Senate urged to reject Burr-Hagan
Tobacco legislation called ‘deeply flawed’
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The United Methodist General Board of Church & Society is among endorsers of a letter to U.S. Senators that expresses strong opposition to the “Federal Tobacco Act” (S.579) recently introduced by North Carolina’s senators.
“This legislation is a deeply flawed response to the public health threat posed by tobacco products, which are the leading preventable cause of death in the United States,” declares the letter, which was signed by medical and faith-based advocacy organizations.
Legislation is a deeply flawed response to the public health threat posed by tobacco products.
Among the letter’s endorsers are the American Medical Assn., American Heart Assn., American Cancer Society and the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. United Church of Christ Justice and Witness Ministries also signed the letter.
The bill, sponsored by Sens. Richard Burr (R-NC) and Kay Hagan (D-NC), would allow tobacco companies to avoid effective oversight needed to protect children from tobacco addiction, reduce the more than 400,000 deaths and $96 billion in health-care costs caused by tobacco-related diseases every year, according to the letter.
The Burr-Hagan bill creates “a new and untested bureaucracy with inadequate authority to oversee tobacco products,” the letter asserts. The bill “fails to provide sufficient resources to do the job, gives the tobacco industry undue influence over the regulatory process, and fails to protect consumers from the tobacco industry’s deceptive health claims.”
Real regulation
The letter encourages senators to support “real and effective” regulation of tobacco products as embodied in H.R.1256, the “Family Smoking Prevention & Tobacco Control Act.” That bipartisan legislation was approved April 2 by a 298 to 112 vote in the U.S. House of Representatives.
The letter encourages senators to support ‘real and effective’ regulation of tobacco products.
The House bill is similar to legislation introduced in the 110th Congress by Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.), approved by the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor & Pensions. It had 60 sponsors and co-sponsors. Kennedy recently indicated that he will reintroduce that legislation for the 111th Congress.
The letter states that H.R.1256 places tobacco regulation in the “best-qualified and most-experienced” agency, the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA). The letter says the House bill provides necessary resources through a user fee paid by tobacco companies, protects children from tobacco marketing, and relies on science-based regulations to protect the public health from tobacco products.
Fundamental flaws
The letter cited key provisions that demonstrates how S.579 is “fundamentally flawed.”
Burr-Hagan does not give the FDA meaningful authority to require changes in tobacco products.
Burr-Hagan would actually harm public health because it perpetuates consumers’ misperceptions that they can reduce their risk of disease by switching to so-called “low-tar” cigarettes.
Burr-Hagan does not strengthen warning labels in a meaningful way.
Burr-Hagan bill does not adequately protect consumers from misleading health claims about tobacco products.
Burr-Hagan bill gives the tobacco industry license to create new ways to market to youths.
Burr-Hagan would give undue influence and create gridlock on the important Scientific Advisory Committee by giving the tobacco industry the same number of voting representatives as health professionals and scientists.
”Tobacco products are the most deadly products on the market today, yet they have escaped common-sense public health regulations that apply to other consumer products,” the letter emphasizes. “H.R.1256 would at long last end this special protection for the tobacco industry and protect our children and our nation’s health instead.”
The letter points out that HR1256 is supported by more than 1,000 public health, medical, faith, and other organizations across the nation. It was recently endorsed by former Health and Human Services Secretaries Tommy Thompson and Donna Shalala, former Surgeons General Richard Carmona and David Satcher, former Centers for Disease Control Director Julie Gerberding, and former FDA Commissioner David Kessler.
Contact your Senators
The United Methodist General Board of Church & Society (GBCS) has issued an action alert urging persons to contact their U.S. Senator to support granting FDA regulatory authority over the tobacco industry. You can take action by going to FDA Regulation of Tobacco.
For more on health care-related topics, visit the “Health & Wholeness” page on the GBCS website: Health and Wholeness.
GBCS dedicates a page under Health and Wholeness to keep you informed about advocacy activities focused specifically on tobacco. The page, Tobacco, includes other letters to legislators, action alerts and articles about the campaign to regulate the industry.
Health & Wholeness Action Network
The Rev. Cynthia Abrams, director of GBCS’s Alcohol, Other Addictions and Health Care program, supervises a Health & Wholeness Action Network that provides legislative updates, educational resources and identifies opportunities to act on issues such as access to health care, Medicare, Medicaid, State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), mental health access and parity. She issues “action alerts” periodically through e-mail.
Joining the Health & Wholeness Action Network is free: go to umpower.org or click on My GBCS on the General Board of Church and Society Web site, www.umc-gbcs.org. You can also contact Donna Brandyberry, (202) 488-5641.
Cynthia Abrams can be reached at (202) 488-5636. | 
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