I 

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3047

To prevent the sale of tobacco products to minors by means of electronic 

or mail-order sales, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

SEPTEMBER 9, 2003

Mr. MEEHAN introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Energy and Commerce 

A BILL

To prevent the sale of tobacco products to minors by means 

of electronic or mail-order sales, and for other purposes.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Tobacco Free Internet 

5 for Kids Act of 2003’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act—

8 (1) The term ‘‘attorney general’’, with respect 

9 to a State, means the attorney general or other chief 
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1 law enforcement officer of the State, or the designee 

2 of that officer. 

3 (2) The term ‘‘consumer’’ means an individual 

4 who purchases or arranges or attempts to purchase 

5 a tobacco product either for the consumer or on be6 half of some other person. 

7 (3) The term ‘‘delivery sale’’ means any sale of 

8 tobacco products for personal consumption in or af9 fecting interstate commerce to a consumer if—

10 (A) the consumer submits the order for 

11 such sale by means of a telephone or other 

12 method of voice transmission, the mails, or the 

13 Internet or other online service, or the seller is 

14 otherwise not in the physical presence of the 

15 buyer when the request for purchase or order is 

16 made; or 

17 (B) the tobacco product is not delivered di18 rectly to a consumer by the seller at the time 

19 and place of purchase; or 

20 (C) the tobacco product is delivered by use 

21 of a common carrier, private delivery service, or 

22 the mails, or the seller is not in the physical 

23 presence of the buyer when the buyer obtains 

24 personal possession of the delivered cigarettes 

25 or smokeless tobacco; and 
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1 (D) notwithstanding the foregoing, any de2 livery of tobacco products to a home or residen3 tial address by a person in the business of man4 ufacturing, distributing, or selling tobacco prod5 ucts, whether any fee is charged for the tobacco 

6 products or not, shall be considered a delivery 

7 sale. 

8 (4) The term ‘‘delivery seller’’ means any per9 son making a delivery sale. 

10 (5) The term ‘‘interstate commerce’’ means 

11 commerce between a State and any place outside the 

12 State, commerce between a State and any Indian 

13 lands in the State, or commerce between points in 

14 the same State but though any place outside the 

15 State or through any Indian lands. 

16 (6) The term ‘‘minor’’ means an individual who 

17 has not attained the age of 18 years or, if older, the 

18 minimum age for the purchase of a tobacco product 

19 under applicable Federal, State, local, or Indian 

20 tribal law. 

21 (7) The term ‘‘person’’ means any corporation, 

22 company, partnership, joint stock companies, foun23 dation, association, organization, individual, State or 

24 local government, Indian Tribal government, govern25 mental organization, or any group thereof. 
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1 (8) The term ‘‘State’’ includes the District of 

2 Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and 

3 any other commonwealth, territory, or possession of 

4 the United States. 

5 (9) The term ‘‘tobacco product’’ has the mean6 ing given that term in section 5702(c) of the Inter7 nal Revenue Code of 1986, and also includes any 

8 other product that contains tobacco and is meant for 

9 human consumption. 

10 SEC. 3. DELIVERY SALE REQUIREMENTS. 

11 (a) NO SALES TO MINORS.—No delivery seller shall 

12 sell or deliver a tobacco product to a minor or cause any 

13 tobacco product to be sold or delivered to a minor. 

14 (b) NO UNREQUESTED DELIVERIES OF TOBACCO

15 PRODUCTS.—No person in the business of manufacturing, 

16 distributing, or selling tobacco products shall deliver any 

17 tobacco products to any home or residence or to any con18 sumer for personal consumption, unless the person receiv19 ing the tobacco products has specifically requested the de20 livery of the tobacco products and paid for them. 

21 (c) STATE REGISTRATION.—A delivery seller shall 

22 not make any delivery sale or related delivery to a con23 sumer physically located in a State unless the delivery sell24 er has already registered with that State as a delivery sell25 er of tobacco products. Registration with the State pursu-
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1 ant to section 2 of the Act of October 19, 1949, commonly 

2 referred to as the ‘‘Jenkins Act’’ (15 U.S.C. 376) shall 

3 satisfy the registration requirement of this subsection. 

