SENATE CONFRONTS LAWSUIT PROTECTION FOR TOBACCO COMPANIES

WASHINGTON - Confronting a central issue in anti-smoking legislation, the
Senate is considering how much protection, if any, the tobacco industry
should have from smokers' lawsuits.

The bill, sponsored by Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., would limit damages the
industry would be forced to pay at $8 billion a year, in exchange for the
companies' voluntary curbs on marketing.

President Clinton for the first time weighed into the vexing issue
yesterday, saying he supports the limitation.

"If a cap that doesn't prevent anybody from suing the companies and getting
whatever damages a jury awards will get tobacco companies to stop marketing
cigarettes to kids, it is well worth it for the American people," Clinton
said in a letter to Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott, R-Miss.

The Senate today also was expected to debate an amendment to toughen the
bill's penalties on tobacco companies if youth smoking rates do not drop
significantly.

Yesterday, the Senate rejected a proposed $1.50-per-pack price increase on
cigarettes, deciding that a smaller increase of $1.10 was enough to
discourage teens from smoking.

Sen. Slade Gorton, R-Wash., voted to reject the increase; Sen. Patty
Murray, D-Wash., voted against rejecting it.

The 58-40 vote was a setback for Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., and other
liberals, who said the larger increase was essential to save the lives of
youngsters who might be tempted to start smoking.

But opponents said $1.50 would bankrupt the industry and spawn a black
market where youth access to tobacco products cannot be controlled by the
government.

McCain says limiting damages that cigarette makers will have to pay is the
only way to stop companies from advertising to children without running
afoul of the First Amendment.

"You can hate tobacco companies . . . and nobody here is going to argue
with you," said Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass. "But the question is, what are we
going to be able to achieve here in the United States Senate in terms of
conditioning their behavior within the limits of the Constitution?"

In one of many disputes over the tobacco bill that defies party lines,
lawmakers have feuded for months over whether legal protection would be the
carrot the government needs to win the cooperation of tobacco companies
besieged with lawsuits.

But tobacco companies have loudly rejected the cap and the deal, demanding
instead the immunity from class-action and other lawsuits contained in the
$368 billion June settlement with states.

Public-health advocates and a core group of anti-smoking lawmakers say the
industry deserves no lawsuit protection denied other companies. "We are
making a deal with the devil, and the devil walked away from the table,"
said Sen. Judd Gregg, R-N.H. "Then we chase after them asking him to accept
our deal. It's not becoming of Congress, and it's wrong."

A vote was scheduled today on an amendment by Gregg and Sen. Patrick Leahy,
D-Vt., to strip McCain's bill of legal protection for the tobacco industry.

"Congress will have lost all its common sense if it grants special immunity
to this rogue industry," Leahy said, recalling how tobacco company
executives until recently insisted nicotine was not addictive. "In the end,
Congress will have been duped again."