II 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1048 

To amend the Public Health Service Act to provide for a Reducing Youth 

Use of E-Cigarettes Initiative. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

APRIL 4, 2019 

Mr. BLUMENTHAL (for himself, Mr. WYDEN, Mr. MERKLEY, Mr. REED, Mr. 

DURBIN, Mr. BROWN, and Mr. MARKEY) introduced the following bill; 

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

A BILL 

To amend the Public Health Service Act to provide for 

a Reducing Youth Use of E-Cigarettes Initiative. 

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 ‘‘Preventing Opportuni5 ties for Teen E-Cigarette and Tobacco Addiction’’ or the 

6 ‘‘PROTECT Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. REDUCING YOUTH USE OF E-CIGARETTES INITIA2 TIVE. 

3 The Public Health Service Act is amended by insert4 ing after section 317T of such Act (42 U.S.C. 247b–22) 

5 the following: 

6 ‘‘SEC. 317U. REDUCING YOUTH USE OF E-CIGARETTES INI7 TIATIVE. 

8 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, acting through 

9 the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Pre10 vention, shall carry out an initiative, to be known as the 

11 Reducing Youth Use of E-Cigarettes Initiative, which shall 

12 include the following: 

13 ‘‘(1) Conducting research (including by using 

14 rapid surveillance methods), on use by youth and 

15 young adults of electronic cigarettes and emerging 

16 tobacco products, including research on— 

17 ‘‘(A) the types of products youth and 

18 young adults use; 

19 ‘‘(B) patterns of products used by youth 

20 and young adults, including initiation, fre21 quency of use, use in combination with other to22 bacco products, and use of flavors; 

23 ‘‘(C) the association between the use by 

24 youth and young adults of electronic cigarettes 

25 and smoking initiation; 


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1 ‘‘(D) use of electronic cigarettes and 

2 emerging tobacco products among different de3 mographic groups; 

4 ‘‘(E) the means by which youth and young 

5 adults access electronic cigarettes and emerging 

6 tobacco products, and methods of distribution 

7 of such products; 

8 ‘‘(F) youth and young adult exposure to 

9 advertising of electronic cigarettes and emerg10 ing tobacco products; 

11 ‘‘(G) marketing and advertising strategies 

12 used by manufacturers, including the channels 

13 and messaging used and strategies that target 

14 different demographic groups; 

15 ‘‘(H) the reasons youth and young adults 

16 use such products; 

17 ‘‘(I) the extent to which youth and young 

18 adult electronic cigarette users are nicotine de19 pendent; and 

20 ‘‘(J) youth and young adult motivation to 

21 quit using electronic cigarettes. 

22 ‘‘(2) Conducting research on— 

23 ‘‘(A) the characteristics and nicotine deliv24 ery technology of electronic cigarettes and 

25 emerging tobacco products; and 


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1 ‘‘(B) biomarkers of exposure to electronic 

2 cigarettes and emerging tobacco products and 

3 resulting health impacts from such exposure. 

4 ‘‘(3) Identifying effective messages to youth and 

5 young adults, parents, clinicians, health profes6 sionals, and others who work or interact with youth 

7 and young adults for preventing use of electronic 

8 cigarettes and emerging tobacco products. 

9 ‘‘(4) Developing and implementing a campaign, 

10 in coordination with the Surgeon General of the 

11 Public Health Service, to educate youth and young 

12 adults, parents, clinicians, health professionals, and 

13 others about— 

14 ‘‘(A) the rapidly evolving tobacco product 

15 landscape; and 

16 ‘‘(B) the harms associated with the use by 

17 youth and young adults of electronic cigarettes 

18 and other emerging products. 

19 ‘‘(5) Providing funding through grants, cooper20 ative agreements, or contracts to State, territorial, 

21 Tribal, and local health departments, community or22 ganizations, national and Tribal organizations, or 

23 State and local educational agencies, as appropriate, 

24 for preventing and reducing the use by youth and 


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1 young adults of electronic cigarettes and emerging 

2 tobacco products. 

3 ‘‘(6) Informing the development, implementa4 tion, and evaluation of evidence-based policies to 

5 prevent the initiation and use of emerging tobacco 

6 products among youth and young adults. 

7 ‘‘(b) NO DUPLICATION.—The Secretary shall ensure 

8 that activities under this section do not duplicate other 

9 activities of the Department of Health and Human Serv10 ices. 

11 ‘‘(c) STRATEGY.—Not later than 90 days after the 

12 date of enactment of this section, the Secretary shall sub13 mit to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and 

14 Pensions of the Senate and the Committee on Energy and 

15 Commerce of the House of Representatives, and make 

16 available to the public on the Internet website of the De17 partment of Health and Human Services, a strategy for 

18 carrying out the Reducing Youth Use of E-Cigarettes Ini19 tiative. 

20 ‘‘(d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—To 

21 carry out this section, there is authorized to be appro22 priated $100,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2020 

23 through 2024.’’. 

Æ 


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