US Senate Casts Historic Vote to Regulate Tobacco Products

Today the US Senate delivered a truly historic victory for America's health by approving legislation to grant the US Food and Drug Administration meaningful regulatory authority over tobacco products. The 79-17 vote underscores the bipartisan consensus that the time has finally arrived to end the special protection that the tobacco industry has enjoyed for too long and at great cost to the nation's health.

The House passed similar legislation by a margin of 298-112 in April and Congress is expected to quickly send a final bill to President Obama, who said he will sign the bill into law. This legislation represents the strongest action Congress has ever taken to reduce tobacco use, the leading preventable cause of death in the United States.

The ACCP applauds Senator Edward Kennedy (D-MA), the bill sponsor, for his leadership in championing this legislation. The ACCP also applauds the many senators who have played a leadership role, including Senator Christopher Dodd (D-CT), Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV), Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL), and Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA).

This has been a truly bipartisan effort. Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) has been a leader on this issue for several years and the bill received critical support at every stage of the Senate debate from Senators Susan Collins (R-ME), Charles Grassley (R-IA), Richard Lugar (R-IN), and Olympia Snowe (R-ME).

The ACCP worked closely with organizations such as the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids to achieve this historic vote. We especially thank our members who traveled to Washington, DC to meet with and/or sent hundreds of e-mails to their elected officials to urge them to support this priority legislation for chest medicine.