I

105TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 516

To establish the Federal authority to regulate tobacco and other tobacco

products containing nicotine.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

FEBRUARY 4, 1997

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

Committee on Commerce

A BILL

To establish the Federal authority to regulate tobacco and

other tobacco products containing nicotine.

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 ‘‘Youth Smoking Pre5 vention Act of 1997’’.

6 SEC. 2. AUTHORITY TO REGULATE TOBACCO AND OTHER

7 PRODUCTS CONTAINING NICOTINE.

8 (a) FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION.—The Sec9 retary of Health and Human Services does not have any

10 authority under—
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1 (1) the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act,

2 (2) the Federal Cigarette Labeling and Adver3 tising Act, or

4 (3) the Comprehensive Smokeless Tobacco

5 Health Education Act of 1986,

6 to regulate the manufacture, labeling, sale, distribution,

7 and advertising and promotion of tobacco and other to8 bacco products containing nicotine.

9 (b) FEDERAL AUTHORITY.—The Federal authority

10 to regulate the sale, distribution, and advertising and pro11 motion of tobacco and other tobacco products containing

12 nicotine is established as a condition to the receipt by

13 States of the Federal preventive health and health services

14 block grant.

15 SEC. 3. REGULATION OF STATE AUTHORITY.

16 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 1926(a)(1) of the Public

17 Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. sec. 300x–26(a)(1)) is

18 amended to read as follows:

19 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2),

20 for fiscal year 1997 and subsequent fiscal years, the

21 Secretary may make a grant under section 1921

22 only if the State involved has in effect a law which

23 provides the following:

24 ‘‘(A) MINORS.—
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1 ‘‘(i) SALES.—It shall be unlawful to

2 sell tobacco and other tobacco products

3 containing nicotine to an individual under

4 the age of 18. Tobacco and other tobacco

5 products containing nicotine may be sold

6 only to individuals who present a document

7 containing the individual’s photograph and

8 date of birth. Any person who violates this

9 paragraph shall be fined in the amount

10 that a person who sells alcoholic beverages

11 to a minor is fined under State law.

12 ‘‘(ii) PURCHASE.—It shall be unlawful

13 for an individual under the age of 18 to

14 purchase any tobacco and other tobacco

15 product containing nicotine. Any individual

16 who violates this paragraph for the first

17 time shall be fined not more than $100, re18 quired to perform community service, or

19 required to attend education and training

20 in the hazards of smoking. Any individual

21 who violates this paragraph more than

22 once shall be fined not more than $100, re23 quired to perform community service, and

24 required to attend education and training

25 in the hazards of smoking. Such education
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1 and training shall be funded by the fines

2 collected under this paragraph.

3 ‘‘(iii) IDENTIFICATION.—It shall be

4 unlawful for an individual to present iden5 tification for the purchase of tobacco and

6 other tobacco products containing nicotine

7 which is false. Any individual who violates

8 this paragraph shall be fined not more

9 than $250, required to perform community

10 service, and required to attend education

11 and training in the hazards of smoking.

12 ‘‘(B) SALES OF SPECIFIC PRODUCTS.—It

13 shall be unlawful to sell—

14 ‘‘(i) individual cigarettes, and

15 ‘‘(ii) packages of cigarettes which con16 tain less than 20 cigarettes.

17 Any person who violates this subsection shall be

18 fined in the amount that a person who sells al19 coholic beverages to a minor is fined under

20 State law.

21 ‘‘(C) VENDING MACHINES.—No person,

22 firm, partnership, company, or corporation shall

23 operate a vending machine which dispenses

24 cigarettes or smokeless tobacco products unless

25 such vending machine is in a location that is in
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1 plain view and under the direct supervision and

2 control of the individual in charge of the loca3 tion or such individual’s designated agent or

4 employee, except that this subparagraph shall

5 not apply in the case of a vending machine that

6 is located—

7 ‘‘(i) at a private club; 

8 ‘‘(ii) at a bar or bar area of a food

9 service establishment;

10 ‘‘(iii) at a factory, warehouse, tobacco

11 business, or any other place of employment

12 which has an insignificant portion of its

13 regular workforce comprised of individuals

14 under the age of 18 years and only if such

15 machines are located in an area that is not

16 accessible to the general public;

17 ‘‘(iv) in any place if the vending ma18 chine is equipped with a device which con19 trols the sale of tobacco products from the

20 machine to individuals under the age of

21 18; or

22 ‘‘(v) in such other location or made

23 available in another manner that is ex24 pressly permitted under applicable State

25 law.
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1 ‘‘(D) SELF-SERVICE DISPLAYS.—It shall

2 be unlawful to make tobacco and other tobacco

3 products containing nicotine available to indi4 viduals under the age of 18 in self-service dis5 plays which are not under the supervision of an

6 individual over the age of 18. Any person who

7 violates this subsection shall be fined in the

8 amount that a person who sells alcoholic bev9 erages to a minor is fined under State law.

10 ‘‘(E) SAMPLES.—It shall be unlawful to

11 distribute free samples of tobacco and other to12 bacco products containing nicotine to individ13 uals under the age of 18 through the mail or

14 otherwise. Any person who violates this sub15 paragraph shall be fined in the amount that a

16 person who sells alcoholic beverages to a minor

17 is fined under State law.

