Sen. Bob Corker voted on Thursday in favor of legislation authorizing the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to oversee the production and sale of tobacco products. The bill, H.R.1256, passed the Senate by a vote of 79 to 17.
Sen. Corker said, “It’s no secret that tobacco products are highly addictive and contribute to heart disease, lung cancer, and other deadly illnesses. This bill ensures these products face the same level of oversight and regulation as food, medicine, and other everyday items we purchase at our local grocery store. It also places an emphasis on preventing children from using tobacco.
Sen. Lamar Alexander voted again the bill. He said, “This bill does the right thing in the wrong way. It regulates tobacco but gives the job to the wrong government agency. The Food and Drug Administration is already so overwhelmed it can only regulate one percent of the food we import from around the world. I voted instead to give the regulatory job and adequate resources to the Department of Health and Human Services.”
The Tennessee Department of Health reports that in 2006, some 9,888 deaths in Tennessee were caused by smoking and that in 2004, smoking cost Tennesseans $7 billion.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that tobacco-related deaths cost the U.S. an average of $167 billion in health care costs and lost productivity annually.