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FDA v. BROWN & WILLIAMSON TOBACCO CORP.

Opinion of the Court

(FTC proposed rule requiring manufacturers to disclose on
all packaging and in all print advertising “ ‘that cigarette
smoking is dangerous to health and may cause death from
cancer, coronary heart disease, chronic bronchitis, pulmonary
emphysema, and other diseases’ ”). After debating the
proper role for administrative agencies in the regulation of
tobacco, see generally Cigarette Labeling and Advertising—
1969: Hearings before the House Committee on Interstate
and Foreign Commerce, 91st Cong., 1st Sess., pt. 2 (1969),
Congress amended the FCLAA by banning cigarette adver-
tisements “on any medium of electronic communication sub-
ject to the jurisdiction of the Federal Communications Com-
mission” and strengthening the warning required to appear
on cigarette packages. Public Health Cigarette Smoking
Act of 1969, Pub. L. 91–222, §§ 4, 6, 84 Stat. 88–89.
Impor-
tantly, Congress extended indeﬁnitely the prohibition on any
other regulation of cigarette labeling with respect to smok-
ing and health (again despite the importance of labeling reg-
ulation under the FDCA). § 5(a), 84 Stat. 88 (codiﬁed at 15
U. S. C. § 1334(a)). Moreover, it expressly forbade the FTC
from taking any action on its pending rule until July 1, 1971,
and it required the FTC, if it decided to proceed with its rule
thereafter, to notify Congress at least six months in advance
of the rule’s becoming effective. § 7(a), 84 Stat. 89. As the
chairman of the House committee in which the bill originated
stated, “the Congress—the body elected by the people—
must make the policy determinations involved in this legisla-
tion—and not some agency made up of appointed ofﬁcials.”
116 Cong. Rec. 7920 (1970) (remarks of Rep. Staggers).

Four years later, after Congress had transferred the au-
thority to regulate substances covered by the Hazardous
Substances Act (HSA) from the FDA to the Consumer Prod-
ucts Safety Commission (CPSC), the American Public Health
Association, joined by Senator Moss, petitioned the CPSC to
regulate cigarettes yielding more than 21 milligrams of tar.
See Action on Smoking and Health v. Harris, 655 F. 2d 236,