Dianne Feinstein: “I am very concerned by the speed with which this bill has come to the floor. It has really foreclosed any real financial…”

“I am very concerned by the speed with which this bill has come to the floor. It has really foreclosed any real financial analysis--no joint tax figures that are adequate, no CRS analysis, no CBO study. For me, who represents California, there is a certain irony in passing a bill under these conditions. That irony is what we do that we believe is right for people may turn out to be very harmful for those very people. And I want to say what I mean by this. I want us to pass a good bill. What is a good bill? It is one that deters smoking; it doesn't create a huge black market; it is constitutional; it would give the FDA full authority to regulate the contents of nicotine; it would prohibit all advertising, which to me is very important, not the kind of crimped regulations, but a prohibition on all advertising; and it would have some strong antismuggling provisions, both domestic and international. We have heard Senators state the facts. Forty million Americans smoke today. Most of them are addicted. I don't think we have heard the California facts. Earlier, I was listening to the distinguished Senator from Nebraska say he was speaking on behalf of 1.6 million Nebraskans. My goodness, in California alone, three times the population of the State of Nebraska smokes.”