SENATE KILLS TOBACCO BILL AFTER FIERCE DEBATE

WASHINGTON -- Legislation to curb teen smoking and regulate nicotine died
yesterday in the Senate.

Measure supporters failed on two successive votes to keep the bill alive.
The first effort fell three votes shy; the second seven.

Majority Leader Trent Lott of Mississippi countered for Republicans who
argued that the measure had become a big government, "tax and spend" bill.
"We've lost sight of the original noble cause of just dealing with teen-age
smoking and drug abuse," he said.

Hours before the vote, Clinton made a final appeal to "protect the children
and not the tobacco lobby."

He said he and other Democrats met critics "more than halfway" in agreeing
to cut taxes and add anti-drug provisions. "Now, if there is a move to kill
or gut this legislation, there can be no possible explanation other than the
intense pressure and the awesome influence fueled by years of huge
contributions of Big Tobacco," he said.

Rejection of the bill would cause an unpredictable chain of political and
legal events.

Democrats are certain to raise the issue this fall against Republicans,
while tobacco companies would be open to more lawsuits. The fate of the
settlement several states reached with the industry to end their lawsuits is
unclear.

That agreement sparked the drive to write legislation in the Senate, but
election-year politics and other forces swiftly intruded.

A proposal to grant limited liability protection to the tobacco companies
was stripped from the bill on the Senate floor as lawmakers sought a way to
show voters they were willing to be tough on an industry that markets its
products to teen-agers.

As drafted, the measure would raise the price of cigarettes by $1.10 a pack.
The money would help states pay their smoking-related health care costs,
finance anti-smoking advertising and pay for health research.

At the insistence of Republicans, the measure now includes an election-year
tax cut for couples making less than $50,000, a series of anti-drug
provisions and a cap on fees for lawyers participating in lawsuits against
the tobacco industry.

Clinton and Democrats sought to frame the debate as a question of choosing
children over cigarette makers.

Pointing to teen-age messengers at the foot of the Senate rostrum, Sen.
Joseph Biden, D-Del., said their peer group would be targets for tobacco
marketing. The industry, he said, would "consciously attempt to addict them
to nicotine."

Republicans said the truth was different, that they, too, favor cracking
down on teen smoking, but that the bill had gotten out of hand.

Checked-by: "Rolf Ernst"