4 (d) VERIFICATION OF CONSUMER AGE, IDENTITY, 

5 AND ADDRESS AT PURCHASE.—No person shall accept a 

6 delivery sale order from a person or make a delivery sale 

7 or initiate any related tobacco product delivery to any per8 son without first verifying the consumer’s age, identity, 

9 and residential address by one of the following means—

10 (1) obtaining from the consumer the con11 sumer’s name, address, birth date and residential 

12 address and verifying that information through the 

13 use of a commercially available database or aggre14 gate of databases consisting of age and identity in15 formation from government-issued identification sup16 plemented by age and identity information from 

17 other government or validated commercial sources 

18 that is regularly used by government and businesses 

19 for the purpose of identity verification and authen20 tication. But no database or databases being used 

21 for such age and identity verification shall be in the 

22 possession or under the control of the delivery seller 

23 or be subject to any changes or supplementation by 

24 the delivery seller; and 
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1 (2) obtaining a statement signed by the con2 sumer (which may be a statement provided or ob3 tained and signed electronically) providing certifi4 cation from the consumer that—

5 (A) all of the information provided by the 

6 consumer, including the consumer’s name, ad7 dress, and birth date, are correct; 

8 (B) the consumer understands that forging 

9 another person’s signature is illegal; and 

10 (C) the consumer understands that tobacco 

11 product sales to persons under the applicable 

12 legal minimum age (which must be specified, 

13 numerically, in the statement) are illegal and 

14 that tobacco product purchases by a person 

15 under the legal minimum age or by any person 

16 for the subsequent delivery or sale to persons 

17 under the legal minimum age may subject the 

18 person to monetary fines or imprisonment, or 

19 both, under applicable state law; or 

20 (3) using any other age and identity verification 

21 procedure established by the United States Attorney 

22 General that employs new technologies to provide 

23 even more stringent and accurate identity and age 

24 verification than the procedure in subsection (1). 
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1 (e) CONFIDENTIALITY OF CONSUMER INFORMA2 TION.—A delivery seller shall not use any of the age and 

3 identity information they obtain from a prospective or ac4 tual consumer, including any information that could be 

5 used to contact the consumer, for any other purposes 

6 other than to complete the delivery sale or to comply with 

7 this Act or other laws unless the consumer affirmatively 

8 provides authorization for such specified other use and the 

9 delivery seller regularly provides the consumer with clear 

10 and conspicuous opportunities to revoke that authoriza11 tion. This subsection shall not be construed to limit, re12 strict, or reduce any other laws protecting the disclosure 

13 or unauthorized use of personal or consumer information. 

14 (f) PAYMENT METHODS.—A delivery seller shall ac15 cept payment from a consumer only by debit card, charge 

16 card, or credit card issued to the consumer identified 

17 under subsection (d) with the same residential address, 

18 and the delivery seller shall ensure that any related re19 ceipt, invoice, or summary of a payment provided by a 

20 debit card, credit card, or charge card company to the con21 sumer clearly indicates (by including the use of the word 

22 ‘‘tobacco’’ or ‘‘cigarette’’, and by other means) that the 

23 delivery seller is a seller of tobacco products or that the 

24 transaction is a sale of a tobacco product. 
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1 (g) VERIFICATION OF ORDER.—At least five business 

2 days prior to delivering any tobacco product to a con3 sumer, a delivery seller shall send to the name and address 

4 provided by the consumer pursuant to subsection (d) a let5 ter that describes the order and asks that the recipient 

6 reply immediately (to a specified toll-free phone number 

7 or email address) if the recipient did not place the order 

8 or otherwise desires to cancel it. 

9 (h) DELIVERY ADDRESSES.—Any tobacco product 

10 sold through or delivered pursuant to a delivery sale shall 

11 not be delivered to any address outside the United States, 

12 and shall be delivered only to a consumer’s residential ad13 dress unless the consumer is a verified member of the U.S. 

14 Armed Forces, as evidenced by a document issued by the 

15 U.S. Department of Defense that includes a photograph 

16 of the consumer, in which case the delivery may be made 

17 to the consumer at the address for the consumer in the 

18 Department of Defense identification document. 

19 (i) DELIVERY REQUIREMENTS.—

20 (1) A delivery seller shall use a method of deliv21 ery to the consumer that ensures that the person 

22 physically making the delivery delivers the tobacco 

23 product only after the consumer or another adult re24 siding at the consumer’s address who has been des25 ignated at the time of purchase by the consumer as 
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1 an alternative recipient and whose age and identity 

2 have been verified by the delivery seller pursuant to 

3 the process described in subsection (d)—

4 (A) signs to accept delivery of the ciga5 rettes or smokeless tobacco; 

6 (B) provides proof of identity, age, and 

7 residence, in the form of a valid, government8 issued identification bearing a photograph of 

9 the person; and 

10 (C) if not the consumer, signs a statement 

11 confirming that he or she knows the consumer 

12 and that the consumer is not under the legal 

13 minimum purchase age. 

14 (2) If the compliance costs would not be pro15 hibitively expensive, the Attorney General may re16 quire that delivery sellers ensure that the age and 

17 identity of any individual accepting delivery of ciga18 rettes or smokeless tobacco delivered pursuant to a 

19 delivery sale be verified at the point of delivery in 

20 accordance with subsection (d). 

21 (3) A delivery seller shall ensure that the bill of 

22 lading for any tobacco product delivered pursuant to 

23 a delivery sale clearly states the above requirements 

24 of this subsection and specifies that federal law re-
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1 quires compliance with the requirements prior to the 

2 completion of any delivery. 

3 (4) A delivery seller shall provide to any person 

4 making deliveries of a tobacco product on the deliv5 ery seller’s behalf—

6 (A) notice that the delivery seller is placing 

7 (or intends to place) a tobacco product for de8 livery by the delivery service as part of a deliv9 ery sale; 

10 (B) documentation that the delivery seller 

11 has registered as an interstate seller of tobacco 

12 products with the State in which the physical 

13 delivery to the consumer is being made; and 

14 (C) for each delivery, the name, age, and 

15 birth date of the consumer and any other per16 son designated by the consumer as an alternate 

17 recipient of the delivery. 

18 (j) DELIVERY SERVICE DUTIES.—

19 (1) A common carrier, private delivery service, 

20 or any other person shall not knowingly make any 

21 delivery of any tobacco product on behalf of a deliv22 ery seller that does not fully comply with the re23 quirements of subsection (h), and shall not know24 ingly deliver any tobacco product to any person 

25 under the legal minimum age. 
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1 (2) No common carrier or other delivery service 

2 shall be subject to any liability or penalty under any 

3 federal or other laws for choosing as a matter of pol4 icy not to deliver to any tobacco products or any 

5 particular tobacco products to any homes or resi6 dences or not to deliver any delivery sale tobacco 

7 products or particular tobacco products in any or all 

8 states. 

9 (k) MINIMUM AND MAXIMUM SALE AMOUNTS.—

10 (1) No delivery seller shall make any single sale 

11 or delivery to a consumer of less than 400 ciga12 rettes, 20 single consumer-sized packages of smoke13 less tobacco, or 40 cigars; and the Attorney General 

14 may set minimum sale amounts for other types of 

15 tobacco products. 

16 (2) In any 10-day period, no delivery seller shall 

17 make any sale or delivery or multiple sales and deliv18 eries to any single consumer of in an amount in ex19 cess of 2,000 cigarettes, 100 single consumer-sized 

20 packages of smokeless tobacco, or 200 cigars; and 

21 the Attorney General may set maximum delivery sale 

22 amounts for other types of tobacco products. 

23 (l) DELIVERY SALE WEBSITES.—A delivery seller 

24 shall not offer any tobacco product for sale through an 

25 Internet website unless—
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1 (1) a person cannot access any website page 

2 that offers tobacco products for sale or transacts 

3 any tobacco product sale until the delivery seller has 

4 first satisfied the requirements of subsection (d) in 

5 relation to that person; and 

6 (2) any Internet website pages used by the de7 livery seller to comply with the requirements of sub8 section (d), including any website pages a consumer 

9 must access prior to accessing the age and identify 

10 verification website pages, are not used for any other 

11 purpose than to fulfill the requirements of sub12 section (d) or to provide access to the website pages 

13 used to comply with those requirements; and consist 

14 only of nonmoving black text on a white background, 

15 with no graphics or other pictorial depictions. 

16 SEC. 4. PENALTIES. 

17 (a) CIVIL PENALTIES.—

18 (1) Any delivery seller who violates this Act (or 

19 any person willfully participating in any such viola20 tion, including but not limited to any person who 

21 owns, controls, or manages the delivery seller) is 

22 subject to a civil penalty not to exceed $5,000 for a 

23 first violation and not to exceed $10,000 for any sec24 ond or additional violation. 
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1 (2) Any common carrier, private delivery serv2 ice, or other person who delivers tobacco products on 

3 behalf of a delivery seller (or any person willfully 

4 participating in any such violation, including but not 

5 limited to any person who owns, controls, or man6 ages the person who makes the delivery on behalf of 

7 the delivery seller) who knowingly violates this Act 

8 is subject to a civil penalty not to exceed $5,000 for 

9 a first violation and not to exceed $10,000 for any 

10 second or additional violation. 

11 (3) A civil penalty for a violation of this Act 

12 under this subsection is in addition to any criminal 

13 penalty under subsection (b) for the violation and in 

14 addition to any other injunctive or equitable relief, 

15 including money damages, for such violations. 

16 (b) CRIMINAL PENALTIES.—A delivery seller that 

17 knowingly violates this Act (or any person willfully partici18 pating in any such violation, including but not limited to 

19 any person who owns, controls, or manages the delivery 

20 seller) shall be guilty of a felony, fined under subchapter 

21 C of chapter 227 of title 18, imprisoned not more than 

22 three years, or both. 

