US SENATE TOBACCO "SETTLEMENT" VOTE SCHEDULED
By Carol Thompson
The Commerce Committee of the US Senate is scheduled to begin voting on
S.1415, the so-called Bipartisan Tobacco Bill, introduced by Sen. John McCain
(R-AZ) and Sen. Ernest Hollings (D-SC), on March 25, 1998 at 9:30 am EST.
S.1415 has essentially the same provisions as S.1414, also introduced
last November, with the numbering rearranged. S.1414 is critiqued in my
article on "The anti-smokers' half-baked settlement conspiracy theory, versus
the real conspiracy," Jan. 12, 1998.
Like all the rest of the proposed legislation, and the traitorous tobacco
settlement they are based upon, it is eggregiously one-sided. This bill
fails to show the slightest concern for the rights of those whose liberties
would be most affected, and who would be forced to pay for it all - namely,
smokers.
There is not the slightest concern for redress of the massive violations
of our rights that we have suffered at the hands of the anti-smokers for over
40 years, either.
These include the fraudulent smoking cost claims, created by the CDC and
OTA; the media's systematic campaign to spread this and other libels; the
malicious state lawsuits falsely claiming damages on this basis; the anti-
smokers' corruption, scientific fraud, and concealment of the evidence about
passive smoking, cardiovascular disease, asthma, ulcers and stomach cancer,
cervical cancer, perinatal illness, and many more.
Plus, the health establishment has kept the public ignorant about
diseases associated with non-smoking, such as Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's
disease, ulcerative colitis, and thromboembolism. They should rightfully be
liable to non-smokers, if they are to be held to the same standards as the
tobacco industry, which lacks their qualifications and never had anything to
conceal.
Yet these bills only designed to encourage anti-smokers' lawsuits
against the tobacco industry, and extend their injustices against smokers
even farther. We must make it clear that this bill is completely unacceptable
to us, and that we will not meekly submit to their scheme to disenfranchise
us and pretend we don't exist.
Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation
| MEMBER | DATE
APPOINTED | FAX# |
| Republicans | | |
|---|
McCain (AZ) | 01-06-87 | 1-202-224-2862 |
Stevens (AK) | 01-05-81 | 1-202-224-2354 |
Burns (MT) | 02-02-89 | 1-202-224-8594 |
Gorton (WA) | 02-02-89 | 1-202-224-9393 |
Lott (MS) | 02-02-89 | 1-202-224-2262 |
Hutchison (TX) | 07-01-93 | 1-202-224-0776 |
Snowe (ME) | 01-04-95 | 1-202-224-1946 |
Ashcroft (MO) | 01-04-95 | 1-202-228-0998 |
Frist (TN) | 10-12-95 | 1-202-228-1264 |
Abraham (MI) | 03-29-96 | 1-202-224-8834 |
Brownback (KS) | 01-09-97 | 1-202-228-1245 |
| | Democrats |
|---|
Hollings (SC) | 01-11-67 | 1-202-224-4293 |
Inouye (HI) | 01-09-69 | 1-202-224-6747 |
Ford (KY) | 01-17-75 | 1-202-224-1144 |
Rockefeller (WV) | 02-21-85 | 1-202-224-7665 |
Kerry (MA) | 01-06-87 | 1-202-224-8525 |
Breaux (LA) | 01-06-87 | 1-202-228-2577 |
Bryan (NV) | 02-02-89 | 1-202-224-1867 |
Dorgan (ND) | 01-07-93 | 1-202-224-1193 |
Wyden (OR) | 03-29-96 | 1-202-228-2717 |
|