II 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1541 

To increase the minimum age for sale of tobacco products to 21. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 20, 2019 

Mr. MCCONNELL (for himself and Mr. KAINE) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To increase the minimum age for sale of tobacco products 

to 21. 

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 Youth 

5 Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. MINIMUM AGE OF SALE OF TOBACCO PRODUCTS. 

7 (a) ESTABLISHING MINIMUM AGE OF 21 FOR SALE

8 OF TOBACCO PRODUCTS.—Section 1926 of the Public 

9 Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 300x–26) is amended— 


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•S 1541 IS

1 (1) in the section heading, by striking ‘‘AGE OF

2 18’’ and inserting ‘‘AGE OF 21’’; 

3 (2) by striking ‘‘age of 18’’ each place such 

4 phrase appears and inserting ‘‘age of 21’’; 

5 (3) in subsection (a)— 

6 (A) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘fiscal 

7 year 1994’’ and inserting ‘‘fiscal year 2021’’; 

8 and 

9 (B) in paragraph (2)— 

10 (i) by striking ‘‘fiscal year 1993’’ and 

11 inserting ‘‘fiscal year 2020’’; 

12 (ii) by striking ‘‘fiscal year 1994’’ and 

13 inserting ‘‘fiscal year 2021’’; and 

14 (iii) by striking ‘‘fiscal year 1995’’ 

15 and inserting ‘‘fiscal year 2022’’; and 

16 (4) in subsection (d)— 

17 (A) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘1995’’ 

18 and inserting ‘‘2022’’; 

19 (B) in paragraph (2)— 

20 (i) by striking ‘‘1994’’ and inserting 

21 ‘‘2021’’; and 

22 (ii) by striking the period and insert23 ing ‘‘; and’’; 


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•S 1541 IS

1 (C) by redesignating paragraphs (1) and 

2 (2) as subparagraphs (A) and (B), respectively, 

3 and adjusting the margins accordingly; 

4 (D) by striking ‘‘this section, the term’’ 

5 and inserting ‘‘this section— 

6 ‘‘(1) the term’’; and 

7 (E) by adding at the end the following: 

8 ‘‘(2) the term ‘tobacco product’ has the mean9 ing given such term in section 201(rr) of the Fed10 eral Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act.’’. 

11 (b) FDA.— 

12 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 906(d) of the Fed13 eral Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C. 

14 387f(d)) is amended— 

15 (A) in paragraph (3)(A)(ii), by striking 

16 ‘‘18 years’’ and inserting ‘‘21 years’’; and 

17 (B) by adding at the end the following: 

18 ‘‘(5) MINIMUM AGE OF SALE.—It shall be un19 lawful for any retailer to sell a tobacco product to 

20 any person younger than 21 years of age, consistent 

21 with section 1140.14 of title 21, Code of Federal 

22 Regulations (or any successor regulations).’’. 

23 (2) REGULATIONS.—Not later than 180 days 

24 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Sec25 retary of Health and Human Services shall update 


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1 regulations issued under chapter IX of the Federal 

2 Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C. 387 et 

3 seq.) as appropriate to carry out the amendments 

4 made by paragraph (1). 

5 (c) NON-PREEMPTION.—Nothing in the amendments 

6 made by subsection (a) or (b) shall be construed to prevent 

7 a State or local governmental entity from establishing, en8 forcing, or maintaining a law with respect to sales of to9 bacco products to individuals below a minimum age, pro10 vided that such State or local law is in addition to, or 

11 more stringent than, Federal law. 

Æ 


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