SENATORS DISAGREE ON TOBACCO LEGISLATION

WASHINGTON -- Sen. Orrin Hatch says sweeping anti-tobacco legislation
written by his Republican colleague Sen. John McCain is fatally flawed
because it would bankrupt tobacco companies. McCain predicted it will pass
and gave two reasons why: Senators are patriotic, and they can't resist the
money the law will bring in from the tobacco industry.

Hatch, chairman of the Judiciary Committee, and McCain, head of the
Commerce Committee, are conservatives who usually see eye-to-eye. But
they've been adversaries on the tobacco issue, with Hatch last week saying
that McCain's bill was "pitiful."

The Utah senator kept up the attack yesterday on NBC's "Meet the Press,"
saying the legislation would push the price of a pack of cigarettes up more
than $5 dollars and result in black markets and bankruptcy for the tobacco
industry. The bill can't pass, he said, because "ultimately it will not
work, and if it doesn't work then all of this goes down the drain."

But McCain, of Arizona, said his bill would win Senate approval for reasons
both patriotic and "a little crass." Americans expect lawmakers to do
something about teen smoking, he said, and "there's a lot of money that is
going to be spent there, and politicians are very attracted to that."

The amount of money in McCain's bill, $516 billion, is well above the $368
billion the tobacco industry agreed to last June with the attorneys general
of 40 states suing it. The McCain formula includes raising the tax on
cigarettes by $1.10 a pack by 2003 and giving the Food and Drug
Administration new regulatory powers over tobacco.

Hatch has proposed a $398 billion package of public health and anti-smoking
programs, which he proclaimed is a "reasonable approach." "I don't want to
drive the tobacco companies out of business, which is what his bill will
do," Hatch said.

"I guarantee you there is not five votes for what Sen. Hatch just asked
for, and that was to go easier on the tobacco companies," McCain replied.
He said public health organizations "would be apoplectic at Hatch's
proposals."

Sen. John Chafee, R-R.I., part of a bipartisan group that introduced a
separate, hard-hitting anti-tobacco bill, urged his colleagues to
concentrate on the issue. "Attacking each other or making this a partisan
battle just takes Congress' eye off the anti-tobacco ball," Chafee said
after his colleagues' television appearance.

McCain's legislation sailed through the Commerce Committee on a 19-1 vote
and is expected to be the main vehicle when the tobacco issue goes to the
Senate floor. Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott has promised floor action
by late May.

The administration has pushed for the toughest possible legislation, and
President Clinton has praised the McCain bill.

But the industry has said it will not go along because McCain's legislation
is too harsh. There also considerable unease among conservatives in
Congress, particularly in the House, about raising taxes and extending
government regulatory powers.

House Speaker Newt Gingrich questions whether it is a "Republican" bill and
proposed a far narrower package that would focus only on teen smoking and
drug use.

Sen. Dan Coats, R-Ind., appearing yesterday on CBS' "Face the Nation," said
the McCain bill "must be stripped down for it to pass" and the tobacco
companies must be given limited liability from lawsuits in order to get
their cooperation on other issues such as advertising aimed at young people.

There also must be a resolution to the question of where the money goes, he
said. Clinton has proposed using some of the revenues for health and
education programs, but Coats said: "Republicans simply aren't going to go
along with it."