I 
111TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1256 
To protect the public health by providing the Food and Drug Administration 
with certain authority to regulate tobacco products. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MARCH 3, 2009 
Mr. WAXMAN (for himself, Mr. PLATTS, Mr. TOWNS, Mr. LYNCH, Mr. 
PALLONE, Mr. DINGELL, Mr. RANGEL, Mr. ABERCROMBIE, Mr. ACKER-
MAN, Ms. BALDWIN, Mr. BARROW, Mr. BERRY, Mr. BILBRAY, Mr. 
BLUMENAUER, Mrs. BONO MACK, Ms. BORDALLO, Mr. BOUCHER, Mr. 
BRADY of Pennsylvania, Mr. BRALEY of Iowa, Mrs. CAPPS, Mr. CARNEY, 
Mr. CARSON of Indiana, Mr. CASTLE, Ms. CASTOR of Florida, Mrs. 
CHRISTENSEN, Mr. COHEN, Mr. CONNOLLY of Virginia, Mr. CONYERS, 
Mr. COURTNEY, Mr. CUMMINGS, Mrs. DAHLKEMPER, Mrs. DAVIS of Cali-
fornia, Mr. DEFAZIO, Ms. DEGETTE, Mr. DELAHUNT, Ms. DELAURO, 
Mr. DOYLE, Mr. EDWARDS of Texas, Mr. ELLISON, Mrs. EMERSON, Mr. 
ENGEL, Ms. ESHOO, Mr. FILNER, Mr. FRELINGHUYSEN, Mr. GONZALEZ, 
Mr. GENE GREEN of Texas, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. GUTIERREZ, Mr. HALL 
of New York, Ms. HARMAN, Mr. HEINRICH, Mr. HIGGINS, Mr. HIMES, 
Mr. HINCHEY, Ms. HIRONO, Mr. HOLT, Mr. INSLEE, Mr. ISRAEL, Ms. 
JACKSON-LEE of Texas, Mr. JACKSON of Illinois, Mr. KILDEE, Ms. KIL-
ROY, Mr. KIND, Mr. KIRK, Mr. LARSEN of Washington, Mr. LARSON of 
Connecticut, Ms. LEE of California, Mr. LEWIS of Georgia, Mr. LIPINSKI, 
Mr. LOBIONDO, Mr. LOEBSACK, Mrs. LOWEY, Mr. LUJA´N, Mr. MAFFEI, 
Mrs. MALONEY, Ms. MARKEY of Colorado, Mr. MARKEY of Massachu-
setts, Mr. MATHESON, Ms. MATSUI, Mrs. MCCARTHY of New York, Ms. 
MCCOLLUM, Mr. MCDERMOTT, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. MCMAHON, Mr. 
MCNERNEY, Mr. MICHAUD, Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California, Mr. 
MITCHELL, Mr. MORAN of Virginia, Mr. MURPHY of Connecticut, Mr. 
NADLER of New York, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Ms. NORTON, Mr. OBERSTAR, 
Mr. OLVER, Mr. PASCRELL, Ms. PINGREE of Maine, Mr. REICHERT, Mr. 
REYES, Mr. ROTHMAN of New Jersey, Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD, Mr. RUSH, 
Mr. RYAN of Ohio, Ms. LORETTA SANCHEZ of California, Mr. SARBANES, 
Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. SCHIFF, Ms. SCHWARTZ, Mr. SCOTT of Virginia, 
Mr. SERRANO, Mr. SHERMAN, Ms. SLAUGHTER, Mr. SMITH of New Jer-
sey, Mr. SNYDER, Mr. STARK, Ms. SUTTON, Mr. TIERNEY, Mr. TONKO, 
Mr. VAN HOLLEN, Ms. WATSON, Mr. WEINER, Mr. WELCH, Mr. 
WEXLER, Mr. WU, and Mr. YARMUTH) introduced the following bill; 
which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in 
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addition to the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, 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 com-
mittee concerned 
A BILL 
To protect the public health by providing the Food and 
Drug Administration with certain authority to regulate 
tobacco products. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 
‘‘Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act’’. 
(b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents of 
this Act is as follows: 
Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 
Sec. 2. Findings. 
Sec. 3. Purpose. 
Sec. 4. Scope and effect. 
Sec. 5. Severability. 
TITLE I—AUTHORITY OF THE FOOD AND DRUG 
ADMINISTRATION 
Sec. 101. Amendment of Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. 
Sec. 102. Final rule. 
Sec. 103. Conforming and other amendments to general provisions. 
Sec. 104. Study on raising the minimum age to purchase tobacco products. 
Sec. 105. Enforcement action plan for advertising and promotion restrictions. 
TITLE II—TOBACCO PRODUCT WARNINGS; CONSTITUENT AND 
SMOKE CONSTITUENT DISCLOSURE 
Sec. 201. Cigarette label and advertising warnings. 
Sec. 202. Authority to revise cigarette warning label statements. 
Sec. 203. State regulation of cigarette advertising and promotion. 
Sec. 204. Smokeless tobacco labels and advertising warnings. 
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Sec. 205. Authority to revise smokeless tobacco product warning label state-
ments. 
Sec. 206. Tar, nicotine, and other smoke constituent disclosure to the public. 
