IV 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. RES. 979 

Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that public health 

authorities and tobacco control advocates should encourage American 

innovation and embrace harm reduction as part of the comprehensive 

United States approach to tobacco control. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 29, 2024 

Mr. RESCHENTHALER (for himself and Mr. DAVIS of North Carolina) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on 

Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each 

case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of 

the committee concerned 

RESOLUTION 

Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that 

public health authorities and tobacco control advocates 

should encourage American innovation and embrace 

harm reduction as part of the comprehensive United 

States approach to tobacco control. 

Whereas cigarette smoking remains one of the most preventable forms of noncommunicable disease in the United 

States; 

Whereas, according to the Centers for Disease Control and 

Prevention— 


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•HRES 979 IH 

(1) approximately 28,300,000 Americans smoke 

cigarettes on a regular basis and more than 16,000,000 

Americans live with a smoking-related disease; 

(2) approximately 27 of every 100 American Indian/ 

Alaska Native adults, approximately 12 of every 100 nonHispanic African-American adults, approximately 8 of 

every 100 Hispanic adults, and approximately 5 of every 

100 non-Hispanic Asian adults are current cigarette 

smokers; 

(3) approximately 20 of every 100 adults with a 

household income less than $35,000 a year and approximately 14 of every 100 adults with a household income 

between $35,000 and $74,999.99 are current smokers; 

and 

(4) approximately 3 in 10 United States military 

veterans used some form of tobacco product during their 

service, and smoking amongst United States veterans is 

more than double the national average; 

Whereas the best health outcome for current smokers is to 

quit altogether; however the Centers for Disease Control 

and Prevention estimates less than 10 percent of adult 

smokers will successfully stop smoking cigarettes in a 

given year; 

Whereas the bipartisan Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act (P.L. 111–31), enacted in 2009, provided the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) authority to regulate the tobacco industry and develop regulatory pathways to bring scientifically substantiated less 

harmful alternatives to the market for adult consumers 

who will otherwise continue smoking cigarettes; 

Whereas the FDA has adopted an unduly narrow interpretation of the ‘‘Appropriate for the Protection of Public 


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•HRES 979 IH 

Health’’ standard set forth in such Act, which contemplated FDA authorizing proven reduced-harm alternatives for adult smokers and using FDA’s substantial 

post-market regulatory controls to protect against future 

population risks; 

Whereas, in 2017, the FDA announced a comprehensive approach to tobacco control based on cessation, prevention, 

and harm reduction, and recognized a continuum of risk 

in nicotine-containing products with combustible cigarettes on one end of the spectrum and noncombustible 

products such as heated tobacco, vapor, and oral nicotine-containing products on other end; 

Whereas, as part of the scientific evaluation to assess whether a product is appropriate for the protection or promotion of public health, the FDA assesses various criteria, including the potential health effects, nicotine levels, flavor variants, and potential appeal to and likelihood 

of use by youth and nonsmokers, and imposes postmarket 

surveillance requirements; 

Whereas the United States approach to tobacco control requires the FDA to evaluate all available data and make 

decisions based on science with interested parties allowed 

to engage the agency in an open and transparent manner; 

Whereas, since 2009, more than 26,000,000 tobacco product 

applications have been submitted to the FDA, yet fewer 

than 50 applications have been authorized; 

Whereas there is now a rapidly growing market in flagrantly 

illegal e-vapor products that lack FDA oversight and are 

contributing significantly to underage e-vapor use; 


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•HRES 979 IH 

Whereas staffing at the FDA’s Center for Tobacco Products 

has more than doubled in the last 10 years and user fees 

collected by the Center have increased to over 

$700,000,000 annually; 

Whereas a report published in December 2022 by the independent Reagan Udall Foundation found the FDA is 

struggling as a regulator and should develop ‘‘a more 

clear and predictable framework’’ for tobacco product applications; 

Whereas other governments have embraced similar approaches to harm reduction, including Great Britain 

which provides adult smokers with information about and 

access to alternative products as part of its strategy to 

become a smoke-free nation by 2030; 

Whereas the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, negotiated and implemented under the auspices of the 

World Health Organization, includes harm reduction as 

one of the main pillars of tobacco control; and 

Whereas the World Health Organization and public health 

advocates around the world have yet to adopt harm reduction or embrace innovation and technological advancements as a means of accelerating the decline of cigarette 

smoking and reducing noncommunicable diseases associated with smoking: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That it is the sense of the House of Rep2 resentatives that— 

3 (1) the Food and Drug Administration should 

4 implement a coherent regulatory process that fully 

5 embraces the promising science that smoke causes 

6 most tobacco-related death and disease, encourages 


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1 American innovation in smoke-free alternatives prov2 en to reduce harm, promotes a comprehensive ap3 proach to tobacco control that ensures science-based 

4 decision making, and prioritizes the authorization of 

5 less harmful smoke-free products as alternatives for 

6 adults who continue smoking; 

7 (2) public health authorities, including the Cen8 ters for Disease Control and Prevention, should edu9 cate adult consumers and health care professionals 

10 regarding harm reduction and begin educational 

11 campaigns to improve adult consumers’ under12 standing of nicotine and alternative products avail13 able; and 

14 (3) the Secretary of State and the Secretary of 

15 Health and Human Services should engage the 

16 World Health Organization to promote a comprehen17 sive approach to tobacco control, and recognition of 

18 harm reduction as a key pillar of the Framework 

19 Convention on Tobacco Control for combating non20 communicable disease associated with cigarette 

21 smoking around the world. 

Æ 


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