House approves bill for FDA to control tobacco

WASHINGTON — The U.S. House of Representatives easily approved a bill to give the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) the authority to regulate tobacco products.

House members voted 298–112 for the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act, which would authorize the FDA to control the manufacture, promotion and sale of such products as cigarettes and chewing tobacco. The legislation, which passed April 2, is expected to face stiffer opposition in the Senate.

Proponents of the bill applauded the House’s action. Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission President Richard Land, who has worked for the passage of such legislation for several years, said he was “delighted.”

Land joined with James Winkler, general secretary of the United Methodist Church’s General Board of Church and Society, in a March 18 letter urging House members to support the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act. They wrote on behalf of Faith United Against Tobacco, a coalition of 25 religious groups.