Sam Farr: “First of all, I hope that we don't have more of these ambush amendments that we haven't had a chance to really look at.…”

“First of all, I hope that we don't have more of these ambush amendments that we haven't had a chance to really look at. And this one really has serious implications. What it seems that this amendment does is, first of all, reduce the tobacco industry's fees that they have to pay the Federal Government. This is a big help to the tobacco industry. It cuts fees that the private sector has to pay the Federal Government. And what do those fees go into? Into campaigns to reduce tobacco consumption and to treat the issues related to tobacco. That's the way the amendment reads to us. And I'd just like to remind the author that I represent California. California has, time after time, put taxes on the ballot to increase tobacco taxes, and they've passed overwhelmingly. And we use those fees that would come from the industry from the sale of--not even the industry, they come from the user to run very effective anti-tobacco campaigns. We reduced smoking in California almost to zero. I mean, it's incredible. Most cities in California don't allow any smoking in public places. The communities I represent on the coastline don't allow you to even smoke on the beaches. You certainly can't smoke in public buildings and in any other kind of public space, even in public places that are privately owned.…”