TITLE III—PREVENTION OF ILLICIT TRADE IN TOBACCO 
PRODUCTS 
Sec. 301. Labeling, recordkeeping, records inspection. 
Sec. 302. Study and report. 
TITLE IV—THRIFT SAVINGS PLAN ENHANCEMENT 
Sec. 401. Short title. 
Sec. 402. Automatic enrollments. 
Sec. 403. Qualified Roth contribution program. 
Sec. 404. Authority to establish self-directed investment window. 
Sec. 405. Reporting requirements. 
Sec. 406. Acknowledgement of risk. 
Sec. 407. Credit for unused sick leave. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
The Congress finds the following: 
(1) The use of tobacco products by the Nation’s 
children is a pediatric disease of considerable pro-
portions that results in new generations of tobacco- 
dependent children and adults. 
(2) A consensus exists within the scientific and 
medical communities that tobacco products are in-
herently dangerous and cause cancer, heart disease, 
and other serious adverse health effects. 
(3) Nicotine is an addictive drug. 
(4) Virtually all new users of tobacco products 
are under the minimum legal age to purchase such 
products. 
(5) Tobacco advertising and marketing con-
tribute significantly to the use of nicotine-containing 
tobacco products by adolescents. 
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(6) Because past efforts to restrict advertising 
and marketing of tobacco products have failed ade-
quately to curb tobacco use by adolescents, com-
prehensive restrictions on the sale, promotion, and 
distribution of such products are needed. 
(7) Federal and State governments have lacked 
the legal and regulatory authority and resources 
they need to address comprehensively the public 
health and societal problems caused by the use of to-
bacco products. 
(8) Federal and State public health officials, 
the public health community, and the public at large 
recognize that the tobacco industry should be subject 
to ongoing oversight. 
(9) Under article I, section 8 of the Constitu-
tion, the Congress is vested with the responsibility 
for regulating interstate commerce and commerce 
with Indian tribes. 
(10) The sale, distribution, marketing, adver-
tising, and use of tobacco products are activities in 
and substantially affecting interstate commerce be-
cause they are sold, marketed, advertised, and dis-
tributed in interstate commerce on a nationwide 
basis, and have a substantial effect on the Nation’s 
economy. 
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(11) The sale, distribution, marketing, adver-
tising, and use of such products substantially affect 
interstate commerce through the health care and 
other costs attributable to the use of tobacco prod-
ucts. 
(12) It is in the public interest for Congress to 
enact legislation that provides the Food and Drug 
Administration with the authority to regulate to-
bacco products and the advertising and promotion of 
such products. The benefits to the American people 
from enacting such legislation would be significant 
in human and economic terms. 
(13) Tobacco use is the foremost preventable 
cause of premature death in America. It causes over 
400,000 deaths in the United States each year, and 
approximately 8,600,000 Americans have chronic ill-
nesses related to smoking. 
(14) Reducing the use of tobacco by minors by 
50 percent would prevent well over 10,000,000 of to-
day’s children from becoming regular, daily smokers, 
saving over 3,000,000 of them from premature 
death due to tobacco-induced disease. Such a reduc-
tion in youth smoking would also result in approxi-
mately $75,000,000,000 in savings attributable to 
reduced health care costs. 
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(15) Advertising, marketing, and promotion of 
tobacco products have been especially directed to at-
tract young persons to use tobacco products, and 
these efforts have resulted in increased use of such 
products by youth. Past efforts to oversee these ac-
tivities have not been successful in adequately pre-
venting such increased use. 
(16) In 2005, the cigarette manufacturers 
spent more than $13,000,000,000 to attract new 
users, retain current users, increase current con-
sumption, and generate favorable long-term atti-
tudes toward smoking and tobacco use. 
(17) 
Tobacco 
product 
advertising 
often 
misleadingly portrays the use of tobacco as socially 
acceptable and healthful to minors. 
(18) Tobacco product advertising is regularly 
seen by persons under the age of 18, and persons 
under the age of 18 are regularly exposed to tobacco 
product promotional efforts. 
(19) Through advertisements during and spon-
sorship of sporting events, tobacco has become 
strongly associated with sports and has become por-
trayed as an integral part of sports and the healthy 
lifestyle associated with rigorous sporting activity. 
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(20) Children are exposed to substantial and 
unavoidable tobacco advertising that leads to favor-
able beliefs about tobacco use, plays a role in leading 
young people to overestimate the prevalence of to-
bacco use, and increases the number of young people 
who begin to use tobacco. 
(21) The use of tobacco products in motion pic-
tures and other mass media glamorizes its use for 
young people and encourages them to use tobacco 
products. 
(22) Tobacco advertising expands the size of 
the tobacco market by increasing consumption of to-
bacco products including tobacco use by young peo-
ple. 
(23) Children are more influenced by tobacco 
marketing than adults: more than 80 percent of 
youth smoke three heavily marketed brands, while 
only 54 percent of adults, 26 and older, smoke these 
same brands. 
(24) Tobacco company documents indicate that 
young people are an important and often crucial seg-
ment of the tobacco market. Children, who tend to 
be more price sensitive than adults, are influenced 
by advertising and promotion practices that result in 
drastically reduced cigarette prices. 
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