Tom Harkin: “as the letter from Secretary Shalala makes clear, the full $34 million is needed to carry out the minimum age and photo…”

“as the letter from Secretary Shalala makes clear, the full $34 million is needed to carry out the minimum age and photo ID rules. She states: Without these funds, FDA will not have the credible national enforcement program required to reduce significantly young people's access to tobacco. Again, the pending litigation has not reduced FDA's need for or its ability to utilize the $34 million. So our amendment provides the full funding for FDA to work with the States to carry out the minimum age and photo ID rules. Now, where do we get the money? We offset the full cost of the FDA youth smoking initiative by increasing the tobacco marketing assessment from the current 1 percent of the national price support level to 2.1 percent for the 1998 crop of flue-cured tobacco and for the 1997 crop of burley and other tobacco. The increase will apply to assessments expected to be collected in fiscal year 1998. That is because flue-cured tobacco is marketed in the summer, while burley and others are marketed almost entirely after October 1. The full cost of the increase would be borne by purchasers of tobacco, that is, the tobacco companies. In addition, for the tobacco covered by the amendment, half of the current 1 percent assessment now paid by producers would be shifted to purchasers, thus providing assessment relief to tobacco farmers.”