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) sub-
mitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on 
Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committee on Foreign Af-
fairs, 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 prevent-
able forms of noncommunicable disease in the United 
States; 
Whereas, according to the Centers for Disease Control and 
Prevention— 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
00:27 Jan 30, 2024
Jkt 049200
PO 00000
Frm 00001
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6300
E:\BILLS\HR979.IH
HR979
kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB
•HRES 979 IH 
(1) approximately 28,300,000 Americans smoke 
cigarettes on a regular basis and more than 16,000,000 
Americans live with a smoking-related disease; 
(2) approximately 27 of every 100 American Indian/ 
Alaska Native adults, approximately 12 of every 100 non- 
Hispanic African-American adults, approximately 8 of 
every 100 Hispanic adults, and approximately 5 of every 
100 non-Hispanic Asian adults are current cigarette 
smokers; 
(3) approximately 20 of every 100 adults with a 
household income less than $35,000 a year and approxi-
mately 14 of every 100 adults with a household income 
between $35,000 and $74,999.99 are current smokers; 
and 
(4) approximately 3 in 10 United States military 
veterans used some form of tobacco product during their 
service, and smoking amongst United States veterans is 
more than double the national average; 
Whereas the best health outcome for current smokers is to 
quit altogether; however the Centers for Disease Control 
and Prevention estimates less than 10 percent of adult 
smokers will successfully stop smoking cigarettes in a 
given year; 
Whereas the bipartisan Family Smoking Prevention and To-
bacco Control Act (P.L. 111–31), enacted in 2009, pro-
vided the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) author-
ity to regulate the tobacco industry and develop regu-
latory pathways to bring scientifically substantiated less 
harmful alternatives to the market for adult consumers 
who will otherwise continue smoking cigarettes; 
Whereas the FDA has adopted an unduly narrow interpreta-
tion of the ‘‘Appropriate for the Protection of Public 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
00:27 Jan 30, 2024
Jkt 049200
PO 00000
Frm 00002
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6300
E:\BILLS\HR979.IH
HR979
kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB
•HRES 979 IH 
Health’’ standard set forth in such Act, which con-
templated FDA authorizing proven reduced-harm alter-
natives 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 ap-
proach to tobacco control based on cessation, prevention, 
and harm reduction, and recognized a continuum of risk 
in nicotine-containing products with combustible ciga-
rettes on one end of the spectrum and noncombustible 
products such as heated tobacco, vapor, and oral nico-
tine-containing products on other end; 
Whereas, as part of the scientific evaluation to assess wheth-
er a product is appropriate for the protection or pro-
motion of public health, the FDA assesses various cri-
teria, including the potential health effects, nicotine lev-
els, 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 re-
quires 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 man-
ner; 
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; 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
00:27 Jan 30, 2024
Jkt 049200
PO 00000
Frm 00003
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6300
E:\BILLS\HR979.IH
HR979
kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB