Every day, 2,000 children become addicted to cigarettes. Every day, 1,200 Americans also die from tobacco use. And, any day now, President George W. Bush is expected to sign a mammoth $137 billion corporate tax bill approved by Congress last week that includes a $10 billion buyout for tobacco farmers but does nothing to give the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) authority to regulate tobacco. The president has collected $253,000 for his two presidential races from tobacco interests. Overall, the tobacco industry has contributed $53.2 million in federal campaign contributions since 1989, 75% to the GOP.
That the FDA, which has broad powers over the marketing of food and drugs, should have authority over tobacco makes common sense: after all, tobacco is addictive; it causes cancer and other life threatening illnesses; tobacco products are often filled with additives like formaldehyde, arsenic, and ammonia, which are not disclosed to consumers; and the familiar warnings on cigarette packages are far weaker than they should be. But year after year, the tobacco industry has managed to block attempts in Congress to give the health and safety agency this crucial authority.
This time was supposed to be different. Farmers had long sought a buyout of their Depression-era quota program because competition from foreign growers puts them at a disadvantage in the world market. But efforts to secure a bailout had gone nowhere in several Congresses. Linking the bailout to legislation to give FDA authority over tobacco was increasingly seen as a practical way to achieve passage.
Even the tobacco giant Altria Group, formerly known as Philip Morris, a formidable campaign contributor, had joined the bandwagon, urging that the bailout be linked to FDA authority. Skeptical observers have noted that the company, which supplies about half of the cigarettes sold in the country, was bargaining that FDA regulation would help it keep market dominance, making it tougher for R.J. Reynolds and other smaller tobacco companies to compete.
In July, the Senate approved the corporate tax bill, including an amendment to give the FDA authority to regulate tobacco. But the House, in its version of the bill, didn't follow suit. And when the committee of House and Senate members met to reconcile the two versions of the bill, they dropped the FDA provision.
Rep. Richard Burr (R-NC), who is running in a tight Senate race in North Carolina against Democrat Erskine Bowles, was a member of this committee and one of the key members who worked to deep-six the FDA provision. Indeed, he voted not once, but twice, against amendments that would have restored the FDA authority provisions in exchange for another $2 billion for tobacco farmers. Burr has collected $133,100 from the tobacco industry for his 2004 race--interestingly, none of it from the Altria Group. Over the course of his ten-year congressional career he's collected nearly $282,000 for his campaigns from tobacco companies, making him the top recipient in the entire House. Rep. Bill Thomas (R-CA) also played a crucial role in dropping the FDA provisions. He has received $60,550 in campaign contributions since 1989 from tobacco interests.
Of course the tobacco fiasco is just one story among many in the 633-page tax bill, whose original inspiration was the replacement of a $5 billion tax break for U.S. importers ruled illegal by the World Trade Organization. The legislation is chock full of goodies for a long list of corporate interests, from Home Depot ($2.5 million contributed to federal campaigns since 1999) to NASCAR ($84,500 since 1999) to General Electric ($5.7 million since 1999) and beyond. But a realistic opportunity to regulate tobacco may not come again for a long time--during which many more Americans will become addicted, leading to billions in public health costs, and many more unnecessary cancers and deaths.
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