Orrin Hatch: “I have a series of questions I want to ask. I did enjoy and appreciate the questions asked by the distinguished Senator…”

“I have a series of questions I want to ask. I did enjoy and appreciate the questions asked by the distinguished Senator from Texas, because he raised a lot of very important points that were brought out in the Judiciary Committee's hearings. Keep in mind, when the Treasury Department testified before the Judiciary Committee, I sent a letter to Secretary Rubin beforehand asking for the economic model they had used to justify their forecast. All they brought was a five-line chart--no model, no backup justification, no real economic analysis. We had three of the top Wall Street analysts come in and provide us with very highly thought-through analysis showing that the price of cigarettes per pack could go up somewhere between $4.68, $4.78 and $5.00 or thereabouts. And that is on the basis of the Treasury's projected $1.10 increase, not the $1.50 figure we are debating today. Now, my friend and colleague, Senator Kennedy, has made a passionate plea here for $1.50. That would mean at a minimum an additional 40 cents more on each pack of cigarettes, although it will probably be higher.”