[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 82 (Wednesday, June 3, 2009)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5985-S5986]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                           TOBACCO REGULATION

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I wish to say a few words about the FDA 
legislation we have been debating on the floor this week. First, I 
thank Senator Enzi for his hard work in managing this bill. He always 
does a great job. I also wish to acknowledge Senator Burr's thoughtful 
leadership on this legislation. This is a complicated set of issues. No 
one--I repeat, no one--knows the intricacies better than the Senator 
from North Carolina, Mr. Burr. He has been a good friend and ally of 
producers and growers dating back to his days in the House, and he has 
offered a thoughtful alternative to this very flawed legislation which 
we have before us.
  A few years ago, I led the effort in Congress to enact a tobacco 
buyout which ended the Federal Government's support of tobacco 
production. Although the number of tobacco farms in

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Kentucky has decreased as a result of that legislation, thousands of 
Kentucky farm families and communities still depend on the income from 
tobacco production. I have concerns about the effect this legislation 
might have on them.
  Still, no one in this Chamber would deny that tobacco is hazardous to 
the health of those who use it. Everyone knows that. If the purpose of 
this bill is to reduce the harm it could cause the people who consume 
it, then forcing the Food and Drug Administration to do the regulating 
would be the wrong route to take.
  Former FDA Administrator Dr. Andrew von Eschenbach has predicted that 
forcing the FDA to regulate tobacco would undermine the agency's core 
mission of protecting the public health and ensuring that foods, 
medicines, and other products don't pose a risk to American consumers. 
When the FDA approves a product, Americans expect the product to be 
safe, but as we all know, there is no such thing as a safe cigarette. 
It doesn't exist. Forcing the FDA to regulate cigarettes will not make 
them safer for the American people.
  This legislation is flawed for other reasons as well. As Senators 
Burr, Enzi, and others have repeatedly pointed out, the FDA is already 
overworked in carrying out its core mission of protecting the public 
health. When it comes to contaminated peanut butter, tainted 
toothpaste, or unsafe drugs coming into the United States, Americans 
expect that all of FDA's resources are being used to protect them. Yet 
instead of freeing additional resources for the FDA to perform this 
important function, this legislation could divert the agency's limited 
resources toward an impossible task: Vouching for the safety of a 
product that cannot be made safe. The American people don't want the 
FDA's resources diverted on a fool's errand.
  It is hard to understand what the supporters of this bill are trying 
to accomplish. If the goal is to reduce smoking, then why isn't there a 
single dime--not one dime--in this bill directed at smoking cessation 
programs? If there is no such thing as a safe cigarette, the best way 
to help smokers is to help them kick the habit. This bill doesn't do 
that. If the goal of this legislation is to launch a public campaign to 
reduce smoking and promote better health, then why is there no focus on 
Federal programs that are already in place to achieve this goal?
  This legislation is the wrong way to regulate tobacco, and that is 
why Senator Burr will offer a thoughtful way to accomplish the goal. 
Senator Burr's proposal would create a new agency whose sole 
responsibility is to regulate tobacco. This would address the problem 
without undermining FDA's mission or straining its resources.
  Forcing the FDA to regulate and approve the use of tobacco would be a 
distortion of the agency's mission and a tremendous misuse of its 
overstretched resources. We should be focused on giving FDA the 
resources it needs to protect the public health, not burdening it with 
an impossible assignment.

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