White House shifts strategy on tobacco deal

By Laurence McQuillan WASHINGTON (Reuter) President Clinton is
expected to push soon for tough modifications in the landmark tobacco
accord but may delay disclosing some of the specific changes he
wants, administration officials said Saturday. In a shift in White
House strategy, Clinton no longer is expected to give a complete,
detailed assessment of the $386.5 billion agreement between the
tobacco industry and 40 state attorneys general, officials said.
Instead, Clinton most likely on Wednesday will announce a call
for changes to ensure that the Food and Drug Administration has
unquestioned authority to regulate nicotine as a drug a concern he
already has voiced publicly. He also is expected to seek harsher
penalties on the industry if the targets in the agreement for
reducing youth smoking are not met, officials said. Clinton, however,
is expected to refrain from offering what one official described as
``a linebyline approach'' on desired changes in the complex
agreement reached in June. ``He'll certainly forcefully spell out
what he wants,'' one senior administration official said, ``but he
may not dot every i.'' Another senior official stressed that ``this
is only one chapter in the overall fight'' to contain smoking by
young people. ``This is an important step, an important battle, but
it is not the whole war.'' A special task force has been examining
the historic agreement, under which the industry has said it would
pay out $386.5 billion in exchange for protection from liability
lawsuits related to smoking. Although the agreement was negotiated by
the states and industry representatives, much of it requires
enactment of federal laws in order to be carried out thereby
making Clinton and Congress essential players. When the accord was
first reached, White House strategists had been predicting that a
complete detailed assessment would be released within 30 days. Once
the review began, and public health interests raised concerns with
various aspects of the agreement, the timetable was pushed back.
Clinton on Friday received his first detailed assessment by the task
force which was jointly headed by Health and Human Services
Secretary Donna Shalala and White House domestic policy adviser Bruce
Reed. Clinton met for two hours Saturday in the White House residence
with a broad range of senior officials including Vice President Al
Gore and Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin. The session was described
by spokeswoman Julie Green as a ''discussion of longterm policy''
and did not involve ''decision making'' on tobacco or other issues
facing the administration. Republican congressional leaders have
criticized Clinton for moving too slowly on tobacco, and have said
action on a tobacco bill is unlikely before next year. Emboldened by
several recent antitobacco votes in Congress, antismoking forces in
the Senate have been calling for tougher terms for the tobacco
industry under any legislation. Sen. Edward Kennedy, a Massachusetts
Democrat, on Friday called for the $368.5 billion settlement deal to
be doubled, to provide stronger incentives for youths not to smoke
and to help reimburse the federal government for the smokingrelated
costs incurred by Medicare and other health programs. ^REUTER@