[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 10 (Thursday, January 25, 1996)]
[Senate]
[Pages S356-S357]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                CURBING YOUTH ACCESS TO TOBACCO PRODUCTS

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, after 2\1/2\ years of inexplicable 
delay, on January 19, 1996, the Department of Health and Human Services 
[HHS] issued final regulations concerning tobacco sales to minors for 
the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration [SAMHSA].
  These SAMHSA regulations implement the Alcohol, Drug and Mental 
Health Block Grants [ADAMHA] Reauthorization Act of 1992, which 
required States to prohibit the sale and distribution of tobacco 
products to minors, take steps to enforce that prohibition and report 
annually to HHS, or lose Federal substance abuse block grants. While 
HHS dallied over the final SAMSHA regulations, the Food and Drug 
Administration--itself an arm of HHS--proposed a highly intrusive new 
set of regulations governing tobacco sales, distribution, labeling, 
advertising, and marketing.
  I support the approach taken by the SAMSHA regulations. As Congress 
specifically required in the ADAMHA Reauthorization Act, the SAMSHA 
regulations give States the maximum degree of flexibility while 
ensuring that States do in fact take strong steps to stop the sale of 
tobacco products to minors. The SAMSHA regulations will accomplish the 
same goal that FDA professes to want--reducing the use of tobacco by 
minors--in a shorter time for less money and with much less Government 
interference.
  The Kentucky General Assembly passed legislation in 1994 to address 
ADAMHA compliance. As an example, the State Department of Agriculture, 
with assistance from local law enforcement officials, must conduct 
random, unannounced inspections. Persons under the age of 18 may be 
enlisted to test compliance, provided that parental consent has been 
given. Kentucky has also established sign requirements, license 
requirements, and vending machine restrictions.
  Mr. President, I represent 60,000 hard-working tobacco farm families 
and thousands of hard-working individuals who are involved in the 
manufacturing and retail of tobacco products. Under the SAMSHA 
regulations, tobacco growers and others involved in the tobacco 
industry can rest assured that they will not be subjected to excessive 
government interference. States where tobacco is grown will be free to 
craft laws that take into account the needs and interests of tobacco 
growers. Tobacco growers will not be treated as the enemy. On the other 
hand, FDA's proposed regulations would treat nicotine as an addictive 
drug and position the FDA to march on every tobacco farm in the United 
States. FDA's proposal is unacceptable.
  Tobacco already is one of the most heavily regulated products in the 
United States. More than a dozen Federal agencies have jurisdiction 
over some aspect of tobacco production, sales, or advertising. In light 
of this fact, Congress authorized SAMSHA not to imposed sweeping 
Federal tobacco regulations, but instead to encourage States to prevent 
youth access to tobacco.
  Mr. President, I strongly believe that minors should not use or 
purchase tobacco products. I also believe the most effective way to 
prevent minors from using or purchasing tobacco products lies in the 
strict enforcement of laws already in effect in each of the 50 

[[Page S357]]
States. A new Federal bureaucracy, as proposed by the President and 
FDA, is not needed. In 1992, Congress made a bipartisan decision that 
State officials, not a Federal agency, were best suited to deal with 
the problem of underage tobacco use. The SAMSHA regulations are a 
constructive, constitutionally appropriate and cost-effective way to 
deal with underage tobacco use. The SAMSHA regulations take the right 
approach. FDA's approach is wrong, excessive, costly, and unnecessary.

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