[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 979 Introduced in House (IH)]

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118th CONGRESS
  2d Session
H. RES. 979

Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that public health 
  authorities and tobacco control advocates should encourage American 
  innovation and embrace harm reduction as part of the comprehensive 
               United States approach to tobacco control.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            January 29, 2024

    Mr. Reschenthaler (for himself and Mr. Davis of North Carolina) 
submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee 
  on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committee on Foreign 
Affairs, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in 
   each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the 
                jurisdiction of the committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that public health 
  authorities and tobacco control advocates should encourage American 
  innovation and embrace harm reduction as part of the comprehensive 
               United States approach to tobacco control.

Whereas cigarette smoking remains one of the most preventable forms of 
        noncommunicable disease in the United States;
Whereas, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention--

    (1) approximately 28,300,000 Americans smoke cigarettes on a regular 
basis and more than 16,000,000 Americans live with a smoking-related 
disease;

    (2) approximately 27 of every 100 American Indian/Alaska Native adults, 
approximately 12 of every 100 non-Hispanic African-American adults, 
approximately 8 of every 100 Hispanic adults, and approximately 5 of every 
100 non-Hispanic Asian adults are current cigarette smokers;

    (3) approximately 20 of every 100 adults with a household income less 
than $35,000 a year and approximately 14 of every 100 adults with a 
household income between $35,000 and $74,999.99 are current smokers; and

    (4) approximately 3 in 10 United States military veterans used some 
form of tobacco product during their service, and smoking amongst United 
States veterans is more than double the national average;

Whereas the best health outcome for current smokers is to quit altogether; 
        however the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates less 
        than 10 percent of adult smokers will successfully stop smoking 
        cigarettes in a given year;
Whereas the bipartisan Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act (P.L. 
        111-31), enacted in 2009, provided the Food and Drug Administration 
        (FDA) authority to regulate the tobacco industry and develop regulatory 
        pathways to bring scientifically substantiated less harmful alternatives 
        to the market for adult consumers who will otherwise continue smoking 
        cigarettes;
Whereas the FDA has adopted an unduly narrow interpretation of the ``Appropriate 
        for the Protection of Public Health'' standard set forth in such Act, 
        which contemplated FDA authorizing proven reduced-harm alternatives for 
        adult smokers and using FDA's substantial post-market regulatory 
        controls to protect against future population risks;
Whereas, in 2017, the FDA announced a comprehensive approach to tobacco control 
        based on cessation, prevention, and harm reduction, and recognized a 
        continuum of risk in nicotine-containing products with combustible 
        cigarettes on one end of the spectrum and noncombustible products such 
        as heated tobacco, vapor, and oral nicotine-containing products on other 
        end;
Whereas, as part of the scientific evaluation to assess whether a product is 
        appropriate for the protection or promotion of public health, the FDA 
        assesses various criteria, including the potential health effects, 
        nicotine levels, flavor variants, and potential appeal to and likelihood 
        of use by youth and nonsmokers, and imposes postmarket surveillance 
        requirements;
Whereas the United States approach to tobacco control requires the FDA to 
        evaluate all available data and make decisions based on science with 
        interested parties allowed to engage the agency in an open and 
        transparent manner;
Whereas, since 2009, more than 26,000,000 tobacco product applications have been 
        submitted to the FDA, yet fewer than 50 applications have been 
        authorized;
Whereas there is now a rapidly growing market in flagrantly illegal e-vapor 
        products that lack FDA oversight and are contributing significantly to 
        underage e-vapor use;
Whereas staffing at the FDA's Center for Tobacco Products has more than doubled 
        in the last 10 years and user fees collected by the Center have 
        increased to over $700,000,000 annually;
Whereas a report published in December 2022 by the independent Reagan Udall 
        Foundation found the FDA is struggling as a regulator and should develop 
        ``a more clear and predictable framework'' for tobacco product 
        applications;
Whereas other governments have embraced similar approaches to harm reduction, 
        including Great Britain which provides adult smokers with information 
        about and access to alternative products as part of its strategy to 
        become a smoke-free nation by 2030;
Whereas the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, negotiated and implemented 
        under the auspices of the World Health Organization, includes harm 
        reduction as one of the main pillars of tobacco control; and
Whereas the World Health Organization and public health advocates around the 
        world have yet to adopt harm reduction or embrace innovation and 
        technological advancements as a means of accelerating the decline of 
        cigarette smoking and reducing noncommunicable diseases associated with 
        smoking: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That it is the sense of the House of Representatives 
that--
            (1) the Food and Drug Administration should implement a 
        coherent regulatory process that fully embraces the promising 
        science that smoke causes most tobacco-related death and 
        disease, encourages American innovation in smoke-free 
        alternatives proven to reduce harm, promotes a comprehensive 
        approach to tobacco control that ensures science-based decision 
        making, and prioritizes the authorization of less harmful 
        smoke-free products as alternatives for adults who continue 
        smoking;
            (2) public health authorities, including the Centers for 
        Disease Control and Prevention, should educate adult consumers 
        and health care professionals regarding harm reduction and 
        begin educational campaigns to improve adult consumers' 
        understanding of nicotine and alternative products available; 
        and
            (3) the Secretary of State and the Secretary of Health and 
        Human Services should engage the World Health Organization to 
        promote a comprehensive approach to tobacco control, and 
        recognition of harm reduction as a key pillar of the Framework 
        Convention on Tobacco Control for combating noncommunicable 
        disease associated with cigarette smoking around the world.
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