TEEN SMOKES STING SHAMES CONGRESS

WASHINGTON (AP) - After months of federal efforts to curb teen smoking,
lawmakers found themselves red-faced yesterday over a report about a pair of
15-year-olds who easily purchased cigarettes at snack bars throughout the
U.S. Capitol building.

In an undercover operation conducted by the American Lung Association, the
two teens attempted to buy cigarettes at nine food stores in the Capitol.
Clerks at five of the shops made no effort to stop them, according to a
report released by the group.

"Congress doesn't need to look beyond its own backyard to see the extent of
the teen smoking problem," said John Garrison, the lung association's
managing director. "If these laws are being ignored in Congress, is it any
wonder that youth smoking is on the rise throughout the United States?"

The chairman of the House of Representatives oversighit committee, which
oversees administrative matters, said he has ordered an investigation into
the report.

But Representative Bill Thomas, a California Republican, also expressed
concern he wasn't able to get a copy of the report until after its results
were published yesterday in the congressional newspaper.

The cigarettes should never have been sold to the teens, said Thomas'
spokesperson Jason Poblete.

"It's illegal, first and foremost. It was wrong and it should not have
happened. But the fact this information was being withheld from us shows
they are just playing politics."

Paul Billings, a lung association spokesperson, said the organization
released a draft of the report because of its deadlines. A formal report was
given to lawmakers as socn as it was available a day later.

Checked-by: Melodi Cornett