18 ‘‘(F) USE OF MAIL.—It shall be unlawful

19 to distribute tobacco and other tobacco products

20 containing nicotine through the mail to individ21 uals under the age of 18. Such tobacco prod22 ucts when distributed through the mails is non23 mailable matter and such distribution shall be

24 penalized in accordance with chapter 30 of title

25 39, United States Code.
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1 ‘‘(G) GENERAL REQUIREMENTS APPLICA2 BLE TO SALES.—Tobacco and other tobacco

3 products containing nicotine which are offered

4 for sale at retail must be in the sight and con5 trol of the person responsible for making the

6 sales. Any person offering such products for

7 sale at retail shall post, in accordance with reg8 ulations of the State, signs stating the mini9 mum purchase age, stating health warnings,

10 and stating the penalties for violations of the

11 requirements of this paragraph. Any person

12 who violates this subparagraph shall be fined in

13 the amount that a person who sells alcoholic

14 beverages to a minor is fined under State law.

15 ‘‘(H) NOTICE TO EMPLOYEES.—Each

16 owner of a retail establishment which sells to17 bacco and other tobacco products containing

18 nicotine shall notify each individual employed in

19 the establishment as a retail sales clerk that the

20 sale of tobacco and such products to individuals

21 under the age of 18 and the purchase by such

22 individuals of tobacco and such products are

23 prohibited. Such notice shall be provided to

24 such an employee before such employee begins

25 work as a retail sales clerk or if such work has
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1 been begun, within 30 days of the date of the

2 enactment of this paragraph. Such an employee

3 shall sign a form stating that such employee

4 has been notified of the prohibited acts. Such

5 an owner shall retain such forms and make

6 them available to persons conducting inspec7 tions under this paragraph. An owner who fails

8 to make such notice or retain such a form shall

9 be fined not less than $100 and not more than

10 $250.

11 ‘‘(I) LICENSES.—No person may engage in

12 the retail sale of cigarettes without a license is13 sued for such purpose by the State. The license

14 shall be—

15 ‘‘(i) issued in accordance with such

16 system,

17 ‘‘(ii) issued for such fee, and

18 ‘‘(iii) issued for such term,

19 as the State shall establish. The State shall es20 tablish penalties (including loss of license) for

21 sales without a license and other sales in viola22 tion of this paragraph.

23 ‘‘(J) STATE RESPONSIBILITIES.—The

24 State shall conduct annual random unan25 nounced inspections of over-the-counter and
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1 vending machine outlets for the sale of tobacco

2 and other tobacco products containing nicotine

3 to assure that sales of tobacco and other to4 bacco products containing nicotine are being

5 made in accordance with this paragraph so that

6 individuals under the age of 18 do not have ac7 cess to tobacco and other tobacco products con8 taining nicotine.

9 ‘‘(K) ADVERTISING.—

10 ‘‘(i) BILLBOARDS.—Billboards which

11 advertise tobacco and other tobacco prod12 ucts containing nicotine may not be placed

13 within the line of sight of any individual in

14 a school or in an area designated as a

15 playground.

16 ‘‘(ii) BRAND NAMES AND LOGOS.—

17 The brand name or logo of a manufacturer

18 of tobacco and other tobacco products con19 taining nicotine may not be placed on any

20 item marketed specifically to minors, in21 cluding toys and video games.’’.

22 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Section 1926 of

23 the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. sec. 300x–26)

24 is amended—
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1 (1) in subsection (a)(2), by striking ‘‘1993’’ and

2 inserting ‘‘1998’’;

3 (2) in subsection (a)(2), by striking ‘‘1994’’ and

4 inserting ‘‘1999’’; and

5 (3) in subsection (a)(2), by striking ‘‘1995’’ and

6 inserting ‘‘2000’’;

7 (4) in subsection (d)(1), by striking ‘‘1995’’

8 and inserting ‘‘2000’’; and

9 (5) in subsection (d)(2), by striking ‘‘1994’’

10 and inserting ‘‘1999’’.

11 (c) NONCOMPLIANCE.—Section 1926(c) of the Public

12 Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. sec. 300x–26(c)) is

13 amended—

14 (1) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘10 percent’’

15 and inserting ‘‘20 percent’’;

16 (2) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘20 percent’’

17 and inserting ‘‘40 percent’’;

18 (3) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘30 percent’’

19 and inserting ‘‘60 percent’’; and

20 (4) in paragraph (4), by striking ‘‘40 percent’’

21 and inserting ‘‘80 percent’’.

22 (d) ENFORCEMENT.—Section 1926 of the Public

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

24 by adding at the end thereof the following:
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1 ‘‘(e) ENFORCEMENT.—Any amounts made available

2 to a State through a grant under section 1921 may be

3 used to enforce the laws described in subsection (a).’’.

4 SEC. 4. REPORT.

5 The Secretary of Health and Human Services shall

6 make an annual report to the Congress on the actions

7 taken by the States in compliance with section 1926(a)(1)

8 of the Public Health Service Act as amended by section

9 3.

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