SENATE LOGJAM ON TOBACCO SHOWS SIGNS OF BREAKING UP

WASHINGTON -- Signs developed Tuesday that the Senate's weeks-long impasse
on anti-smoking legislation might be broken.

The Senate voted, 52-46, for a Republican amendment to use some of the
money that would be raised from higher cigarette prices on drug abuse
programs. The vote was the first on the legislation in three weeks, and
plans were made to vote today on proposals to use other money from the
tobacco legislation for income-tax cuts.

No one involved was prepared to assert that the bill was out of the woods.
But in a brief interview, Sen. Trent Lott of Mississippi, the Republican
leader, said, ``If we're going to start having some votes, then something
might happen.''

This was a different tack from the one Lott took Monday, when he said the
bill was such bad legislation that it should be withdrawn. Approval of
anti-drug measures and tax cuts ``does change the mix,'' he said Tuesday
night.

President Clinton said ``that the possibility of getting a comprehensive
bill out of the Senate is greater now than it was this morning. There are
still problems, to be sure. But we are getting closer to, I think, a
principled compromise.''

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., the chief sponsor of the bill, agreed. ``Reports
of the death of this legislation were premature,'' he said.

But McCain quickly added that ``a lot of difficult hurdles'' remained
before the bill could be brought to a final vote.

The basic bill, meant to discourage teenage smoking, would raise the price
of cigarettes by at least $1.10 a pack over five years, expand federal
regulation of tobacco marketing and advertising, and require the cigarette
makers to pay stiff penalties if youth smoking did not fall to specified
levels.

Most Democrats have argued that it is the most important public health
measure to come before Congress in years. Republicans have countered that
the legislation is a futile effort to deal with a public health problem by
raising taxes and creating new government programs.

The measure to be considered today would give tax breaks to couples filing
joint returns and to self-employed workers who must pay for their own
medical insurance. That and the anti-drug measure approved Tuesday night
give Republicans the opportunity to argue that they have turned the
legislation into one that fits Republican principles.

Republican leaders in the House are still unenthusiastic about the
direction the legislation in the Senate is taking. Rep. Dick Armey of
Texas, the majority leader, said Tuesday that his associates were working
on a stripped-down bill that would not raise the price of cigarettes.

One of the most ardent opponents of the tobacco legislation, Sen. Phil
Gramm, R-Texas, said Tuesday night that the changes being made might swing
him around. ``This is a step in the right direction,'' he said.