Orrin Hatch: “I rise to announce that--contrary to press reports that tobacco legislation is dead--in fact, a strong, bipartisan…”

“I rise to announce that--contrary to press reports that tobacco legislation is dead--in fact, a strong, bipartisan effort to enact meaningful tobacco legislation is very much alive and well in the Senate today. Last week's action by the Senate on the Commerce Committee tobacco bill should not be viewed as a failure by this Senate to pass tough tobacco legislation. Nor should it be viewed as a victory by tobacco companies and tobacco lobbyists to kill tobacco legislation and deny the public health benefits from a strong bill. To be fair, there were many criticisms of the Commerce bill. It suffered from a myriad of legal problems, including several unconstitutional provisions. Its costs were very high, perhaps as high as $800 billion. It could have provided enhanced opportunities for black market sales, with accompanying crime and violence. And, a bad bill was made worse on the floor with adoption of several, additional competing spending priorities which--however well-intentioned--diverted from the primary focus of the bill. In my opinion, the four weeks that the Senate spent on the tobacco bill were a critical and useful exercise in educating ourselves--and the American public--on the numerous complexities of the tobacco issue.”