Frank Lautenberg: “I simply do not believe that we should provide special legal protection to the tobacco industry. This isn't a vote about…”

“I simply do not believe that we should provide special legal protection to the tobacco industry. This isn't a vote about holding together a coalition, as is often described, or some other purpose other than determination as to how this country conducts itself vis-a-vis its tobacco policy. This is going to be a straight vote, up or down, about providing this industry with unprecedented legal protections. Now, I described it before as kind of a cornerstone issue, because if these special protections that are being talked about in this bill, eliminating immunity for this industry that certainly doesn't deserve immunities in my eyes, tobacco companies, if the bill stands unmodified, unamended, tobacco companies will get special legal protection for having such things as arsenic in its products. But another industry that might use arsenic in its products would not enjoy such protection.”