23 SEC. 5. ENFORCEMENT. 

24 (a) DISTRICT COURT JURISDICTION.—The United 

25 States district courts shall have primary jurisdiction to 
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1 prevent and restrain violations of this Act, provide other 

2 appropriate injunctive or equitable relief, including money 

3 damages, award civil penalties, and impose criminal pen4 alties for such violations. 

5 (b) FEDERAL ENFORCEMENT.—The Attorney Gen6 eral shall administer and enforce the provisions of this 

7 Act. 

8 (c) ENFORCEMENT BY STATES AND INDIAN

9 TRIBES.—

10 (1) A State, through its attorney general and 

11 an Indian Tribe through its chief law enforcement 

12 officer, or designee thereof, may bring a civil action 

13 under this Act in the United States district courts 

14 to prevent and restrain violations of this Act by any 

15 person (or by any person controlling such person) or 

16 to obtain any other appropriate relief from any per17 son (or from any person controlling such person) for 

18 violations of this Act, including civil penalties, 

19 money damages, and injunctive or other equitable 

20 relief. 

21 (2) The remedies available under this sub22 section are in addition to any other remedies avail23 able under Federal, State, Tribal, or other law. 

24 (3) Nothing in this Act shall be construed to 

25 prohibit an authorized State official from proceeding 
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1 in State court, or taking other enforcement actions, 

2 on the basis of an alleged violation of State or other 

3 law. 

4 (4) Nothing in this Act shall be construed to 

5 prohibit an authorized Tribal official from pro6 ceeding in Tribal court, or taking other enforcement 

7 actions, on the basis of an alleged violation of Tribal 

8 or other law. 

9 (d) ENFORCEMENT BY OTHER PARTIES.—Any per10 son who holds a permit under section 5712 of the Internal 

11 Revenue Code of 1986, may bring an action in the United 

12 States district courts to prevent and restrain violations of 

13 this Act by any person (or by any person controlling such 

14 person) other than a State government, local government, 

15 Indian tribal government, or governmental organization of 

16 any such government. 

17 (e) COORDINATION OF ENFORCEMENT EFFORTS.—

18 (1) Any person who holds a permit under sec19 tion 5712 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 who 

20 commences a civil action under paragraph this sec21 tion shall inform the Attorney General of the United 

22 States of the action. 

23 (2) It is the sense of Congress that any attor24 ney general of a State or chief law enforcement offi25 cial of an Indian Tribe who commences a civil action 
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1 under this section should inform the Attorney Gen2 eral of the United States of the action. 

3 (3) The Attorney General of the United States 

4 shall make available to the public information about 

5 all enforcement actions undertaken by the Attorney 

6 General or reported to the Attorney General under 

7 this section, including the resolution of such actions, 

8 by posting such information on the Internet and by 

9 other means. 

10 SEC. 6. RELATION TO OTHER LAWS. 

11 (a) MORE STRINGENT LAWS NOT AFFECTED.—

12 Nothing in this Act may be construed to limit or interfere 

13 with any other Federal, State, local, or Tribal law that 

14 place additional, or more stringent, restrictions or pen15 alties on delivery sales or other sales of tobacco products. 

16 (b) EFFECT ON COORDINATED LAW ENFORCEMENT

17 EFFORTS.—Nothing in this chapter may be construed to 

18 inhibit or otherwise affect any coordinated law enforce19 ment effort by one or more States or other jurisdictions, 

20 including Indian Tribes, through interstate compact or 

21 otherwise, that—

22 (1) provides for the administration of tobacco 

23 product laws or laws pertaining to delivery sales or 

24 other sales of tobacco products; 
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1 (2) provides for the seizure of tobacco products 

2 or other property related to a violation of such laws; 

3 or 

4 (3) establishes cooperative programs for the ad5 ministration of such laws. 

6 (c) BUSINESS ENTITIES NOT SUBJECT TO LIABIL7 ITY.—This Act does not create any new Federal require8 ments or potential liability of any kind for business enti9 ties providing communication technologies (e.g., phone 

10 companies or internet service providers), computer soft11 ware or related services, or credit or debit card services; 

12 nor does this Act limit, amend, or expand any existing 

13 Federal requirements or potential liability for any such en14 tities, except to the extent that those entities are delivery 

15 sellers, persons that deliver tobacco products on behalf of 

16 delivery sellers, or otherwise directly engaged in the sale 

17 or delivery of tobacco products. 

18 SEC. 7. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

19 This Act shall go into effect 90 days after it is passed 

20 into law.

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