KENNEDY CELEBRATES HELP COMMITTEE PASSAGE OF FDA TOBACCO REGULATIONS Committee Reports Bill with a vote of 13-8

WASHINGTON, DC‹ Today, Senator Edward M. Kennedy, Chairman of the Senate Health,Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, released the following statement in response to thepassage by the HELP Committee of the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act. “Today, we put children back on the national agenda. The bipartisan legislation will savemillions of lives and save others from a lifetime of addiction and certain death. The tobaccoindustry has been allowed to mislead consumers, to make false health claims, to conceal thelethal contents of their products, to make their products even more addictive, and worst of all– to seduce generations of children into a lifetime of addiction and early death. Enacting thisbill this year is the right thing to do for America’s children. They are depending on us. Bypassing this legislation, we can help them live longer, healthier lives.” ###