Senate Bill S.982 - Final Vote Today - "Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act.. "

June 11, 2009 - The U.S. Senate voted 67-30 today to limit debate on the bill, and Democrats say they have enough votes to win final passage. But a final vote is not expected until Thursday, June 11th. Senator Chris Dodd of Connecticut, who is pushing Kennedy's priorities while the senator undergoes treatment, told Bloomberg News.

The House passed a very similar bill earlier this year (H.R.1256) and resolution of the minor differences would send the bill to President Obama, who supports it. The House version, e.g., must add the Merkley-Brown Amendment on Tobacco Candy... Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR): "Tobacco candies (R.J. Reynolds Camel Dissolvables) clearly designed to appeal to children through both packaging and taste. This is not a safe product. This is not safe tobacco. It is a product that, like cigarettes, causes cancer and kills."

A major hurdle to passage was cleared away Tuesday, June 9th when the Senate rejected a competing bill from the two senators from North Carolina, the nation's biggest tobacco producer.

S. 982—The Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act..

Reference: Senate nears passage of bill allowing FDA's tobacco rules, The Boston Globe, 6/11/2009.

Continues to Lead Fight to Protect the People.. - click to enlarge..


Statement of Senator Edward M. Kennedy on the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act on the vote to Invoke Cloture..