as a higher priority than policing the tobacco industry.
Chairman Frank Pallone, D-N.J., and Democrats countered that the FDA's new tobacco regulation powers would be paid for by smokers and other tobacco users, and therefore would not impose an undo burden on the agency.
"The FDA has a lot of missions," Pallone said. "But delaying enactment of legislation doesn't solve that problem."
After blocking repeated Republican attempts to delay the legislation, the Democrat-controlled Health Subcommittee of the House Energy and Commerce Committee voted 18-9 to pass a bill to give the Food and Drug Administration regulatory control over tobacco products.
"The fact the vote was a two-to-one margin demonstrates the momentum and the broad support for the legislation," said Matthew Myers, president of the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids. The bill will have "a hard fight going forward," Myers said, acknowledging the contentious subcommittee meeting.
Reynolds American has argued against the bill, saying the FDA should not have the power to oversee their products and that limitations on the cigarette-maker's marketing would unduly favor their main competitor in the tobacco industry, Philip Morris.
"This effectively kills our ability to communicate the reflective health risks and treats all products as equally harmful," said Tommy Payne, executive vice president of public affairs at Reynolds American. "They want to shut down the communication, and when you do that you shut off competition."
Steve Parrish, a senior vice president at Altria Group Inc., the parent company of Philip Morris USA, left the House office building after the panel passed the bill, only stopping to call the vote an "important step forward," as he passed health advocates - allies on this bill - who were celebrating a legislative victory.
Throughout the two days of debate, Republicans largely sided with Reynolds American, using similar arguments as the tobacco giant during the subcommittee's discussions.
"It should not be left to Congress to pick winners and losers," said Republican Rep. John Shadegg of Arizona.
Philip Morris executives have said the bill does not favor their company because they and their customers would pay the lion's share of the fees imposed to fund the new FDA powers, as Philip Morris is the cigarette-industry leader.
The fees would start at about a penny per cigarette pack this year and go to at least 5 cents per pack by 2018, generating between $85 million and $712 million a year, according to committee staff.
Reynolds American also objects to the bill because it would ban them from marketing smokeless tobacco as safer than smoking.
Aside from quitting smoking, health experts have said the most effective way to reduce the harmful effects of tobacco is to turn smokers into smokeless-tobacco users, Payne said.
A similar bill, sponsored by Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., awaits a vote in the Senate. Aides said there is no timeline for the bill to be heard on the Senate floor or before the full House Energy and Commerce Committee, though Democratic leaders in both chambers have called the issue a high priority.
Republican Rep. Steve Buyer of Indiana sought a change to the bill to delay when the new regulations would take affect by at least a year. He sponsored a host of amendments to delay enactment anywhere from one to 10 years, but all failed on party line votes.
"We should make sure the core mission of FDA is protected before we give the FDA a new mission," Buyer said, citing the agency's need to secure food supplies as a higher priority than policing the tobacco industry.
Chairman Frank Pallone, D-N.J., and Democrats countered that the FDA's new tobacco regulation powers would be paid for by smokers and other tobacco users, and therefore would not impose an undo burden on the agency.
"The FDA has a lot of missions," Pallone said. "But delaying enactment of legislation doesn't solve that problem."