Scarcnet News Summaries (Advocacy Institute)
Senate Kills McCain Bill
Length: pages
Abstract
The Senate yesterday voted to send the McCain bill back to the Commerce Committee, effectively killing any chance for comprehensive tobacco legislation this year. The bill had been debated by the Senate for four weeks when supporters failed to garner enough votes to overcome two procedural hurdles. The first occurred when 57 Senators -- 43 Democrats and 14 Republicans -- voted to end debate and bring the bill to a vote but fell three votes shy of the 60 needed. The final blow came when the Senate voted to return the bill to the Commerce Committee, falling seven votes short of the 60 needed to prevent this move.
Republican opponents, along with the tobacco industry, have long criticized the bill as a massive tax and spend initiative that will needlessly expand the scope of the federal government. Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), the bill's author, disputed the opposition's assertions yesterday saying, "This bill is not about taxes. It's about whether we're going to allow the death march of 418,000 Americans a year who die early from tobacco-related disease and do nothing." Democrats accused Republicans of being in the pocket of the tobacco industry and vowed to make the bill's defeat an election year issue. Sen. Tom Daschle (D-SD) said, "The bill dies tonight but the issue will live." President Clinton, bitterly disappointed in the bill's defeat, warned, "I want the tobacco lobby and its allies on Capitol Hill to know that from my point of view, the battle is far from over."
Republicans leaders in the House have been waiting for final Senate action and last night House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-GA) issued a statement saying, "It is our intent to take up and pass effective legislation that is narrowly focused on anti-teen smoking, anti-drug efforts. Our goal is to reduce teen smoking, not increase taxes."
Sources: David Rosenbaum, "Senate Drops Tobacco Bill With '98 Revival Unlikely, Clinton Lashes Out At GOP," NEW YORK TIMES, June 18, 1998, p. A1; Saundra Torry and Helen Dewar, "Senate GOP Kills McCain Tobacco Bill," WASHINGTON POST, June 18, 1998, p. A1; Jeffrey Taylor, "Senate GOP Kills Antitobacco Measure," WALL STREET JOURNAL, June 18, 1998, p. A3; Wendy Koch, "Legislation Succumbs To Partisan Split," USA TODAY, June 18, 1998, p. A1; Jim Drinkard, "Who Killed It? Backers Blame Politics, Opponents Point To Pork," USA TODAY, June 18, 1998, p. A1; John Schwartz, "As Proposal Dies, Anger And Optimism," WASHINGTON POST, June 18, 1998, p. A18.