Tom Harkin: “It simply says that the laws we have that make it illegal to sell tobacco products to kids should be adequately…”

“It simply says that the laws we have that make it illegal to sell tobacco products to kids should be adequately enforced. To do that, the amendment I have just sent to the desk provides full funding for the ongoing anti teen smoking program at the FDA, which is funded through the Agriculture Appropriations bill. It pays for this with an assessment fee on tobacco companies that equals about $25 per teen smoker. The amendment does nothing more or less than that. It in no way is intended to be a substitute for action on comprehensive tobacco reform. I am hopeful we will still have it. It does not speak for the issue of FDA authority over tobacco products. It does not impact on tobacco company advertising. And it does not impact on tobacco farmers. It simply provides the money necessary to continue an ongoing program, a program that is already in effect, but to do it in a way that is effective. This amendment is virtually identical to the amendment that Senators Chafee, Reed, I, and others, offered last September, which passed this body by a vote of 70 to 28 last September.”