[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 42 (Tuesday, March 10, 2009)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E619]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       INTRODUCTION OF H.R. 1400

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. JOHN M. McHUGH

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, March 10, 2009

  Mr. McHUGH. Madam Speaker, on March 9, 2009, I introduced H.R. 1400, 
a bill designed to further combat and reduce underage smoking. 
Specifically, this measure would make cigarettes and certain other 
tobacco products nonmailable through the United States Postal Service.
  This bill is necessary because the United States Postal Service is 
being used to facilitate the delivery of cigarettes that were purchased 
illegally on the Internet by underage minors. Unfortunately, those 
existing safeguards designed to prevent minors from purchasing 
cigarettes online have proven ineffective. For example, although 80 
percent of cigarette vendor websites allege that transactions with 
minors will not be completed, there is little in place to enforce this 
policy. In fact, one study found that only seven percent of online 
vendors require driver's license information, while more than 50 
percent simply require customers to verify their age by selecting an 
``I am over 18 years old'' option. These and other safeguards clearly 
did not deter the 50,000 minors estimated, based on U.S. Centers for 
Disease Control and Prevention data, to have purchased cigarettes 
online in 2003. As Internet commerce expands, the number of persons 
(including minors) purchasing cigarettes online is expected to increase 
dramatically.
  The problem H.R. 1400 is designed to address is illustrated by the 
disturbing results from Internet ``sting'' operations conducted by over 
15 states in recent years. In New York State, 24 out of 26 websites 
sold cigarettes to minors as young as nine years old. Moreover, in 
2005, a group of Upstate New York teenagers in my Congressional 
District conducted a similar experiment in collaboration with law 
enforcement. Half of their orders were successfully delivered, and, 
unfortunately, 90 percent were delivered via the United States Postal 
Service.
  In addition to helping curb the usage of tobacco products among 
minors, H.R. 1400 would end tax evasions that hurt our States and local 
governments. These revenues are not insignificant. Rather, annual tax 
revenues estimated at $1.4 billion are being lost; in 2005, New York 
State alone lost $400 million.
  Madam Speaker, Congress has the opportunity to combat underage 
tobacco use and tax evasion by enacting H.R. 1400. Accordingly, I ask 
my colleagues to work with me to enact this important measure.

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